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View Full Version : "Ivans War", and the demonisation of the red army during ww2.



Tavarisch_Mike
30th July 2010, 14:17
I havnt read it (Ivans War by; Catherine Merridale) but about what ive heard it seems to bee another of the demonisation raports abot the red army during ww2. For example in one review they wrote about that the partisans where just a bunch of indifferent slackers that didnt feel any sort of duty ore purpoe towards what they where doing, they just tried to survive.

Anyway i have noticed that there has been some sort of mass attack on the red army in the public historical circles the last years. Unfortunately moste of us young people got the picture of that the western allies did the main job in the victory against fascism, many people dont know that even after d-day still 80% of the nazis forces was focused on the eastern front. So i just see these demonisations as a strong ettempt to once for all destroy the opinion of that the Soviet Union did anything good, a form of revisionism wich is more easely done now when the USSR has collapsed, shoot the wounded so to speak.

If anyone have read it i would like to hear your opinion, did the book present some actual new things with strong evidence? Ore was it just emotial draging about how life was hard in the army and that was part of the socialistic ideology to treat the soldiers bad, yeah you know.
Would be fun to hear a leftist review.

Kayser_Soso
30th July 2010, 14:54
It's pretty pathetic really. Just a handful of cherry-picked anecdotes, all deliberately interpreted so that the USSR and Red Army never do anything right, and it is always Stalin's fault. My favorite gems are when she implies that "Gorky Park"(while describing a movie) was a myth, as though this place didn't exist. The most egregious is where she implies that the fact that the Holocaust(in part) had taken place on Soviet land was a source of embarrassment for the USSR. Yes, the Nazis shoot a few million people on Soviet territory and it's a black mark on the USSR. Brilliant.

For a comprehensive history of the entire war that is not utter crap, and written by an author who actually knows what he's writing about, see Chris Bellamy's Absolute War. Otherwise read anything by David M. Glantz.

Pavlov's House Party
31st July 2010, 17:15
In most western accounts of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviets are typically generalized as either mindless robot communist canon fodder, sadistic "asiatic" savages like the Mongol hordes or cruel, calculating officers. It's widespread because until recently, the only information about the Eastern Front western historians had were accounts from German commanders, soldiers and propaganda who obviously made their Russian opponents to sound as "subhuman" as possible, and to blame the Russian winter/German Command for their defeat instead of the Soviet Forces.

To give you an example of these German accounts here is an excerpt from a journalist's writings who was attached to the German army in Ukraine, writing about Soviet corpses around a shell blast:

"Look closely at these dead, these Tartar dead, these Russian dead. They are new corpses, absolutely brand new. Just delivered from the great factory of the Pyatyletka (Five Year Plan). They are all the same. Mass produced. They typify a new, tough race, these corpses of workers killed in an industrial accident."

There was a general opinion that communism combined with Russian "asiaticness" had made soldiers who were more like robots than thinking soldiers, which we can see the legacy of when reading history books today talking about how Soviet soldiers were all inept, childlike and stupid.

Dimentio
31st July 2010, 17:34
Yes, the eastern front seems most to be described from the German perspective in films, books and history, while the western front is described mostly from the horizon of the Americans and the British. I think the main reason is a combination between Cold War propaganda and the general secretiveness of the Soviet Union.

Barry Lyndon
31st July 2010, 18:03
Well, it is true that the Red Army did commit some savage atrocities, such as the mass rape of nearly 2 million women-mostly German, but even including Russian women who were freed from concentration camps!
Of course, the Soviet soldiers were brutalized beyond belief ;having fought the Nazis for hundreds of miles, and seeing the countless cities, towns, villages, and farms that had been destroyed by the invaders as well as the mass murder of their people, including many of their own families, one can see why they went insane with the desire for revenge.
I would say that it is true that both the Soviet conduct of the war and their treatment of Germany afterwards was much harsher then that of the Western Allies. But this is in direct proportion to the fact that they suffered far more then any of the Allies(One estimate is that for every American that died in World War II, 50 Soviets died), not because of this racist bullshit about the 'Asiatic hordes' copied from Nazi propaganda.
The fact that 'liberal' and politically 'centrist' historians eagerly parrot the worst anti-Slavic racism in order to win anti-communist brownie points exposes where ideological anti-communism finally leads- sympathy for and indentification with fascism.

bie
31st July 2010, 18:11
Well, it is true that the Red Army did commit some savage atrocities, such as the mass rape of nearly 2 million women-mostly German, but even including Russian women who were freed from concentration camps!


Source?

Soldiers of the Red Army did not commit more crimes than any other army (including American and British) during the II World War. There were lots of research made on that subject. The whole case is another example of current German revanchist and anticommunist tendencies.

