Boys in postwar Berlin are served a ration of gruel (flour and milk)
What I found most intriguing about the readings was Germany’s reaction to the aftermath of the war and their interpretations of the cause of their plight. For many Germans, a sense of victimization pervaded their minds as they looked over the ruins of Berlin and their, not long ago prosperous country. Because so many Germans felt that they were victims, they searched and soon found villains to take the blame for their fall from grace. By seeing them selves as an oppressed and unfairly attacked people, Germany was able to suppress the actions of the Third Reich in their mind, instead envisioning decades of abuse against the German people (Grossmann, 45).
Post-War Germans not only blamed the Allies, especially the USSR, but went as far back as post-WWI and the mistreatment that the German people received under Hitler. Hitler had promised the Germans an economic revival but instead led the into a war against the world (Grossmann, 49). By 1944 Germany was being besiege on all fronts and the German people suffered food shortages, bombing raids, and the ever present advance of the Soviet army. The mass rape of Berlin by the Soviets in 1945 and the continuing food and supply shortages only deepened the German people’s sense of victimization (Hilton, 481).
Not surprisingly, post-war Germans felt that the Jews and DPs were also chief culprits of the victimization of Germans. With DPs getting more food rations than German citizens, Germans were forced to engage in a thriving black market, their participation in which they blamed on the DPs (Hilton, 480). Some post-war Germans were right in claiming to be oppressed and victims, especially in the case of those raped by Soviet Soldiers following the capture of Berlin. However, modern Germany is reluctant in highlighting these events in fear that it will reinforce the idea of German victimization and diminish the role Germany had in the holocaust and its other war crimes (Douglas, 7).
Post-War Germans were disillusioned in who they blamed as their oppressors, as well as conveniently sweeping under the rug their own involvement in the war that brought about their downfall. However, many Germans were legitimate victims of Soviet oppression, as well as other allied powers mishandling of German reconstruction which led to shortages and a black market (Hilton, 483). Today these latter problems are still often not addressed in history classes, in order to perpetuate the belief that all Germans were corrupt villains, deserving of Allied retribution.
William de Castrique 9/11/17
