The FSB published documents on US crimes in Berlin in 1945
The FSB showed declassified archival documents about the crimes of military personnel from the United States and France in Berlin in 1945. The department published the contents of several certificates, as well as a memorandum from the head of the Berlin operational sector, Major General Alexei Sidnev, addressed to the Deputy People’s Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR Ivan Serov.
Judging by the documents, the victims of violence and robbery by the military were ordinary German civilians – an artist, a night watchman, the owner of a small restaurant, the owner of a shoe shop, artists and police officers.
As has been established, cases of hooliganism, robbery and violence against Germans by American military personnel do not stop, and these facts are increasing daily
Soldiers attacked civilians on the street and in shops
Sidnev’s note describes one case of atrocities committed by two American soldiers, which occurred on October 21. Two Germans were walking down the street and met American soldiers. The soldiers asked passers-by for a light, after which they fired two shots at civilians for no reason. One of the Germans was wounded in the chest, and the other in the stomach. Both of them were hospitalized in serious condition, Sidnev reports.
Recently, cases of outrage and robbery of the population of Berlin by military personnel of the Allied occupation forces have become more frequent.
The reports describe cases of rape of women by American and French soldiers. On September 27, three French soldiers broke into the apartment of a resident of a Berlin suburb named Agnes. They raped her and the girl Riess, who was in the house. After this, the military stole 200 marks and a gold watch from Agnes. Before leaving, they beat up the German woman.
Photo: AP
On October 26, an attempted rape took place right in a store on the corner of Südwestkorzo and Wiesbadenorstrasse. Two American soldiers attacked women who were standing in line. The witness was the artist Kalin Paul, who tried to protect his compatriots. “Seeing him, the Americans began to beat Kalin, as a result of which they broke his nasal bone, broke his head, and then disappeared,” the certificate says.
American soldiers raided a restaurant
There is a known case when American soldiers in a large group attacked the Femina restaurant in the Berlin-Schöneberg area. On the evening of October 26, two trucks containing about 50 armed American soldiers drove up to the restaurant. They burst into the restaurant, closed all entrances and exits and forced visitors to hand over all their valuables to them: gold rings, money, fur collars.
The British military were also involved in the crimes. So, on October 30, three English soldiers came to one of the apartments and demanded red wine. “The owner replied that he had no wine, then the British took valuables from the apartment and left,” the report says.
![](https://icdn.lenta.ru/images/2024/05/23/08/20240523084036079/owl_wide_1200_6913358e7ec55739c9e949e2d13292a6.jpg)
Photo: Fred Ramage/Keystone/Getty Images
To manage the Soviet zone of occupation of Germany, the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SVAG) was created. The entire territory of the SVAG was divided into several operational sectors of the state security and internal affairs bodies of the USSR. The functions of the Berlin Operational Sector included monitoring the situation and behavior of the Allied forces in their zones of occupation of Berlin.
After the defeat of the Third Reich, its entire territory was occupied by the Allies, the entire country was divided into Soviet, American, British and French occupation zones. The Soviet military administration in Germany existed from 1945 to 1949 – until the creation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
#FSB #declassified #documents #crimes #Western #military #robbed #Germans #shot #passersby