Kayser_Soso
31st July 2010, 18:58
Yes, the eastern front seems most to be described from the German perspective in films, books and history, while the western front is described mostly from the horizon of the Americans and the British. I think the main reason is a combination between Cold War propaganda and the general secretiveness of the Soviet Union.


This is no accident. I recommend everyone here read a book called The Myth of the Eastern Front. The Germans became the "good guys" on the Eastern Front, and the atrocities carried out by the Wehrmacht or with Wehrmacht knowledge were sanitized and blamed almost exclusively on the SD, Einsatzgruppen, local auxiliary police, and whatnot. It is incredibly dishonest because the fact is that Einsatzkommandos were attached to Wehrmacht units and several notable German commanders were totally aware of the campaign of extermination and did nothing to stop it- in fact they facilitated it on numerous occasions. The Wehrmacht often threw families out in the freezing cold of winter without food, often using the wood from their houses for firewood. Even anti-Communist author Anthony Beevor wrote, "a bullet would have been less cruel."


As for rape on the Eastern Front, yes it happened, and 2 million really is a more accurate number(previously it was much higher, inflated by propaganda). What is rarely heard about is that there was no order to rape, and in fact there were orders to shoot on site anyone engaged in rape. Of course it was not often enforced, but when it was the punishment was swift, as eyewitnesses can attest to. What caused this is a very complicated combination of conditions related to the war. What is clear is this, however, the rapists were a small minority of the massive amount of Soviet troops in Eastern Europe. It is also worth noting that most of the rapist were serial repeat offenders(until someone shot them). They also tended to be from areas previously occupied by the Germans.

A lot of the propaganda against the Red Army does bear the mark of racism as well. Russians are called "Asiatics", and as we have all learned from decades of propaganda whether from the Phillipines, Korea, the Eastern Front, Vietnam, or this current war- Asiatics, whoever they may be, just don't value human life or the individual. That's why it's apparently ok to drop napalm on them and such. Think about the absurdity of all this- if the American pissed away thousands of marines on Tarawa or Peleilu for nothing- it's just a strategic blunder and a tragic mistake. If lots of Soviets die because they actually stood and fought against the largest land invasion in history, led by the strongest war machine of the day, it's because they don't value human life. If they don't value human life, one wonders why so many female medics risked their lives dragging wounded men out of danger, or why they even had medics at all. One wonders why the Red Army or the PLA went through so much trouble constructing excellent camouflage, in the latter case even for individual soldiers.

khad
31st July 2010, 19:10
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Flak_jacket_1942.jpg

SN-42 chestplate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN-42) and amoeba-pattern (http://www.kamouflage.net/camouflage/00068.php) camouflage, 1942.
http://www.collect-militaria.com/user_images/5440700.jpghttp://image.absoluteastronomy.com/images/encyclopediaimages/s/sn/sn42frontopen.jpg

1941 summer pattern (http://www.kamouflage.net/camouflage/00069.php)

1944 digital pattern (http://www.kamouflage.net/camouflage/00070.php)

Barry Lyndon
31st July 2010, 19:42
Source?

Soldiers of the Red Army did not commit more crimes than any other army (including American and British) during the II World War. There were lots of research made on that subject. The whole case is another example of current German revanchist and anticommunist tendencies.

I never said that they did. I just pointed out these particular war crimes.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1382565/Red-Army-troops-raped-even-Russian-women-as-they-freed-them-from-camps.html

khad
31st July 2010, 20:13
I never said that they did. I just pointed out these particular war crimes.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1382565/Red-Army-troops-raped-even-Russian-women-as-they-freed-them-from-camps.html
Beevor's work isn't worth the paper it's written on. There are serious methodological issues with audacious numbers such as the 2 million supposedly raped. Such a figure was extrapolated from postwar abortion records, but it's a funny thing when you look at the case files.

As historian Erich Kuby noted in his study of the occupation, there were very few reports of people using rape by the western allies as a rationale for abortion, and pretty much zero reports for rape by German men. Did all German-born rapists just go on vacation or something? It was no secret that the claim of being raped by a bestial Asiatic was a fast track to a no-questions-asked abortion.

Regarding the claims made in that telegraph article, yes, there were rapes, but coming from a hack pop historian like Beevor, I wonder how much of that is sensationalized garbage. That shitfuck never leaves notes of any sufficient detail to allow a perspicacious reader to track down and clarify his sources.

Barry Lyndon
31st July 2010, 20:30
Beevor's work isn't worth the paper it's written on. There are serious methodological issues with audacious numbers such as the 2 million supposedly raped. Such a figure was extrapolated from postwar abortion records, but it's a funny thing when you look at the case files.

As historian Erich Kuby noted in his study of the occupation, there were very few reports of people using rape by the western allies as a rationale for abortion, and pretty much zero reports for rape by German men. Did all German-born rapists just go on vacation or something? It was no secret that the claim of being raped by a bestial Asiatic was a fast track to a no-questions-asked abortion.

