Rape during occupation Aftermath of World War II

in europe

as soviet troops marched across balkans, committed rapes , robberies in romania, hungary, czechoslovakia , yugoslavia. population of bulgaria largely spared treatment, due possibly sense of ethnic kinship or leadership of marshal fyodor tolbukhin. population of germany treated worse. rape , murder of german civilians bad as, , worse than, nazi propaganda had anticipated. political officers encouraged soviet troops seek revenge , terrorise german population. on basis of hochrechnungen (projections or estimations) , 1.9 million german women altogether raped @ end of war red army soldiers. one-third of german women in berlin raped soviet forces. substantial minority raped multiple times. in berlin, contemporary hospital records indicate between 95,000 , 130,000 women raped soviet troops. 10,000 of these women died, suicide. on 4.5 million germans fled towards west. soviets had no rules against troops fraternising german women, 1947 started isolate troops german population in attempt stop rape , robbery troops. not soviet soldiers participated in these activities.

foreign reports of soviet brutality denounced false. rape, robbery, , murder blamed on german bandits impersonating soviet soldiers. justified soviet brutality towards german civilians based on previous brutality of german troops toward russian civilians. until reunification of germany, east german histories virtually ignored actions of soviet troops, , russian histories still tend so. reports of mass rapes soviet troops dismissed anti-communist propaganda or normal byproduct of war.

rapes occurred under other occupation forces, though majority committed soviet troops. french moroccan troops matched behaviour of soviet troops when came rape, in occupations of baden , württemberg. in letter editor of time published in september 1945, american army sergeant wrote, our own army , british army along ours have done share of looting , raping ... offensive attitude among our troops not @ general, percentage large enough have given our army pretty black name, , considered army of rapists. robert lilly’s analysis of military records led him conclude 14,000 rapes occurred in britain, france, , germany @ hands of soldiers between 1942 , 1945. lilly assumed 5% of rapes american soldiers reported, making 17,000 gi rapes possibility, while analysts estimate 50% of (ordinary peace-time) rapes reported. supporting lilly s lower figure crucial difference world war ii military rapes commanding officer, not victim, brought charges .

german soldiers left many war children behind in nations such france , denmark, occupied extended period. after war, children , mothers suffered recriminations. in norway, “tyskerunger“ (german-kids) suffered greatly.

in japan

in first few weeks of american military occupation of japan, rape , other violent crime widespread in naval ports yokohama , yokosuka, declined shortly afterward. there 1,336 reported rapes during first 10 days of occupation of kanagawa prefecture. historian toshiyuki tanaka relates in yokohama, capital of prefecture, there 119 known rapes in september 1945.

historians eiji takemae , robert ricketts state when paratroopers landed in sapporo, orgy of looting, sexual violence , drunken brawling ensued. gang rapes , other sex atrocities not infrequent , of rape victims committed suicide.

general robert l. eichelberger, commander of u.s. eighth army, recorded in 1 instance when japanese formed self-help vigilante guard protect women off-duty gis, eighth army ordered armored vehicles in battle array streets , arrested leaders, , leaders received long prison terms.

according takemae , ricketts, members of british commonwealth occupation force (bcof) involved in rapes:

a former prostitute recalled australian troops arrived in kure in 1946, dragged young women jeeps, took them mountain, , raped them. heard them screaming every night . such behavior commonplace, news of criminal activity occupation forces suppressed.

rape committed u.s. soldiers occupying okinawa notable phenomenon. okinawan historian oshiro masayasu (former director of okinawa prefectural historical archives) writes:

soon after u.s. marines landed, women of village on motobu peninsula fell hands of american soldiers. @ time, there women, children , old people in village, young men had been mobilized war. after landing, marines mopped entire village, found no signs of japanese forces. taking advantage of situation, started hunting women in broad daylight , hiding in village or nearby air raid shelters dragged out 1 after another.

according toshiyuki tanaka, 76 cases of rape or rape-murder reported during first 5 years of american occupation of okinawa. however, claims not true figure, cases unreported.