![]() It seems as if Soviet soldiers needed alcoholic courage to attack a woman. "It was an army of rapists."ĭrink of every variety, including dangerous chemicals seized from laboratories and workshops, was a major factor in the violence. "The Russian soldiers were raping every German female from eight to eighty," she recounted later. Natalya Gesse, a close friend of the scientist Andrei Sakharov, had observed the Red Army in action in 1945 as a Soviet war correspondent. But some women were deeply shaken by what they witnessed in Germany. Several German women recorded how Soviet servicewomen watched and laughed when they were raped. "Our soldiers' behaviour towards Germans, particularly German women, is absolutely correct!" said a 21-year-old from Agranenko's reconnaissance detachment. Even many young women soldiers and medical staff in the Red Army did not appear to disapprove. But either officers were involved themselves, or the lack of discipline made it too dangerous to restore order over drunken soldiers armed with submachine guns.Ĭalls to avenge the Motherland, violated by the Wehrmacht's invasion, had given the idea that almost any cruelty would be allowed. The commander of one rifle division is said to have "personally shot a lieutenant who was lining up a group of his men before a German woman spreadeagled on the ground". There were also a few arbitrary attempts to exert authority. Marshal Rokossovsky issued order No 006 in an attempt to direct "the feelings of hatred at fighting the enemy on the battlefield." It appears to have had little effect. Numerous examples of gang rape were given - "girls under 18 and old women included". One stated that "many Germans declare that all German women in East Prussia who stayed behind were raped by Red Army soldiers". Beria and Stalin, back in Moscow, knew perfectly well what was going on from a number of detailed reports. ![]()
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