CHAPTER 3
SEX AND DISEASE
There are parts of the front here where every fourth or fifth man has a venereal disease.1
In past wars, more people typically have died from disease than from battle.2 The numbers of sexually transmitted disease cases invariably rise when one country invades another. Syphilis probably appeared in Europe at the end of the fifteenth century. According to Haberling’s study of army prostitution, it was in the first part of the sixteenth century when many European writings appeared on the topic of syphilis, lending credence to the theory that it was a new disease on the European continent around this time. It was a disease that spread rapidly and with disastrous results, especially if there were armies moving in an area. Historically, prostitutes, not the soldiers or men, have been blamed for venereal diseases. Women infected were punished severely for “wilfully contract[ing] the disease, and women and men alike were banished outside the city walls with the lepers to live and suffer on their own.”3
Despite the growing knowledge of the relationship between military life, prostitution and venereal disease, there were only a few attempts at regulating prostitution by the end of the
1 Rote Kreuz-Schwester, SD-Berichte zu Inlandsfragen, p. 4, 11 November 1943, BAB R58/190, doc. 6. Original as follows: Es gibt Frontabschnitte, in denen heute jeder vierte oder fünfte Mann geschlechtskrankt ist.
2 U.S. Civil War, for example: 224,580 deaths from disease, 110,100 killed in action (Time-Life Books: The Civil War series). Wo rld War I: “O f every 100 Ameri can soldi ers and sai lors, who served in th e war with German y, two were killed or died of disease during the period of hostilities…In this war the death rate from disease was lower, and the death rate from battle was higher than in any other previous American war. Pneumonia killed more soldiers than were killed in battle. Meningitis was the next most serious disease.” Colonel Leonard P. Ayres, General Staff, “The War with Germany: A Statistical Summary,” (Washingon: Government Printing Office, 1919). See also Seidler, Prostitution, 59- 61.
3 Haberling,”Morals,”30.Infin-de-siècleRussia,prostitutesalsowereviewedasagentsinthespreadof venereal diseases, while men were allowed to circulate freely without being forced to medical examinations. Engelstein, Keys, especially Chapters Two and Five.
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sixteenth century in various European countries.4 It was not until the seventeenth century that decrees began to emerge which either banned prostitutes from following armies or allowed a soldier to marry a prostitute and thus be able to keep his new wife with him.5 By the eighteenth century, this began to change. The large numbers of women were seen as a burden to military movement, and fewer and fewer were allowed to travel with the men. At the same time the numbers of brothels around garrisons increased, and some decrees in German states supported a certain number of prostitutes who were obligated to follow the military in war, and thus prevent an outbreak of syphilis in an entire village.6
During the First World War, German doctors suggested abstinence for soldiers in the field, thinking that soldiers would understand this was for their own well-being. Since so many considered abstinence to be “against soldierly feeling,” by 1915 there were brothels on all sections of both fronts.7 During the Great War, the Kaiser’s army contracted two million cases of syphilis or gonorrhea. This had a dramatic effect on the fighting ability of the army due to the large numbers of men rendered unfit for battle.8 Perhaps because of their experiences both in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 and the First World War, Germany was the first country to experience great advances in the treatment of venereal diseases.9
During the Second World War the number of infected soldiers was halved because of the great effort on the part of the German leadership to avoid the high numbers of World War I. Despite the lower numbers, however, venereal diseases still had a tremendous negative impact on
4 According to Haberling, Germany did the least of any European country. Haberling, “Morals,” 39.
5 Haberling, “Morals,” 47.
6 Haberling, “Morals,” 57-60. For more information, see also Abrams, “Prostitutes in Imperial Germany, 1870-1918: Working Girls or Social Outcasts.”; Richard J. Evans, “Prostitution, State and Society in Imperial Germany,” Past and Present 70 (1976).
7 Hirschfeld and Gaspar, eds., Sittengeschichte der Erste Weltkrieges. Nachdruck der 2. neubearbeiteten Auflage, 233-234.
8 Seidler, Prostitution, 126-127.
9 The numbers in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871 were also extremely high. For this war and WWI information on Germany’s preparation see Haberling, “Morals,” 78-79; Hirschfeld and Gaspar, eds., Sittengeschichte der Erste Weltkrieges. Nachdruck der 2. neubearbeiteten Auflage, 172; Reay Tannahill, Sex in History (London: Scarborough House, 1992), 369.