Regarding the claims made in that telegraph article, yes, there were rapes, but coming from a hack pop historian like Beevor, I wonder how much of that is sensationalized garbage. That shitfuck never leaves notes of any sufficient detail to allow a perspicacious reader to track down and clarify his sources.

Cool. Do you have any links or books/essays to recommend? I know this is a highly politicized field and I'm genuinely interested in learning more.

khad
31st July 2010, 20:43
Cool. Do you have any links or books/essays to recommend? I know this is a highly politicized field and I'm genuinely interested in learning more.
That Erich Kuby book, The Russians and Berlin, is a good place to start. As noted by one reader on feldgrau.net (horrible place apart from a few people, but that's another story):


Much overlooked work on the subject is Erich, Kuby's- The Russians and Berlin.It just so happened that I managed to get 'smy hands on it and on the Beevor’s book at the same time. Being able to read them simultaneously I could not help but wonder what was so revolutionary about much trumpeted Beevor? His (Beevor’s) book copied layout that of Kuby – its used the same set of illustrations and if there was difference it was not favorable to Beevor. It is interesting that both authors are journalists with militry background - big difference being of course that Kuby actually German WW II vet. Who fought on both Western and Eastern fronts, and the experience of the later led him to far more profound understanding of the events in questions than Beevor could ever hope to achieve.It's fairly old, and you may have to look around to find an English version.

bie
31st July 2010, 20:48
A very interesting article I have came across is the paper of N. Menkovich "Who raped Germany". It is very well documented and denounces the propaganda of "Soviet Army Crimes". Unfortunately, it is in Russian, but what are the on-line translators for?

Part 1 ( http://actualhistory.ru/51 )
Part 2 ( http://actualhistory.ru/52 )
Part 3 ( http://actualhistory.ru/91 )

On-line translators:

http://translation.trident.com.ua/
www.translate.google.com (http://translate.google.pl/)

RED DAVE
31st July 2010, 21:40
It's interesting that in American films made during the war, such as The North Star (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_North_Star_%281943_film%29) and Days of Glory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Days_of_Glory_%281944_film%29) inevitably showed Russians and idealistic, brave and loving their homeland. In fact North Star, when it was rereleased in the 50s, was cut and had a trailer added to it about the Hungarian Revolution.

There a beautiful cartoon by the American cartoonist Bill Mauldin showing a much more idealistic attitude featuring two members of the occupation forces in Berlin:

http://i28.tinypic.com/2vtv96h.jpg
"I hear Moscow an' Washington are snappin" at each other again, Ivan."

RED DAVE

Kayser_Soso
1st August 2010, 11:34
The book I mentioned earlier, The Myth of the Eastern Front, also contains a chapter about the friendly communication between America and the Soviet Union. The outpouring of support and sympathy of average Americans and their fighting men toward the Soviet Union is heartbreaking considering what happened afterward. You can blame Truman and Churchill for that.

Kayser_Soso
1st August 2010, 11:36
Beevor's work isn't worth the paper it's written on. There are serious methodological issues with audacious numbers such as the 2 million supposedly raped. Such a figure was extrapolated from postwar abortion records, but it's a funny thing when you look at the case files.

As historian Erich Kuby noted in his study of the occupation, there were very few reports of people using rape by the western allies as a rationale for abortion, and pretty much zero reports for rape by German men. Did all German-born rapists just go on vacation or something? It was no secret that the claim of being raped by a bestial Asiatic was a fast track to a no-questions-asked abortion.

Regarding the claims made in that telegraph article, yes, there were rapes, but coming from a hack pop historian like Beevor, I wonder how much of that is sensationalized garbage. That shitfuck never leaves notes of any sufficient detail to allow a perspicacious reader to track down and clarify his sources.

I am intrigued by the methodology you mention here. Can you link to some source detailing the use of abortion records. I had heard that the most recent reports said 2 million, but if this number was based on abortion records it definitely calls the whole thing into question.

Pavlov's House Party
1st August 2010, 12:32
While the American people showed support and solidarity for the Soviet Union during the Second World War, the American and British bourgeoisie saw them as a pawn to act as a bulwark against the German war machine and allowed these sentiments until the war was over, and then took back to demonizing the SU as they did more than a decade before.

WWII American poster:
http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc230/small/

The cover to a Cold War children's comic:
http://reallygoodmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/picture26_11.jpg

bie
1st August 2010, 15:13
I am intrigued by the methodology you mention here. Can you link to some source detailing the use of abortion records. I had heard that the most recent reports said 2 million, but if this number was based on abortion records it definitely calls the whole thing into question.
This methodology is described and the myth of "2 millions" denounced in the Menkovitch article I have mentioned before. Here is the Russian text:


Число изнасилований


В эти дни в ходу рассказы о том, как наш солдат зашел в немецкую квартиру, попросил напиться, а немка, едва его завидела, легла на диван и сняла трико.

