Postwar occupation abuse and prostitution were rampant among GIs in Germany

Evidence

Amid such destitution and destruction, tensions grew between occupiers and occupied. After years of bloody fighting, the first year of postwar occupation in particular was characterized by an aggressive Allied campaign to seize homes, automobiles, bicycles, wine, and other property from the locals. GIs called this “liberating” and spoke euphemistically of rape as “liberating a blonde.” Even when outright force was not involved, the nature of sexual relationships between GIs and German women—romance, prostitution, or assault—was often hazy at best. Survival prostitution was widespread, with impoverished women sometimes congregating outside PXs and soldiers’ camps. Venereal disease rates reflected as much. In April 1945, less than 6 percent of GIs had VD. Fifteen months later, the rate was over 30 percent. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 116

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• XREF: The VD statistics track the reader’s interest in the real costs of bases to host populations, here including sexual exploitation.
• SHARE: The ‘liberating a blonde’ euphemism for rape and the VD rate jump are striking nuggets for someone into occupation history.

Related

• Postwar occupation forces seized property and euphemized rape as liberating (similarity 0.93)