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the German military.10 A memo from the inspector of medical affairs for the air force warned about the relationship between sexually transmitted diseases and suicide. Apparently, the number of cases in which a real or an imaginary sexually transmitted disease was put forth as the reason for suicide was comparatively large.11 Whether this was due to the fear of punishment, or embarrassment and shame, it was clear that gonorrhea or syphilis could ruin an army. Penicillin was not yet discovered by World War II, so treatment of venereal diseases required considerable time. During the war, the average length of gonorrhea treatment was three weeks. A soldier infected with syphilis was away from the front for up to half a year. At any given time, the average number of those away from duty being treated was the same as fourteen battalions of Wehrmachtsoldiers.Approximatelyseventhousandsoldierswereconstantlyintreatment.12 The problem continued for the Germans until the end of the war. Even in 1945 General Staff Doctor Wisseman wrote a three page report to Dr. Löhe, who was the Army Medical Inspector Advising Dermatologist, and commented that “the cases of sexually transmitted diseases are increasing and mean a growing danger for the training and timely assignment of front replacements.”13 A complete statistical assessment of venereal disease cases throughout the entire eastern front remains to be completed, though Seidler has provided many statistics in his work. Because of the volume of documents which discuss the topic, it is clear this was a major concern, which is demonstrated in the following discussion.
Syphilis and gonorrhea were the primary venereal diseases the German Army dealt with in World War II. They are painful, and in men cause symptoms such as pain with urination, itching or burning at the urethral opening, and a watery discharge from the penis, which if left untreated, will become a thick yellow/green discharge. Untreated gonorrhea will eventually cause
10 There was a rapid increase in the numbers of Wehrmacht members infected with sexually transmitted diseases through 1945. Seidler estimates that during World War II an approximate 706,000 German soldiers were infected with gonorrhea or syphilis. In addition, there could have been an approximate one million who either tried to cure themselves or who never reported their illness. The treatment was more difficult without antibiotics, and thus the soldiers could be away from their duties for weeks. For statistics on venereal diseases, see Seidler, Prostitution, 65-77.
11 DerInspekteurdesSanitätswesensderLuftwaffe,AnweisungfürTruppenärzteüberVerhütungvon Selbstmord, Berlin, 6 October 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R. 192, Fr. 6135832.
12 Seidler, Prostitution, 126-127. Among others Seidler mentions, also see D.C. Wheeler, “Physical Standards in Allied and Enemy Armies during World War II,” in Military Medicine 9/1965.
13 Generalstabsarzt a.D. Wissemann, Report on Sexually Transmitted Diseases to Generalarzt Prof. Dr. Löhe, Beratender Dermatologe des Heeres-Stanitätsinspekteurs, Berlin, 20 January 1945, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R189, Fr. 6130752-55. Also see, Stabsarzt Dr. Julius Mayr, Vierteljahresbericht, München, 3 July 1944, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R. 189, Fr. 6130735-38.
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damage to the urogenital system of both men and women, frequently leading to infertility. Although most common in the genital system, gonorrhea can also infect and cause damage to the eyes, throat and rectum. Untreated people are also at risk for a syndrome known as disseminated gonococcal infection, a form of blood poisoning that can lead to arthritis, skin problems and heart and brain infections. Babies born to infected mothers are at risk of developing blindness due to infection of the eyes during birth. Without antibiotics, infants’ eyes could not be treated for this immediately following birth as they are today.
Depending on the stage of syphilis, symptoms for this bacterial infection range from having a chancre (small, round sore spot) to flu-like symptoms or ulcers. Untreated syphilis can eventually lead to brain damage, psychosis, heart disease, organ damage, paralysis, blindness and death. In pregnant women, it can lead to miscarriage as well as severe birth defects.14 The German leadership wanted a healthy Aryan nation with a high birth rate, as well as healthy soldiers to fight for the Reich, but the alarming numbers of cases of sexually transmitted diseases threatened their racial and military plans. It was a catch twenty-two, however, because in their attempt to achieve their arrogant racial and military plans, the Germans created social and economic chaos that made controlling these diseases very difficult. There arose an unwanted social crisis caused by German soldiers, married and unmarried, who had sexual relations with native women in large numbers, despite the rules against this. High birth rates and the massive spread of venereal diseases were the consequences.
