In the final months of the Second World War,
as the net tightened on the government of the Nazi Party, the Allies and the Red Army
stormed into German lands and caused chaos.

There was much suffering in the final days
of the deadliest conflict in History, and much assault was committed against the women
of Germany.

Thousands of crimes would be committed against
them but not just the Red Army, but also other Allied armies.

These incidents led to the fear spreading
amongst the surviving German population with locals sheltering women and trying to hide
them.

In Berlin, women sheltered during what they
believed was ‘the hunting hours,’ after Soviet soldiers would get very drunk and then
hunt for women as if they were prey.

But what isn’t as well documented is the
crimes committed by the Americans and also the British.

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Much of the violence against women occurred
when the soldiers fought their way into the Third Reich and the heart of Germany.

Many believed that they could do as they pleased,
and the Soviets in particular believed in revenge for the crimes committed upon women
living in the Soviet Union following Operation Barbarossa.

The first crimes by Soviet soldiers began
during the Battle of Romania and during the Budapest Offensive, and the majority of assaults
were committed in the Soviet occupation zones.

Estimates state that over 2 million women
were subjected to horrific ordeals, and many women were repeatedly assaulted up to 70 times
by soldiers.

It’s believed that 240,000 women died in
connection with the assaults in Germany, with many struggling to live with themselves after
their ordeal.

There was no limit on age, as women up to
80 years old were targeted, but Stalin had a disgusting attitude towards the crimes.

He stated that one should understand if a
soldier who has crossed thousands of kilometres through blood and fire and death has fun with
a woman or takes some trifle.

’ Even after the war, there were mass crimes
committed against women by the Soviets upon those who lived under the occupation zone
designated for them.

One former Soviet officer would state, ‘we
were young’s strong and four years without women, so we tried to Catch German women.

There were not enough women, the entire population
ran from the Soviet Army, so we had to take the young.

’ A woman telephone operator who served in the
Soviet army stated, ‘I feel shame now, but I did not feel shame back then, we hated to
see the Germans undamaged white houses, I wanted them to suffer, I wanted to see their
tears.

’ Another said, ‘You know very well that we’ve
come to Germany to take our revenge.

’ Eyewitness testimony from the Battle of Berlin
was harrowing as it documented the assault by Soviet soldiers.

It was said, ‘The next morning, we women
proceeded to make ourselves look as unattractive as possible to the Soviets by smearing our
faces with coal dust and covering our heads with old rags, our make-up for the Ivan.

We huddled together in the central part of
the basement, shaking with fear, while some peeked through the low basement windows to
see what was happening on the Soviet-controlled street.

We felt paralyzed by the sight of these husky
Mongolians, looking wild and frightening.

At the ruin across the street from us the
first Soviet orders were posted, including a curfew.

Suddenly there was a shattering noise outside.

Horrified, we watched the Soviets demolish
the corner grocery store and throw its contents, shelving and furniture out into the street.

Urgently needed bags of flour, sugar and rice
were split open and spilled their contents on the bare pavement, while Soviet soldiers
stood guard with their rifles so that no one would dare to pick up any of the urgently
needed food.

This was just unbelievable.

At night, a few desperate people tried to
salvage some of the spilled food from the gutter.

Hunger now became a major concern because
our ration cards were worthless with no hope of any supplies.

’ Another said, ‘The front-line Russian troops
who did the fighting – as a woman, you didn’t have to be afraid of them.

They shot every man they saw, even old men
and young boys, but they left the women alone.

It was the ones who came afterwards, the second
echelon, who were the worst.

They did all the raping and plundering.

They stripped homes of every single possession,
right down to the toilets.

’ Diseases spread throughout the German population,
and many women were killed by their husbands for allegedly consenting in relations with
Allied soldiers, and many German women were verbally attacked by German soldiers on the
streets for being assaulted by allied soldiers.

But it wasn’t just the Soviet soldiers who
rampaged throughout Germany, as an American Historian estimates that the number of assaults
committed by the American servicemen in Germany was around 11,000.

These occurred following the D-Day invasion,
and many of the crimes in Germany were committed by armed soldiers who at gunpoint committed
the terrible crimes.

Within the American Army, there were policies
which discouraged fraternisation with the German people, but the Americans claimed that
if they didn’t converse with the women then this didn’t matter, which was a disturbing
look on their actions.

An Australian who served with the American
soldiers later wrote, ‘After the fighting moved on to German soil, there was a good
deal of assault by combat troops and those immediately following them.

The incidence varied between unit and unit
according to the attitude of the commanding officer.

In some cases offenders were identified, tried
by court martial, and punished.

The army legal branch was reticent, but admitted
that for brutal or perverted sexual offences against German women, some soldiers had been
shot – particularly if they happened to be black soldiers.

Yet I know for a fact that many women were
assaulted by white Americans.