I want to know what happened to the millions of German women and other European women who couldn't find husbands because of the war? I read on the internet that polygamy was recommended but was unacceptable because of strong cultural reasons. I know some women married foreign men. I personally believe polygamous relationships did occur but I don't know. I am just asking if anybody on this forum has any info about the sex imbalance situation. http://www.answering-islam.org/Hoaxes/polyd.html
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German Women after World War II
- Thread starter sun
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Wow! I am surprised that nobody has responded to my post. I definitely hope that somebody out there has any historical information about the sex imbalance that existed in post war Europe and in Germany in particular. I am just very curious as to what happened to the millions of women that couldn't find husbands. I am just trying to find out what would a woman do that wanted to have children and a relationship with a man? I can only imagine the awkward situation in a culture that highly prizes monogamy as the one and only ideal marriage form.
OK... so I'm a curious person. I googled "german women after ww2" and then sort of wished that I hadn't. Apparently, for many of them, nothing good happened -- this was a really hard read. Caveat: from what I've seen so far it's hard to tell where the line is between truth, propaganda, and counter-propaganda (for example: the first page I came across, which I didn't link below, seemed to have an antisemitic bias). But it seems certain that many German women ended up being raped (largely, but not solely, by Soviets), and sometimes murdered. 
Wikipedia: Rape During the Occupation of Germany
BBC: The rape of Berlin
theguardian: 'They raped every German female from eight to 80'
Twenty-two Hoeringstrasse.
It's not been burned, just looted, rifled.
A moaning by the walls, half muffled:
the mother's wounded, half alive.
The little daughter's on the mattress, dead.
How many have been on it?
A platoon, a company perhaps?
A girl's been turned into a woman,
a woman turned into a corpse. . . .
The mother begs, "Soldier, kill me!"
-- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Prussian Nights
Wikipedia: Rape During the Occupation of Germany
BBC: The rape of Berlin
theguardian: 'They raped every German female from eight to 80'
Twenty-two Hoeringstrasse.
It's not been burned, just looted, rifled.
A moaning by the walls, half muffled:
the mother's wounded, half alive.
The little daughter's on the mattress, dead.
How many have been on it?
A platoon, a company perhaps?
A girl's been turned into a woman,
a woman turned into a corpse. . . .
The mother begs, "Soldier, kill me!"
-- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Prussian Nights
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OK... so I'm a curious person. I googled "german women after ww2" and then sort of wished that I hadn't. Apparently, for many of them, nothing good happened -- this was a really hard read. Caveat: from what I've seen so far it's hard to tell where the line is between truth, propaganda, and counter-propaganda (for example: the first page I came across, which I didn't link below, seemed to have an antisemitic bias). But it seems certain that many German women ended up being raped (largely, but not solely, by Soviets), and sometimes murdered.
Wikipedia: Rape During the Occupation of Germany
BBC: The rape of Berlin
theguardian: 'They raped every German female from eight to 80'
Twenty-two Hoeringstrasse.
It's not been burned, just looted, rifled.
A moaning by the walls, half muffled:
the mother's wounded, half alive.
The little daughter's on the mattress, dead.
How many have been on it?
A platoon, a company perhaps?
A girl's been turned into a woman,
a woman turned into a corpse. . . .
The mother begs, "Soldier, kill me!"
-- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Prussian Nights
I want to let you and mystic know that I did do some research on the net and I wasn't being lazy about it but just thought that you guys had some more info on it. I can't find exactly what happened. I know about the alleged rapes of German women during the occupation; like you, I don't know where the line is between truth, propaganda and counterpropaganda. I do believe rapes occurred but to what extent I don't know. I know there was a sex imbalance after the Civil War in the American South and here is an article about it: http://histsociety.blogspot.com/2011/11/gender-imbalance-and-history.html. I believe there was a lot of out of wedlock births: https://sfb649.wiwi.hu-berlin.de/fedc/events/Motzen07/Bavaria_WWII.pdf
I just discovered this on alternate history so I am not the only one who is interested: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/question-whatever-happened-to-the-women.116347/ but that is about WWI but still very interesting.
There was a real problem in Britain after WWI for women finding husbands. It is shocking how ingrained the monogamy ideal is. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-481882/Condemned-virgins-The-million-women-robbed-war.html
I am hoping more people can bring their thoughts on this interesting topic. This is definitely not limited to the situation of German Women of WWII but other wars as well.
That is a hectic article on the post-WWI Era for women. All those who talk about God's supposed ideal should ask themselves if this tragic alternative is that Divine ideal wonder scenario they keep preaching to Biblical polygyny advocates and practicioners.
I haven't had a chance to read those articles yet, but I had also found a page on alternatehistory about the British women of WWI which asks "What if Britain had legalized polygamy in the 20's?" It's a fairly interesting thread, and mentions a few related topics, like a rumor that Paraguay may have permitted it after the Paraguayan War. Other posters consider the idea "ASB" which apparently stands for "Alean Space Bats" and means "so outlandishly implausible as to be downright crazy."
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/wi-britain-legalizes-polygamy-in-the-1920s.278827/
https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/wi-britain-legalizes-polygamy-in-the-1920s.278827/
New Zealand was such a devoted supporter of Britain in the wars that we lost as many men as many European countries, so the same issue occurred over here. I know no official statistics, but my grandparents generation had many unmarried aunts, who would often live with family. I suspect this was the informal arrangement in many countries.
I have personally met 2 older women who remained single the rest of their lives due to the war. One was a war widow and the others fiancé died before they got married. I met the doing some remodeling and got to know them briefly.
Since then I have come to realize that one of the major unrecognized factors in the decline of morality and character in the US was the removal of a large portion of the cream of the crop regarding men, both in WW1&2. Just imagine being able to remove a major portion of a specific voting block for the next generation.
Since then I have come to realize that one of the major unrecognized factors in the decline of morality and character in the US was the removal of a large portion of the cream of the crop regarding men, both in WW1&2. Just imagine being able to remove a major portion of a specific voting block for the next generation.
