Crimes Unspoken

The soldiers who occupied Germany after the Second World War were not only liberators: they also brought with them a new threat, as women throughout the country became victims of sexual violence. In this disturbing and carefully researched book, the historian Miriam Gebhardt reveals for the first time the scale of this human tragedy, which continued long after the hostilities had ended.Discussion in recent years of the rape of German women committed at the end of the war has focused almost exclusively on the crimes committed by Soviet soldiers, but Gebhardt shows that this picture is misleading. Crimes were committed as much by the Western Allies American, French and British as by the members of the Red Army. Nor was the suffering limited to the immediate aftermath of the war. Gebhardt powerfully recounts how raped women continued to be the victims of doctors, who arbitrarily granted or refused abortions, welfare workers, who put pregnant women in homes, and wider society, which even today prefers to ignore these crimes.Crimes Unspoken is the first historical account to expose the true extent of sexual violence in Germany at the end of the war, offering valuable new insight into a key period of 20th century history.

The soldiers who occupied Germany after the Second World War were not only liberators: they also brought with them a new threat, as women throughout the country became victims of sexual violence. In this disturbing and carefully researched book, the historian Miriam Gebhardt reveals for the first time the scale of this human tragedy, which continued long after the hostilities had ended.Discussion in recent years of the rape of German women committed at the end of the war has focused almost exclusively on the crimes committed by Soviet soldiers, but Gebhardt shows that this picture is misleading. Crimes were committed as much by the Western Allies - American, French and British - as by the members of the Red Army. Nor was the suffering limited to the immediate aftermath of the war. Gebhardt powerfully recounts how raped women continued to be the victims of doctors, who arbitrarily granted or refused abortions, welfare workers, who put pregnant women in homes, and wider society, which even today prefers to ignore these crimes.Crimes Unspoken is the first historical account to expose the true extent of sexual violence in Germany at the end of the war, offering valuable new insight into a key period of 20th century history.

ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1 Seventy years too lateWrong victims?How many were affectedSexual aggression against menA word about methodChapter 2 Berlin and the East - chronicle of a calamity foretoldThe great fearThe Red Army comesBerlinOne year onExtracts from police reportsA different perspectiveChapter 3 South Germany - who will protect us from the Americans?No one's timeModerate indignationA 'feeling of great insecurity among our soldiers'DiscussionA 'sexual conquest of Europe'?Unbroken assertion of power by the occupiersParallels and differencesChapter 4 Pregnant, sick, ostracized - approaches to the victimsVictims twice overFraternizationThe abortion problemNo one's children'The other victims are also taken care of'First the French, then the public authorities'I love this child as much as the others'Chapter 5 The long shadowThe effects of the experience of violenceThe myth of female invulnerability'Anonymous' and the censorship of memoryDuties of loyaltyFirst feminist protestsHelke Sander's 'BeFreier' and the German victim debateThe past todayNotesSources and selected literatureIndex