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POST WWII -- MARRYING A GERMAN 1/11/2010 12:44:57 PM
By Cindy Rodriguez, Commander, U.S. Navy (ret.) “If in a German town you bow to a pretty girl or pat a blond child... you bow to Hitler and his reign of blood... you caress the ideology that means death and persecution. Don’t fraternize!”
-Armed Forces Radio Network, 1944 (Herzog, 2004)
In September 1944, General Eisenhower imposed a fraternization ban on US troops in Europe. The ban was lifted a year later without achieving much success. Not even Eisenhower could win a battle against Mother Nature.
According to Deutche Welle, by 1955, 20% of German children conceived with GIs were born out of wedlock: “By 1955, up to 67,700 illegitimate children had been fathered by US soldiers…” (Paulick, n.d.).
Yes, the fraternization ban had been lifted, but getting married to a German girl was still a long, drawn out process. Dad was finally given the okay to marry his German bride in 1952. It took an entire year! Mom had to be thoroughly investigated to make sure she wasn’t a Nazi, affiliated with the Nazi Party or a war criminal. Because of the long delay, Mom’s first child was born at home with the help of a midwife; he was illegitimate.