Wartime destruction and the relocation of large numbers of people caused economic chaos that hindered the control of sexually transmitted diseases. Several documents exist which testify to the lack of a sufficient number of hospitals and doctors to treat the infected patients. As early as 1940, it was reported that the bureaucracy was inhibiting the control of venereal diseases. Patients “whose hospital treatment was absolutely necessary could have had an opportunity to overcome the illness” had their payments come through earlier.15 On May 19, 1942, the Oberfeldarzt of rear area 585 reported that the civilian hospitals were in bad shape: There were few doctors, and the number of sexually transmitted disease cases was growing.16 In
14 Sawhorse Enterprises, Sexually Transmitted Diseases [Web page] (2003 [cited April 24, 2003]); available from http://www.mypleasure.com/education/stds/index.asp.
15 Meldungen aus dem Reich, 8 April 1940, BAB R58/150, doc. 65.
16 LeitendeSanitationOffizerbeimKommandantenrückw.Armeegebiete585,Tätigkeitsbericht,May19, 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 65, Fr. 321-322.
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June 1942 the Eupatoria Sanitätsoberfeldwebel in occupied Russia wrote that “Especially noteworthy is the frequent occurrence of venereal diseases lately. Treating these cases causes great difficulty because of the shortage of medicine.”17 Although Seidler found that condoms were plentiful throughout the war,18 in the east there were shortages.19 Another problem was that the diagnoses of disease were not always accurate.20
It is true that the concern over venereal diseases went as high as Himmler and Hitler. Many reports originating in Berlin were sent to all areas of the Reich. These concerned the dangers of venereal diseases and the threat they caused to Nazi Germany’s health, vitality, and military strength. For example, Alfred Rosenberg, Reichsminister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, warned about the Polish women whom he thought were especially politically active.21 The Germans enacted the death penalty in February 1940 for any non-German who infected a
17 Sanitätsoberfeldwebel, Feldkommandantur (V) 810, Tätigkeitsbericht, Eupatoria, 14 June 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 65, Fr. 164-165.
18 Seidler, Prostitution, 168.
19 Der Reichsgesundheitsführer, Correspondence to the Reichsführer SS, Berlin, 9 November 1942, BAB NS 19/1886; Leitender Sanitäts Offizier b.d. OKF 365, Az.: 449.s.(I).Monatsbericht, St. Qu., 14 September 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 214, Fr. 520-524; Also see, Stabsarzt Dr. Julius Mayr, Vierteljahresbericht, München, 3 July 1944, NARA, T 78, R. 189, Fr. 6130735-38.
20 Vgl. z.B. Bericht Oberfeldarzt Dr. Schmidt, Heeresgruppe C, Bundesarchiv/ Militärarchiv H 20/148, n37, and Anlage 14 der Richtlinien für die Einrichtung und Überwachung von Wehrmachtsbordellen in den besetzten Westgebieten, a.a.O., [n. 38], quoted in Seidler, Prostitution, 149.
21 Centr istoriko-documental’nych kollekcij (CIDK, former “Osobyj archiv,” Moscow) 504-2-7, Bl. 5-7, quoted in Chiari, Alltag, 270. In a Meldungen aus dem Reich, there is a copy of a document, allegedly a 1941 Danzig pamphlet entitled “The Holy Duties of the Pole.” The Germans very likely forged this in their attempt to control the sexual activities of the soldiers and officers. The pamphlet urged Poles to not feel they were powerless, to give their lives “now” rather than be killed by a German later, and to take all chances to help save their country. The first instruction was to women: “Your weapons are the venereal diseases. Polish girls, if you are sick [with a sexually transmitted disease] it is your duty to have intercourse with German soldiers and infect them. May this superior weapon decimate their army! It is stronger than airplanes, cannons or ships.” Meldungen aus dem Reich, Nr. 197, 25 June 1941, BAB R58/161, docs. 168-170 (also briefly discussed in Timm, “Politics”, 402-403.) But urging women to infect the enemy was not a new tactic. The French had distributed a pamphlet in the 1870 Franco-Prussian war entitled “Charivari,” which urged the prostitutes in the German occupied areas to do their national duty and infect German soldiers en masse. Hirschfeld and Gaspar, eds., Sittengeschichte der Erste Weltkrieges. Nachdruck der 2. neubearbeiteten Auflage, 173. Whether this type of propaganda increased the number of sexually transmitted disease cases is not clear. There are also examples of warnings about women who were dangerous and could infect men. A U.S. anti-war cartoon from 1937 warned men of the dangers of syphilitic women, while a British poster also threatened men about “easy” women who could infect them with syphilis and gonorrhoea. In both depictions, the woman’s face is a skull, and in the poster, she wears a veil with a flower on it. See Gubar, “This is My Rifle,” 244-245.
