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Red Army atrocities committed in Germany by the end of the World War II and in its aftermath are still a taboo in Russia , and with rare exceptions (notably Alexander Solzhenitsyn) the evidence is based on Western sources.
When the Red Army entered German territory it exacted often brutal revenge for German atrocities in the territory of the Soviet Union, including engaging in plunder, rape, and murder of civilians. While the laws of the Red Army officially prohibited such activities, the leadership nonetheless tolerated them.
German sources listed below estimate that at the end of World War II, Red Army soldiers raped more than 2,000,000 German women, an estimated 200,000 of whom later died from injuries sustained, committed suicide, or were murdered outright. After June 1945 the Soviet high command imposed punishments for rape ranging from arrest to execution. In 1947 Soviet troops were completely separated from the residential population of Berlin. Estimations of rape victims are distributed as follows: Eastern Provinces: 1,400,000; zone of Soviet occupation excluding Berlin: 500,000; Berlin: 100,000.
During the occupation of Budapest (Hungary) it is estimated that 50,000 women were raped.
Fleeing from the advancing Soviet forces, possibly more than two million people in the eastern provinces of Germany (East Prussia,Silesia,Pomerania) died, many of cold and starvation, but many were murdered by Soviet forces, or killed while being caught up in combat operations.
See also
External links
- German rape victims find a voice at last Guardian Newspapers article, 6/23/2002
- They raped every German female from eight to 80 in The Guardian May 1, 2002
- Remembering Rape: Divided Social Memory and the Red Army in Hungary 1944–1945, James Mark, Past & Present (2005) (The crimes during the Battle of Budapest)
- Excerpt, Chapter one The Struggle for Europe: The Turbulent History of a Divided Continent 1945-2002 - William I. Hitchcock - 2003 - ISBN 0385497989 ( The occupation of East Prussia)
References
- Russians angry at war rape claims Telegraph.co.uk 01/25/2002
- Mark, James "Remembering Rape: Divided Social Memory and the Red Army in Hungary 1944-1945" Past & Present - Number 188, August 2005, pp. 133
- Bundesarchiv Koblenz , Ostdokumentensammlung , Ost-Dok. 2 Nr. 8,13,14; Ost-Dok.2/51, 2/77,2/96
- Bundesarchiv/Militärarchiv Freiburg , Akten Fremde Heere Ost, Bestand H3, Bd. 483, 657, 665, 667, 690
- Archiv der Charité and Landesarchiv Berlin
- Helke Sander and Barbara Johr. BeFreier und Befreite. Krieg, Vegewaltigung, Kinder Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag (2005), ISBN 3596163056
- Franz W. Seidler and Alfred M. de Zayas. Kriegsverbrechen in Europa und im Nahen Osten im 20. Jahrhundert Hamburg-Berlin-Bonn (2002), p.122, ISBN 3813207021
- Dokumentation der Vertreibung der Deutschen aus Ostmitteleuropa, 5 Bde, 3 Beihefte, Bonn 1953-1961
- Elizabeth B. Walter, Barefoot in the Rubble 1997, ISBN 0965779300
Further reading
- Marta Hillers, A Woman in Berlin: Six Weeks in the Conquered City Translated by Anthes Bell, ISBN 0805075402
- Beevor, Antony. Berlin: The Downfall 1945, Penguin Books, 2002, ISBN 0670886955
- Max Hastings "Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945, Chapter 10: Blood and Ice: East Prussia" ISBN 0-375-41433-9
- John Toland "The Last 100 Days, Chapter Two: Five Minutes before Midnight" ISBN 0-8129-6859-X