Владимир Богомолов «Германия, Берлин. Весна 1945…»


Если верить современным западным «исследователям» изнасилования, которые красноармейцы учинили на немецкой территории, были действительно массовыми. В прошлое ушла невинная скромность Райан, который писал о числе изнасилованных немок, что «Врачи приводят цифры от 20 000 до 100 000»[26].

Учитывая, что с момента издания книги прошло более сорока лет, число «изнасилованных красноармейцами» заметно увеличилось. Энтони Бивор со ссылками на тех же «врачей» и книгу Зандер и Йор заявил, что 100 тысяч изнасилований было только в одном Берлине всего же «было изнасиловано порядка двух миллионов немецких женщин, многие из которых (если не большинство) перенесли это унижение по нескольку раз»[27].

Украинский журналист Владимир Перепадя «узаконил» оценку в 2 миллиона изнасилованных ссылкой на «западных исследователей», написав, правда, что «из них 500 тысяч — на территории советской зоны оккупации, то есть будущей ГДР»[28], чем оставил читателей в сильнейшем недоумении: где были изнасилованы еще полтора миллиона немок?

Впрочем, американский коллега Бивора Джонсон решил «слегка» увеличить число жертв Красной Армии: «Можно только гадать, но они составляют значительный процент тех, по меньшей мере, 15 миллионов женщин, которые либо проживали в советской оккупационной зоне, либо были изгнаны из восточных провинций Германии. О масштабах изнасилований можно судить по тому факту, что ежегодно в период 1945–1948 годов примерно два миллиона женщин делали нелегальные аборты»[29]. Таким образом, он обвинил советских солдат в изнасиловании до 6 миллионов немок.

Для начала представляется разумным положить конец этим расширяющимся притязаниям важным ограничением. Дело в том, что население ГДР в момент провозглашения составляло 18 миллионов человек[30], с добавлением немецкого населения земель, отчужденных по решению Потсдамской конференции, – 20–21 миллион. Долю женщин можно оценить примерно в 60-65%31. Следовательно, женское население, побывавшее под советской оккупацией можно ориентировочно оценить в 12–13,65 миллионов. Изнасиловать большее число женщин советские солдаты не могли просто за отсутствием таковых.

На взгляд автора сами эти подсчеты сомнительны. Даже «умеренная» оценка Зандер и Йор – в 2 миллиона изнасилованных, подразумевает, что каждая 6 восточная немка вне зависимости от возраста была минимум один раз изнасилована красноармейцами. Я пока не рассматривая возможность такой активности советских солдат, но в силу очевидных соображений при такой доле изнасилованных в послевоенном населении минимум половина людей соответствующего возраста должна знать конкретные факты изнасилований, соответственно информация о таком массовом явлении должна фиксироваться путем социальных опросов современников тех событий.

Между тем сторонники версии о массовых изнасилованиях, насколько известно нам, ни разу не использовали этот очевидный источник, предпочитая абстрактные рассуждения о влиянии массовых изнасилований на психологию восточных немцев. Вместо этого они предпочитают ссылаться на статистику абортов в различных госпиталях Берлина, а затем экстраполировать ее на остальную Германию.

Подобный подход представляется мне абсурдным, потому что позволяет получить совершенно фантастические результаты. Например, я возьму данные не берлинских госпиталей, а Гамбургской клиники материнства (Гамбург брала не РККА). В 1945 году на одни роды приходился один аборт, в 1946 году — 9(!), в 1947 и 1948 году – 2. Нам известна статистика рождаемости в Германии в послевоенные годы: в 1946 родилось — 156 407 детей, в 1947 – 129 976, 1948 – 113 31632. Вслед за «западными исследователями» смело предполагаем, что аномально высокий уровень родов – результат массовых изнасилований. Избыточных родов 26,4 тысяч, итого беременностей от 52,8 до 264 тысяч. При этом известно, что при изнасиловании беременность наступает примерно в 2-4% случаев33. Прекрасно: мы получаем от 2,6 до 13 миллионов изнасилований по Германии (из них на долю оккупированных СССР территорий приходится менее 1/3). Мне решительно непонятно, почему авторы «Освободителей и освобожденных» ограничили свое воображение 2 миллионами.

Или вот другой способ экстраполяции гамбургских данных на население Германии. В общей сложности в 1947 году жительницы этого города сделали 2200 абортов34, следовательно, что соответствует 22 тысячи беременностей от изнасилований. Пусть хотя бы половина из них результат массовых изнасилований. Население города на 1946 год 1,4 миллиона человек35, при 69 миллионах послевоенного населения36 – получаем примерно 540 тысяч изнасилований по стране. Совершенных... в 1946 году. И так играть цифрами можно продолжать до бесконечности.

