'They raped every German female from eight to 80'

Guardian ^ | May 1, 2002 | Antony Beevor

[mainepatsfan]

They weren't much different from the Nazis in that regard.

[JadeEmperor]

"This is a "Patton was right" BTTT."

If Patton saw the horrors of the Eastern Front he would have dropped his ivory-handed revolvers and ran away crying. I think overall the German nation's punishment not as hard as they deserved, for what they did. They were eventually rebuilt and allowed to reunite at the end. I know several Jews who to this day won't buy anything of German origin. No Siemens, BMW, etc.

[mainepatsfan]

One of the reasons there wasn't too much in the way of an insurgency during the occupation.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

How did they have it coming?

The old geezers were there voting for Hitler, and cheering wildly when Germany invaded Russia.

The teenage girls were Hitlerjugend wannabes. Hell, they were engaging in "partisan operations" (what normal folks call "random terrorism") into 1947--against American troops. (They didn't do it against Russian troops because they knew what came next.)

[wtc911]

Big difference between civilian casualties of bombing and systematic, mass rape of children in captivity. I know the point you want to make, I just don't buy it.

[wtc911]

The ones aged 13 were the old-timers--a 9-year-old girl fragged my uncle after the surrender.

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Well, with any luck they turned her over to the russians and she got what she deserved.

[Blackirish]

And the US are the bad guys

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

If Patton saw the horrors of the Eastern Front he would have dropped his ivory-handed revolvers and ran away crying.

Naw, he would've turned to Zhukov and said, "So, let's go kill that paperhanging sonofabitch! Last one to Berlin buys the the first round!"

[mainepatsfan]

I shudder when I think of today's media covering that war.

[Skooz]

My grandfather told me the biggest problem they had towards the end was with the German teenagers.

Absolutely. The Hitler Youth were among the most fanatical defenders of Berlin. You would think it would be beneficial to have battle-hardened veterans mingled in with the youngsters, but Hitler Youth leaders knew the vets were aware it was a lost cause, and frowned on allowing any in their ranks.

[ken5050]

The so called "innocent" German women all knew about the death camps..indeed, the smell from them was so vile that to pretend elsewise was impossible.

If you can find a copy, read Leon Uris' "Armaggeddon"..

[contemplator]

If Patton saw the horrors of the Eastern Front he would have dropped his ivory-handed revolvers and ran away crying.

Your assesment of Gen Patton flies in the face of first hand historical accounts of his character. Keep in mind that Patton was one of the first to see the horrors of the Nazi death camps and probably knew better than most do even today about the horrors of warfare.

[mainepatsfan]

LOL!

[JadeEmperor]

Good luck of facing scores of T-34/85s with those Shermans...

[mainepatsfan]

It probably wasn't a great moral boost to the soldiers in the Wehrmacht when their reinforcements were either 12 or 65.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

The last stand of the SS and Hitlerjugend was in the Tiergarten (the Berlin Zoo).

They had Wagner's "Ring Cycle" playing over the public address system the entire time. A Russian I met said his grandfather had nightmares about Wagner for decades after that fight.

[Skooz]

T-34/85s were no match for P-47s.

[Vaquero]

"I'm not sure that Japan even today acknowledges the rape of Nanking."

My Chinese officemates are still pissed about that, and they're not even 30.

I have talked to Chinese of all ages who are still pissed at that....but they all drive Toyotas and Hondas