The Art of Occupation by Thomas J. Kehoe;

Author:Thomas J. Kehoe;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Published: 2019-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

9 Winters of Discontent

Germany was on the verge of its third harsh winter after the end of the war when twenty-year-old Gerhard Winkler appeared before an MG court in Karlsruhe on 8 November 1948 charged with multiple offenses committed over the prior eighteen months. Transported to the court early that morning, he stood beside his defense attorney at 10:00 a.m. and listened as the prosecutor read through his fourteen charges, which included multiple burglaries and armed robberies, possession of illegal firearms, and dealing in stolen goods. In one instance, he robbed two American officers at gunpoint. In another, he broke into the home of the American field director of the Red Cross, held a gun to the man, and stole numerous personal items.1

Winkler’s trial came at the end of a year of dramatic changes in western Germany. The American, British, and French joint governors of the Western zones had attempted to prevent hyperinflation and combat a still-pervasive black market by reforming the currency. Although the deutsche mark replaced the reichsmark in June 1948, the effects were not felt by the end of the year. The initiative had, however, further stoked simmering tensions with the Soviet Union, which in response propagated a new currency for eastern Germany in July. It then sealed road and rail access to the Western zones of Berlin, forcing the Western Allies to supply their zones of the city by air. The resulting “Berlin blockade” lasted into the following year and clearly demonstrated that the Cold War had begun.2

Three American officers sat on the bench of the Karlsruhe court. After convicting Winkler, they explained in a unanimous decision that the ten-year prison sentence they imposed derived from three considerations: Winkler’s recidivism, the menacing nature of his offenses, and the broader economic and social implications of his crimes. “Armed burglary and armed robbery—next to murder—is the most serious crime a man can commit,” the chief justice told Winkler. “To break into a man’s dwelling at night and endanger the lives of the people [is unacceptable]…. People on this continent and in every country have a right to sleep in their beds without being harassed by criminals.”3 These are perhaps unsurprising words from a judge passing sentence on a repeat offender, but they are telling of how social conditions in western Germany were understood by MG. Neither burglary nor robbery (even armed robbery) is often considered the next most serious offense after murder.

Winkler was also accused of “mishandling” two women, a housemaid and another young woman, in the houses he robbed. No charges for rape or sexual assault were laid in these cases, so it is unclear what police meant by “mishandle,” though the prosecutors’ and judges’ special mention of these victims is telling.4 For the court, however, the critical relationship was between the crimes and the broader social and economic context. The economy remained in dire condition, and the judges were cognizant of the domestic and geopolitical tribulations gripping occupied Germany at the time, which elevated their consideration of the severity of burglary and robbery.

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