Как мы видим, любая оценка числа изнасилований на основе демографических данных – сомнительна. Можно только смело утверждать, что послевоенный год совпал с ростом числа беременностей, родов и абортов. В чем же причина? Обратимся к данным абортариев.

Да, в ряде заявок поданных женщинами на производство аборта, написанных в советской зоне оккупации заявительницы утверждают, что были изнасилованы. Но эти тексты, написанные в период боев и сразу после их завершения следует использовать в качестве источника с большой осторожностью. Да, большинство заявительниц утверждало, что изнасилованы красноармейцами. Однако почему-то заявлявшие, что пострадали от насилия, позже с поразительной настойчивостью описывали нападавших как азиатов (или на Западе — негров)[37]. Чисто логически это сомнительно, так как население СССР имело преимущественно европеоидную внешность, однако вполне соответствовало штампам гитлеровской пропаганда о «узкоглазых варварах».

Причина этих сомнительных сообщений – в приказе подписанном Мартином Борманом 28 марта 1945 года, которая разрешал производить в Рейхе аборты, ранее строго запрещенные – в случае если женщина заявляет, что была изнасилована иностранным солдатом[38]. Любая женщина, желающая прервать беременность по тем или иным причинам, имела вполне рациональный стимул повторять штампы немецкой пропаганды.

Кроме изнасилований, совершенных иностранными солдатами, у желания сделать аборт могли быть вполне прозаические причины. С войной на Германию обрушилась нищета, так что многие семьи просто не могли позволить себе обзавестись новым ребенком. Промышленность была разрушена бомбежками, хозяйственные связи нарушены продвижением фронтов, большинство мужчин находились на фронте или в плену, что провоцировало у женщин наравне с безысходность, скажем так,— падение благонравия. Солдаты оккупационных войск, получавшие пайковую пищу и табак, становились своеобразной аристократией на бывших землях Рейха, что вызывало вполне понятный интерес к ним женщин. Власти Австрии вскоре после вторжения советских войск зафиксировали рост числа случаев откровенной проституции среди молодых местных жительниц[39]. Та же тенденция широко встречалась и в Берлине после капитуляции, хотя являлась предметом осуждения с этической и «расовой» позиций[40]. Естественно женщины стремились скрывать эти связи и вполне могли выдавать их нежелательные последствия за результат изнасилований.

Разумеется, немки руководствовались не только меркантильными соображениями. Если верить Бивору, то в 1945 еще до поражения в Берлине установилась атмосфера какого-то полового безумия: «Желание расстаться со своей невинностью стало среди молодых женщин еще более отчаянным несколько позднее, когда Красная Армия уже подходила к воротам Берлина… Одним из побочных эффектов нарушения ее законов стала преждевременная сексуальная зрелость юнцов, отправляющихся на смерть. Приближение врага к стенам столицы сделало их желание поскорее потерять свою невинность особо острым. С другой стороны, девушки, хорошо осведомленные о том, что может случиться после прихода Красной Армии, предпочитали сделать это в первый раз с молодым немецким парнем, чем с пьяным и, возможно, грубым советским солдатом… Одновременно усилилась сексуальная активность людей различных возрастов, местом проявления которой служили всяческие рабочие помещения, подвалы и кладовые. Эффект, оказываемый смертельной опасностью на сексуальные инстинкты людей, уже достаточно хорошо изучен и не может рассматриваться как некий феномен»[41]. Все ли эти связи проходили без последствий? И как их объясняли потом участники? Бивор этого не уточняет.

Таким образом ни статистика абортов, ни данные о распространении венерических заболеваний[42], которые используют некоторые западные авторы, пишущие о многотысячных изнасилованиях, не могут служить основанием для выводов о численности изнасилований, а отражают лишь интенсивность половой жизни и положение с противозачаточными средствами на изучаемых территориях.

Во конце войны нравы обрели известную простоту, что объяснялось не только распространением проституции, но и элементарной нехваткой мужчин на землях Рейха. Из-за дефицита половой жизни многие немки сравнительно легко соглашались на близость с солдатами и офицерами вошедшей армии, тем более что в условиях кризиса она порой превращалась в средство самообеспечения. Так, по оценкам венгерских властей число проституток в Будапеште после начала оккупации увеличилось в 20 раз[44].

Советский офицер И. Кобылянский вспоминал после войны свое пребывание в Германии: «По вечерам, после отбоя кое-кто из смелых и удачливых офицеров покидал расположение части, чтобы тайком навестить немецкую «подругу». Как правило, в руках у нарушителя был свёрточек с чем-нибудь съестным. Знать немецкий язык для этих визитов было необязательно»[45].

