Do NKVD files say that during WWII, Soviet leadership knew about the rape of Soviet women liberated from labour camps and did nothing to stop it?
Upvote:5
I do not have access to NKVD files, whatever they say, but the story is well documented in the literature, including the Russian literature (memoirs of Russian soldiers). One especially good source is memoirs of Lev Kopelev, a Russian author, who tried to protest and was imprisoned for his protests (see Wikipedia). There are many other memoirs of Russian soldiers.
NKVD did try to fight this, at least on some later stage, and certain number of Soviet soldiers were tried and punished for rape, violence, robbery and murders.
However the number trials was too small in comparison with the enormous scale of rape and violence that actually occurred.
The victims of rape were not only Germans but also foreigners of all nations, people displaced by war for various reasons, including camp inmates. Same happened not only on the enemy territory but also on the territory of the allies, like Yugoslavia. On Yugoslavia, the best source is the memoirs of Milovan Djilas (Memoir of a Revolutionary, 1973, see Wikipedia) who was a top communist Yugoslav politician at that time.
Unfortunately, all references that I now have are in Russian, including Djilas. But there exist also many German ones, including two German movies, based on published accounts of the victims, that I have seen.
This Wikipedia artile gives a survey of the subject and some English references:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_during_the_occupation_of_Germany
You also ask about Soviet leadership. There is no doubt that leadership knew what is going on. It also tried to restrict violence but too late and too little. All memoirs agree in that the violence was strongest in the beginning of occupation of Germany, that some high commanders considered it normal and justified it, and official media encouraged it (I. Ehrenburg's articles in central newspapers, for example). At a later stage they tried to restrict it, probably out of concern about discipline of their army.
More post
- 📝 How did pilots know when to release bombs on airplanes during World War2?
- 📝 Did the British screw Lee Kuan Yew over by withdrawing their naval presence earlier than intended?
- 📝 Are there any theories of Tiglath Pileser III's origins?
- 📝 Who decided on the name "Mexico"?
- 📝 What was the average percentage of taxes in Europe during the Middle Ages?
- 📝 What evidence is there to suggest that 'fear of the bomb' is culturally specific?
- 📝 Why do certain foods (i.e. wheat and rice) dominate our carbohydrate intake?
- 📝 What was the economic basis for West Berlin?
- 📝 Could the nukes involved in the 1966 Palomares B-52 crash have detonated?
- 📝 Did Democritus of Abdera, Thrace accuse the Jews of sacrificing Greeks in their religious rituals?
- 📝 Was red associated with "stop" or "danger" before railroads?
- 📝 Is there a record of the times the nuclear brief case or its Russian counterpart have ever been actually opened?
- 📝 Can you help identify this European military uniform?
- 📝 Why was the Japanese Army's fatalities inflicted:suffered ratio so low in the Pacific theatre?
- 📝 Why was the Records of the Three Kingdoms composed before that of the Later Han?
- 📝 Did Adolf Hitler live in Liverpool, as his sister-in-law Bridget Hitler stated?
- 📝 How did Lenin secure his regime?
- 📝 When was General Douglas MacArthur made aware of the Manhattan Project?
- 📝 How many people died in the nazi concentration camps and death trains and marches?
- 📝 Reference request - Books on Israel-Palestine conflict
- 📝 Which Roman general was killed by his own soldiers for not letting them to loot a newly conquered city?
- 📝 What happened to the undergrad students who attended the Feynman Lecture Series in 1961-63?
- 📝 What is the reason that European Democracies developed without judicial independence?
- 📝 When the national leader is a foreigner
- 📝 Why did LBJ, a staunch segregationist, champion and sign the 1964 Civil Rights Bill?
- 📝 How did a travelling Roman army decide where to temporarily camp for the night?
- 📝 What pretext did Hitler use to justify Operation Barbarossa?
- 📝 How common are historical instances of mercenary armies reversing and attacking their employing country?
- 📝 Why did Chinese use high tin bronze for swords?
- 📝 Why did Canada, Australia and New Zealand separate from the UK?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Do NKVD files say that during WWII, Soviet leadership knew about the rape of Soviet women liberated from labour camps and did nothing to stop it?
- 📝 What is the historical evidence behind the claim that the Soviet armies perpetrated mass rapes during their stay in Germany?
- 📝 Did Radio Free Europe say that the Allies would come to the rescue during the Hungarian Revolution?
- 📝 How did the Soviet press talk about the opposing forces (mujahideens) during the Soviet-Afghan war?
- 📝 What exactly do eyewitness testimonies say about Hitler's behavior during the Munich Putsch?
- 📝 What did Kennedy know about Soviet missiles during the Cuban missile crisis?
- 📝 When did the allies find out about the killing of Jews during WW2
- 📝 Why didn't Imperial Japan attack the Soviet Union during World War 2?
- 📝 During the breakup of the Soviet Union, on what basis was citizenship granted or withheld for each of the fifteen new republics?
- 📝 What did Germany do in World War II about the different rail gauge in the Soviet Union?
- 📝 Why did the Soviet Union out-pace the US during the space-race?
- 📝 What disruptions were brought about by Islam that the Arabians saw so many victories?
- 📝 How beneficial were war bonds to the US during WWII
- 📝 What was the role of the Soviet Navy during WWII?
- 📝 Did Churchill and Roosevelt know about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, or the following secret pacts between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union?
- 📝 Why did Stalin and the Soviet leadership have Leon Trotsky assassinated?
- 📝 Is there any evidence that the Catholic Church slowed innovation during the Middle Ages?
- 📝 What was the ratio of German to Soviet losses on Eastern front during different stages of the war?
- 📝 Why did Churchill become the PM of Britain during WWII instead of Lord Halifax?
- 📝 How close was the Soviet Union to collapsing during WW2?
- 📝 Did the Soviet leadership ever address the American people on American TV?
- 📝 What was the liquor that was based on petrol which was produced in the USSR during the Second World War?
- 📝 Was Russia the only country in WWII that succeeded in expansionist war aims?
- 📝 What did the top minds of the late 17th century have to say about Salem witch trials?
- 📝 What did the Soviets know about the Hunger Plan during WWII?
- 📝 Why were schoolchildren in the USA taught virtually nothing about the Holocaust during the fifties and sixties?
- 📝 How could it be that 80% of townspeople were farmers during the Edo period in Japan?
- 📝 How to explain the Khalkhin Gol outcome in view of Soviet weakness and Japanese strength at that time?
- 📝 What was the Soviet role in Syria during the Cold-War?
- 📝 Communication lag during the Age of Sail: what if enemy claimed that peace agreement was signed?