In Hitler's Shadow by Tim Heath

Author:Tim Heath
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / World War II
ISBN: 9781526720030
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2018-04-30T04:00:00+00:00

10

Don’t Talk to the Germans

Allied authority was imposed over all of the territory of the former Third Reich west of the Oder–Neisse line. Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, US General Dwight D. Eisenhower, drafted a strict non-fraternization policy to be observed by all commands of the Allied occupation army in Germany. The policy was implemented almost immediately after the German surrender. American, British, French, Commonwealth, and indeed all Allied troops, were expected to comply with the policy. It would not have taken a genius to recognize that such a policy was totally unenforceable. As such it was largely ignored by Allied troops.

As time went by, things became more relaxed, until Eisenhower finally called a halt to the entire effort to enforce a non-fraternization policy among the Allied troops in Germany.

In total contrast, by January 1946, US authorities began to permit marriages between US soldiers and German women. Consequently, many German girls would leave Germany with their soldier husbands to start new lives in America. For those lucky girls who did meet and fall in love with an American or British soldier, such an outcome, though never easy, was seen as something of a salvation from the general hardships of living in a country with virtually no infrastructure. There are stories of true love and devotion, which will warm the coldest of hearts, and some stories of love that sadly were never to be.

The story of Eleonore Kirschener is typical of many:

Initially, I think the British and Americans were so suspicious of us Germans, that they thought in some ways we were monsters. Over time, though, things became more comfortable and the suspicion in which we were once held began to wane. No one seemed to care anymore who was doing what, and against my parents’ wishes, I began to see a young American soldier.

He was 21 while I was 19. I had seen him one or two times when he finally came up to me and asked me my name. His German was awful, but we could communicate. He told me that his name was Earl Caderton James and that he came from New Jersey. He wanted to take me out on a picnic. I agreed, and our romance began to flourish very rapidly from that point. He would come to my house in his car, but my parents did not want to meet him. So, I would go out to him and we would drive to the countryside where we would enjoy many hours together. I fell very much in love with this young man and I knew he felt the same way about me. At the time, I was not worried about what my parents thought. I just wanted to live my life to the full now after all the years under Hitler and the Nazis and the destruction brought about by the war.

We would drive out of the city and find a quiet spot to just talk – and kiss of course. Earl was fascinated by the

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