Артиллерист Л. Рабичев вспоминает один из таких визитов: «Зашли в дом. Много комнат, но женщины сгрудились в одной огромной гостиной. На диванах, на креслах и на ковре на полу сидят, прижавшись друг к другу, закутанные в платки. А нас было шестеро, и Осипов — боец из моего взвода — спрашивает: “Какую тебе?” …Осипов подходит к моей избраннице. Она встает, и направляется ко мне, и говорит: “Гер лейтенант — айн! Нихт цвай! Айн!” И берет меня за руку, и ведет в пустую соседнюю комнату, и говорит тоскливо и требовательно: “Айн, айн”. А в дверях стоит мой новый ординарец Урмин и говорит: “Давай быстрей, лейтенант, я после тебя”, и она каким-то образом понимает то, что он говорит, и делает резкий шаг вперед, прижимается ко мне, и взволнованно: “Нихт цвай”, и сбрасывает с головы платок»[46].

Объяснить такую «простоту» запуганностью немок проблематично, так как в ряде случаев обстоятельства исключают возможность какого-либо принуждения. В частности в политдонесениях можно было прочитать такую историю: «Командир взвода автоматчиков дивизии старшина Шумейко, уже после ознакомления под расписку с директивой 11072, имел с местной жительницей немкой Эммой Куперт, 32 лет, половое сношение продолжительностью более суток, причем зашедшему к ней в дом с проверкой патрулю Куперт пыталась выдать старшину Шумейко, находившегося в шелковом белье под одеялом, за своего мужа, от рождения глухонемого и потому освобожденного от службы в немецкой армии. Однако старшим патруля Шумейко был опознан и доставлен в часть»[47].And below is the "google translation" (sorry for the low quality):

The number of rape


In these days run stories on how our soldiers went into a German apartment, asked for a drink, and a German woman, barely caught sight of him, lay on the couch and took off her tights.

Vladimir Bogomolov, "Germany, Berlin. Spring 1945 ... "


If you believe the modern Western "researchers" of rape, which the Red Army waged on German territory, were truly massive. In the past left an innocent modesty Ryan, who wrote about the number of raped German women, that "Physicians leading figures from 20 000 to 100 000" [26].

Given that since the publication of the book has been more than forty years, the number of raped by Red Army soldiers "has risen markedly. Antony Beevor with links to the same "doctors" and the book Zander and Yore said that 100,000 rape was just one of Berlin as "had been raped two million German women, many of which (if not most) have experienced a humiliation for several </span>time "[27].

Ukrainian journalist Vladimir drop "legitimize" an assessment of $ 2 million raped a reference to "Western scholars" writing, though, that "of them 500 thousand - in the Soviet zone of occupation, that is, the GDR's future" [28] than the left readers in the strongest </span>puzzled: where were raped another half million German women?

However, the U.S. counterpart Beevor Johnson decided to "slightly" increase the number of victims of the Red Army: "One can only guess, but they constitute a significant percentage of those at least 15 million women who either lived in the Soviet zone or were expelled from the eastern provinces </span>Germany. The scale of rape can be judged from the fact that each year in the period 1945-1948 years about two million women were doing illegal abortions "[29]. Thus, he accused the Soviet soldiers in rape and 6 million German women.

First, it seems reasonable to put an end to the expanding ambitions of important limitations. The fact that the population of the GDR at the time of the proclamation was 18 million people [30], with the addition of the German population of land alienated by the decision of the Potsdam Conference - 20-21 million. " </span>The proportion of women can be estimated at about 60-65% 31. Consequently, the female population who have walked under Soviet occupation can be tentatively estimated in 12-13,65 million. Rape more women to the Soviet soldiers could not simply for the lack thereof.

In the author's view of themselves, these calculations are questionable. Even the "moderate" estimate Zander and Yor - 2 million raped, implies that every six eastern German woman, regardless of age was at least once raped by Red Army soldiers. </span>I'm not considering the possibility of such an activity of Soviet soldiers, but for obvious reasons if such share were raped in the post-war population of at least half of the people of appropriate age should know the specific facts of rape, respectively, information about such a mass phenomenon must be recorded by the social survey contemporaries of those events.

</span>Meanwhile, supporters of the version of mass rape, as far as we know, never used this obvious source, preferring to abstract reasoning about the impact of mass rapes in the psychology of the East Germans. </span>Instead, they prefer to rely on statistics of abortion in various hospitals in Berlin, and then extrapolate for the rest of Germany.

