How did the Soviets treat German civilians?

Soviet authorities deported German civilians from Germany and Eastern Europe to the USSR after World War II as forced laborers, while ethnic Germans living in the USSR were deported during World War II and conscripted for forced labor.

What did the Russians do to German civilians?

"The Russian soldiers were raping every German female from eight to eighty," she recounted later. "It was an army of rapists." Drink of every variety, including dangerous chemicals seized from laboratories and workshops, was a major factor in the violence.

How did the Soviets treat German prisoners?

Weakened by disease, starvation and lack of medical care during the encirclement, many died of wounds, disease (particularly typhus spread by body lice), malnutrition and maltreatment in the months following capture at Stalingrad: only approximately 6,000 of them lived to be repatriated after the war.

How were German civilians affected by ww2?

Over the next 3 years: 61 German cities, with a combined population of 25 million, were attacked; 3.6 million homes were destroyed; 7.5 million people were made homeless; 300,000 – 400,000 Germans were killed in the raids; and 800,000 people were wounded.

What did the Soviets want to do to Germany?

The Soviets sought huge reparations from Germany in the form of money, industrial equipment, and resources. The Russians also made it clear that they desired a neutral and disarmed Germany.

Captured Soviet Female Soldiers - How Did the Germans Treat Them?

Why did the Soviets want to keep Germany weak?

Stalin wanted Germany to stay weak. He was concerned that they might attack the USSR again in the future. He wanted them to pay compensation to the USSR for damage during the war. The USA wanted Germany to stay strong.

Could Germany have defeated the Soviet Union?

Thus, if Hitler had allowed his generals to capture Moscow first, the Germans likely have won the war. Due to Hitler's rosy predictions for a swift Soviet collapse and an end to the war in the East by December 1941, Germany failed to produce winter clothing for his invading troops.

What was life like for German civilians after ww2?

Living in Germany after World War II was a grim reality for citizens coming to terms with both conflict and atrocity. Almost everyone had to cope with loss, as an estimated 8.8 million German civilians and 5.5 million German military members lost their lives due to WWII.

Who were the Germans most afraid of?

How were German Americans treated during WWII?

During WWII, the United States detained at least 11,000 ethnic Germans, overwhelmingly German nationals. The government examined the cases of German nationals individually, and detained relatively few in internment camps run by the Department of Justice, as related to its responsibilities under the Alien Enemies Act.

How many German survivors of Stalingrad are still alive?

Only 6,000 German survivors from Stalingrad made it home after the war, many after spending years in Soviet prison camps. Of those, about 1,000 are still alive.

What happened to German prisoners of war?

After World War II, German prisoners were taken back to Europe as part of a reparations agreement. They were forced into harsh labor camps. Many prisoners did make it home in 18 to 24 months, Lazarus said. But Russian camps were among the most brutal, and some of their German POWs didn't return home until 1953.

How long did the Soviet Union keep German POWs?

The Soviets released 10,200 POWs in 1953. The remaining 9,262 had been mostly accused of war crimes and sentenced to lengthy prison terms that would last until the 1980s.

Did the Germans fear Canadians?

In his 1929 bestseller Good-Bye to All That, he wrote “the troops that had the worst reputation for acts of violence against prisoners were the Canadians.” Germans developed a special contempt for the Canadian Corps, seeing them as unpredictable savages.

What did German soldiers call American soldiers?

Ami – German slang for an American soldier.

Who was the toughest soldier in ww2?

SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Otto Skorzeny was one of the most celebrated and feared commandos of World War II. Daring operations such as the rescue of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and missions behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge made him known as “the most dangerous man in Europe.”

How was Germany treated after ww2?

A Divided Germany

About 15 million ethnic Germans living in this territory were forced to leave, suffering terrible conditions during their expulsion. Many froze or starved to death on over-crowded trains, while others were subject to forced labor camps under Polish and Czechoslovakian governments.

What did German civilians eat in ww2?

The Germans' diet became more monotonous, with lots of bread, potatoes and preserves. There were meat shortages due to lack of imports from the USA. Meat rations dropped from 750 grams per week in 1939 to 250 grams per week in 1945.

Who cleaned up after ww2?

When the war ended, graves registration soldiers still had work to do—scouring battlefields for hastily buried bodies that had been overlooked. In the European Theater, the bodies were scattered over 1.5 million square miles of territory; in the Pacific, they were scattered across numerous islands and in dense jungles.

Would the Allies have won ww2 without Russia?

So could the Allies have won the war without Russia? Well, had Germany never invaded the Soviet Union, the answer is yes, they almost certainly would have done – eventually.

Could the Soviet Union have won ww2 alone?

Most Russians believe the Soviet military would have been able to win World War II without the efforts of the U.S. or its allies, a new poll finds. The Soviet Union suffered the most casualties in the conflict, and the issue is highly emotional for many Russians.

Are we still paying Japan for ww2?

The only Allied country who won but paid compensation was the USA, to Japan. In 1988, under the Civil Liberties Act, U.S. President, Ronald Reagan, apologized to the Japanese-Americans interned in camps during World War II and agreed to pay $20,000 to each surviving former detainee.

How did the Soviets and the West disagree over Germany?

The USSR was to receive most of the reparation payments from Germany to compensate for the country's losses. However, Stalin wanted to destroy the German economy to ensure that Germany could never rise again. Conversely, the Western Allies wanted Germany to be strong enough that it could contribute to world trade.

Which country suffered the largest loss of life in World War II?

The Soviet Union is estimated to have suffered the highest number of WWII casualties.