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German in the General Government.22 In November 1942 Hitler ordered that immediate measures be taken to fight a further increase of sexually transmitted diseases, including the procurement of condoms. Without condoms, the numbers of sexually transmitted diseases would surely rise in the occupied territories.23
In August 1942 Reinhard Heydrich, Chief of Security Police and Security Service, discussed the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in Russia, especially among women. According to his report this was due to the close daily living situations with the Russian population.24 By the fall of 1943 Himmler wrote that it was the duty of every member of the SS and police to do everything possible to avoid a sexually transmitted disease. This included following sanitation guidelines immediately following sexual intercourse. Those who did not fulfill this duty put the vitality of the German folk at risk.25
But many did not fulfill their duty, and there were several reasons for this. One official wrote, “A whole string of reports point to the continual spreading of gonorrhea. The source is an irresponsible indifference of the men towards the infections, a shortage of condoms, and inadequate or lack of sanitation [after sexual intercourse].”26 The correlation between high numbers of sexually transmitted disease cases and soldiers during wartime, a centuries-old problem, still threatened the modern army despite the integrated and organized attempt to reduce the spread of such diseases.
22 “Gesetze und Verordnungen. Verordnung über die Bekämpfung der Geschlechtskrankheiten im Generalgouvernement. Vom 22.II.1940,” Der öffentliche Gesundheitsdienst 6 (1940/41): 127-128 [n. 56], quoted in Timm, “Politics”, 403.
23 Der Reichsgesundheitsführer, Letter to the Reichsführer SS, Berlin, 9 November 1942, BAB NS19/1886. Historian Timm provides an interesting discussion of Nazi birth control policy and notes that with the banning of all birth control within the Reich except for condoms, “the evidence for the desire to preserve male control while removing all but indirect protection from women (they would be forced to rely on male consent to use a condom) is incontrovertible.” Timm, “Politics”, 407-408.
24 Meldungen aus den besetzten Ostgebieten, Nr. 18., 28 August 1942, USHMMA, RG-31.002M, Reel 11, Fond 3676, Opis 4, Del 105, docs. 16-17.
25 Himmler, Memo to Russland Mitte, Berlin, 9 September 1943, BAB NS7/1084.
26 This report claims that a von Hattingberg found in one area in the east in the period between 20 April and 30 June, 153 patients registered with a sexually transmitted disease, and out of those 136 used no protection during sexual intercourse and 149 did not sanitize themselves, according to German regulations. Zeiss, Oberstarzt, Der Beratende Hygieniker beim Heeres-Sanitätsinspekteur, Sammelbericht über Kriegserfahrungen der Beratenden Hygieniker to the Beratenden Hygieniker des Feld- und Ersatheeres, part 3, pp. 10-11, 20 January 1944, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R. 189, Fr. 6131272-73.
The Fight Against Sexually Transmitted Diseases
In November 1941 the Generalmajor of the Administrative Headquarters in Occupied Territory, OFK 379 wrote that despite great measures taken in the relevant reporting period the number of sexually transmitted diseases had risen so much that “energetic protective measures [had] become necessary.” A new pamphlet about the fight against sexually transmitted diseases was handed out. Other measures to be taken included keeping track of who attended health classes, punishing those who could not prove that they followed the sanitation duty, as well as those who could not prove who their source of infection was.27
Informational pamphlets, health classes, sanitation, and determination of the source of infection were all strategies Germany used to help curtail the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Other measures included newsletters and lectures to the soldiers about the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases, required physical examinations before soldiers entered the homeland on leave, and the use of oil, boron vaseline (Borvaselin) or condoms (if available). Similar to previous conflicts, women were primarily targeted as the carriers of sexually transmitted diseases, and thus fell victim to raids and surveillance, as we shall see in the following discussion. An example of this bias comes from a report in a Meldungen aus dem Reich from January 1942 which argued that there was “an increasing necessity to punish ‘women’ for spreading venereal disease, presumably because they were infecting German soldiers.”28 Civilian women continued to be targeted for compulsory examination and treatment.29
Education
The German leadership attempted to educate soldiers about the dangers of infectious diseases and the threat this posed to their health and to the health of the German nation. Commanders often reported that educational lectures (Belehrungen) were held on a regular
27 Generalmajor, OFK 379, O.U., Abt. Ia Br.B.Nr. 3996/41 geh. Monatsbericht, 20 November 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 214, Fr. 1209.
