Page 17 - War Brides
P. 17
A still from the
American film
Fraternization Fräulein. The term
for German women,
1946.
& the Fräuleins Courtesy of:
Bundesarchiv
Like the case of Ashleigh’s grandparents already showed, intimacy between
American soldiers and German women did take place. According to army
sources, soldiers could get four condoms per month. “Entirely inadequate”
complained medical personnel. Some sources estimate the average amount of
German sexpartners on 25 per soldier. Army sources report that over 80
Pocket Guide to Germany, 1944. percent of the men who spent more than two years abroad, had frequently
Courtesy of: University of Richmond
sex. Moreover, there was still a strong feeling among the U.S. soldiers that the
Germans should have been punished. Therefore, women were regularly
raped. By the end of the War, over three million German soldiers had died and
This Pocket Guide to Germany shows America’s over seven million were imprisoned. Germany became a nation with few
no-fraternization policy. In June 1944, General young men. The post-war reconstruction was carried out by German women.
Eisenhowered ordered the U.S. Army, as it Americans who came to Germany after the Allies victory, expected to meet
approached the orders, to avoid intimacy with aggressive German soldiers, but found hardworking women. These German
German civilians. women were often referred to as Fräulein, and the surplus of young and
attractive women was called the Fräuleinwunder. Not rarely, the soldiers fell
in love.