Such an approach seems to me absurd, because you can get absolutely fantastic results. For example, I'll take the data is not in Berlin hospitals and maternity clinics in Hamburg (Hamburg took the Red Army did not). In 1945 alone there was only one birth abortion, in 1946 - 9 (!), In 1947 and 1948 - 2. We know the statistics of birth in Germany in the postwar years: born in 1946 - 156,407 children in 1947 - 129,976 1948 - 113 31632. Following the "Western scholars" boldly assume that the abnormally high level of birth - the result of mass rape. Excess births 26,400, for a total pregnancies from 52.8 to 264 thousand. It is known that the rape pregnancy occurs in about 2-4% sluchaev33. Fine: we get from 2,6 to 13 million rapes in Germany (of which the share of occupied Soviet territories represent less than 1 / 3). I absolutely do not understand why the authors of the Liberators and the liberated "limited imagination 2 million.

Or there is another way of extrapolating data on the population of Hamburg in Germany. In total, in 1947, a resident of this city have 2200 abortov34, therefore, that corresponds to 22,000 pregnancies from rape. Suppose that at least half of them the result of mass rape. The population in 1946 1,4 million chelovek35, with 69 million postwar naseleniya36 - we get about 540,000 rapes in the country. Perfect ... 1946. And so the numbers could continue to play indefinitely.

As we see, any assessment of the incidence of rape on the basis of demographic data - is questionable. You can only safely say that the post-war years coincided with an increase in the number of pregnancies, births and abortions. What is the reason? We turn to these abortion clinics.

Yes, in a number of applications filed by women on abortion, written in the Soviet zone of occupation of the applicant's claim that they were raped. </span>But these texts are written in the fighting and immediately after their completion, should be used as a source with great caution. Yes, most of the complainants claimed that the Red Army raped. However, for some reason, proclaiming that have suffered from violence, and later with astounding perseverance described the attackers as Asians (or in the West - Negro) [37]. Pure logic is questionable, since the Soviet population was predominantly caucasian appearance, but it is consistent with stamps of Hitler's propaganda about the "narrow-eyed barbarians.

</span>The reason for these questionable messages - in an order signed by Martin Bormann March 28, 1945, which authorized the abortion in the Reich, formerly strictly prohibited - If a woman says she was raped by foreign soldiers [38]. </span>Any woman wishing to terminate their pregnancies for whatever reason, had a quite rational incentive to repeat the cliches of German propaganda.

In addition to rape, committed by foreign soldiers, the desire to have an abortion could be quite mundane reasons. With the war on Germany collapsed, poverty, so that many families simply could not afford to get a new child. The industry was destroyed by bombing, economic ties have violated the promotion of fronts, most men were at the front or in captivity, that provoked by women equally with despair, so to say, - the fall of Virtue. </span>The soldiers of the occupying forces, receive a meal food and tobacco, became a kind of aristocracy in the former lands of the Reich, which led to understandable concern to them women. </span>Austrian authorities shortly after the Soviet invasion of documented growth in the number of cases of outright prostitution among young local residents [39]. </span>The same trend is widely met in Berlin after the surrender, but was the subject of condemnation from the ethical and "racial" positions [40]. Naturally, women tend to conceal these connections and could well give them undesirable consequences for the result of rape.

Of course, the German women were guided not only materialistic considerations. According to Beevor, then in 1945, even before the defeat in Berlin to establish a climate of a sexual insanity: "The desire to part with his innocence, was among young women is even more desperate a little bit later, when the Red Army was already close to the gates of Berlin ... One of the side effects of violations </span>its laws began to premature sexual maturity of youths going to the death. Approximation of the enemy the walls of the capital made their desire to quickly lose their virginity particularly acute. On the other hand, girls who are informed about what might happen after the Red Army arrived, they preferred to do it for the first time with a young German boy, what a drunken and possibly blatant Soviet soldier ... the same time, increased sexual activity of people of different ages, a place </span>manifestations of which served all kinds of office space, basements and storerooms. The effect, rendered mortal danger to the sexual instincts of people, already well studied and can not be regarded as a phenomenon "[41]. </span>Do all these links were without consequences? And as they later explained to the participants? Beevor does not specify.

Thus neither the statistics of abortions, no data on the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases [42], which use some Western authors writing about the thousands of rape, can not serve as a basis for conclusions about the number of rapes, but only reflect the intensity of sexual activity and status of contraception in the studied </span>territories.

At the end of the war found a certain simplicity of manners, not only because of the spread of prostitution, but the unit shortage of men on the lands of the Reich. </span>Due to the lack of sexual activity, many German women were relatively easy to agree on the proximity of the soldiers and officers who entered the army, the more so in times of crisis, it sometimes turned into a means of self-sufficiency. </span>Thus, according to estimates by the Hungarian authorities the number of prostitutes in Budapest after the beginning of the occupation has increased 20 times [44].

A Soviet officer I. Kobylyansky recalled after the war, his stay in Germany: "At night, after lights out some of the bravest and luckiest officers left the location of the parts to secretly visit the German" friend ". </span>Typically, in the hands of the offender was bundle with something edible. Knowing the German language for these visits was not necessary "[45].

Gunner L. Rabichev recalls one of these visits: "We went into the house. Many rooms, but the women huddled together in one huge room. On the sofa, chairs and the carpet on the floor, sitting, huddled together, wrapped in scarves. And we had six, and Osipov - a soldier in my platoon - asks: "What do you want?" ... Osipov comes to my beloved. She gets up and goes to me and says: "Ger Lieutenant - ein! Niht Zevai! Ayn! "And taking me by the hand and leads into an empty adjoining room, and said sadly, and demanded:" Ayn, Ayn. In the doorway stood my new batman Urmin and says: "Let's hurry, sir, I'm after you", and she somehow understands what he says and makes a dramatic step forward, pressing her to me and excitedly: "Niht </span>Zevai, and resets the kerchief from her head "[46].

To explain this "simple" fright German women is problematic because in some cases, circumstances preclude the possibility of coercion. In particular politdoneseniyah could read the following story: "The platoon commander submachine Division Sergeant Shumeyko already after reading a receipt with the directive 11072, was a local resident German teacher Emma Kupert, 32 years old, sexual intercourse longer than days, and who came to her house </span>with test Kupert patrol sergeant attempted to issue Shumeyko, who was in silk lingerie under a blanket, her husband, deaf-mute from birth, and therefore released from service in the German army. </span>However, the senior patrol Shumeyko was identified and brought to the part "[47].</span>
Once again - sorry for the low quality of the translation. The whole article can be found under links:

Part 1 (http://actualhistory.ru/51) (russian) Part 1 (http://translate.google.ie/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=pl&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Factualhistory.ru%2F51&sl=ru&tl=en) (english)
Part 2 (http://actualhistory.ru/52) (russian) Part 1 (http://translate.google.ie/translate?hl=pl&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Factualhistory.ru%2F52)(english)
Part 3 (http://actualhistory.ru/91) ([/URL]russian) [URL="http://translate.google.ie/translate?hl=pl&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Factualhistory.ru%2F91"]Part 3 (http://actualhistory.ru/91) (english)

Red Commissar
3rd August 2010, 17:02
This is a useful thread. I've come across many people who seem to have a fixation on making the Red Army seem like mindless barbarians or the world's largest rape van (literally).

The presence of works that demonize the Red Army serve a useful point from the standpoint of the American political scene. They continue the trend of anti-Communism and prevent people from having too much sympathy with the force that did the majority of the brunt of fighting against Nazi Germany.

Then there's the other issues I tend to see- the Red Army only won because of their manpower, because of the winter- even if we are take these gross simplifications at face value, since when was it such a bad thing for a nation to use their advantages to the fullest? Is there some unknown war manual I'm not aware of that says a nation has to intentionally handipcap themselves? :rolleyes:

This mindset had to go into overdrive as a result of the WW II trend in video games too I reckon. A lot of youth who had only learned about Soviet involvement in history classes only focused on Stalingrad (at least from my experience), got exposed to video games which portrayed a more extensive role of Soviet involvement in WW II and subsequently I know many of them probably got interest in the Red Army. Of course, these negative portrayals of them were naturally the next thing available to them.

Tavarisch_Mike
3rd August 2010, 20:38
About the rapes, i have my doubts that anyone has done some serious counting about it, at least i havnt heard of any trustworthy source yet. Dont get mee wrong im not denying that they actually happend, ofcourse not and probaly/unfortunately there where a lot of them, but they where done by some stupid individuals not organized by the red army itselves.

The whole thing is so cynial, once again dont get me wrong i hate to make such tradgic thing into politic, but think about this barbaric period known as the second world war, about all that horror mankind had to deal with massmurdering, firebombing, nuclear weapons, koncentration camps, extermination projects and of all this some people (right-wingers, nazis, liberals) allways wants to talk about is some single but terrible things commited by idividual soldiers and make that into "The totally organized brutality done by the red army as a whole".

When i had history lessons in school and we read about ww2 we didnt read so much about the eastern front and particulary not about the ettempt of Extermination against the people living there. This in combination with the common picture of that evrything about the Soviet Union must be bad doesnt give any perspective when you want to talk about errors and crimes that was made by people in the red army.

About the quality of the red armys warfare, yes theire number played an important role no question about that. But the whole thing that they where strategicly and technically retarded is a myth, even the historian Anthony Beevor has wroted that during this period the Soviet Union had one of the moste modern militaries in the world, the great failurs in the begining was a result of no preparation for a soone attac (because of the none-intervation-pact) and Stalins process of getting away experinced officers frome theire posts. The red amry was very good in using mobile warfare, theire summer and automn-offensive beated the nazis blitzkrieg very well.