28 Meldungen aus den Reich (Jan. 1942):22-3, Barch(P) R58/168, Bl.162-163, quoted in Timm, “Politics”,
408.
29 Unfortunately, Ihave not found much material on or fromthe women who were forced to have treatment, or who were accused of being “sources of infection.” The sources used here are mostly sources from the German occupier’s point of view.
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basis.30 Pamphlets were distributed and posted throughout the occupied territories in the east and the west.
One leaflet frequently mentioned in German documents is called “German Soldier” (Deutscher Soldat).31 Every unit leader (Einheitsführer) was responsible for ensuring that soldiers were educated by their troop doctor and sanitation officer about the nature and consequences of venereal disease as described in this pamphlet.32 It warned the soldiers about sexual excesses, about alcohol, referred to as the “Father of Sexually Transmitted Diseases,” about the dangers of venereal diseases, and about “loose” or thoughtless women, who were “almost always infected.” It also advised soldiers who had extramarital sexual intercourse to be sanitized because this could prevent an infection if it were done in a timely manner. If soldiers were sick they were not to attempt to treat themselves (as many did33), but were to trust their troop doctor and report themselves immediately.
Another set of rules which specifically concerned venereal diseases shows a slight bow to sexual abstinence and then the homage paid to reality:
- Every extramarital sexual intercourse is a potential infection.
- The best protection against infection is therefore abstinence. Temporary abstinence is notdangerous to your health.
- After having extramarital intercourse, soldiers must present themselves immediately forpreventative treatment at the appropriate local health clinic (Stube). Otherwisepreventative treatment is unsuccessful.
- Gonorrhea and syphilis are curable if treatment begins immediately…[list ofsymptoms]…If any of these symptoms occur, even if they are not causing any trouble,immediate reporting to the local sanitation officer must take place…
The spreading of a sexually transmitted disease can be regarded as negligence or deliberate bodily injury.34
30 For example, Oberfeldarzt, (Der Chief Sanitation Officer of the Kommandanten of the rückw. Armeegebiet 585), Letter to the Army Doctor of the A.O.K. 6, 20 September 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 65, Fr. 499-502.
31 For example, see Leitender Sanitäts Offizier b.d. OFK 365 Az.: 449.s.(I)., Monatsbericht, St. Qu., 14 September 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 214, Fr. 520-524; Leitender Sanitäts Offizier OFK 365, Monatsbericht, Lemberg, 15 January 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 215, Fr. 501-504; Leitender Sanitäts Offizier b.d. OFK 365, Monatsbericht, St. Qu., 14 September 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 214, Fr. 520-524. For a copy of one from Paris, see Seidler, Prostitution, 172.
32 StabsarztDr.JuliusMayr,Vierteljahresbericht,München,3July1944,NARA,RG242,T78,R.189,Fr. 6130735-38.
33 Seidler, Prostitution, 97.
34 Beilage zum Merkblatt über Infektionskrankheiten (Anlage 1), Geschlechtskrankheiten, (no date; could be 1939), NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 211, Fr. 317.
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A set of rules for German soldiers in Poland which attempted to control their activities warned that the danger of venereal diseases was extraordinarily high in Warsaw, and that everyone was responsible for staying healthy for their family and their people (Volk). It also cautioned that alcohol and drunkenness were dangerous.35 Other rules posted included regulations which attempted to keep distance between workers from the east, Poles, and any prisoners of war. German women, mostly on the home front, were to keep distance from such people, and to think of their husbands on the front lines.36
Despite the wide variety of educational measures, compliance by soldiers with the regulations surrounding sexually transmitted diseases remained a continual goal for the authorities throughout the war. Because it was clear the men were having forbidden, unprotected sex with native women, the military leadership attempted to convince them to sanitize themselves after sexual intercourse. Despite the pamphlets, posted rules, lectures and threat of punishment, the sanitation rules were also ignored. After complaining that the soldiers evaded the required sanitation after sexual intercourse a colonel stationed in Russia wrote that the guilty needed to be called to account, and that it needed to be pointed out “over and over again” the meaning of protective measures and prompt sanitation.37
35 Kommandantur Warschau, Merkblatt für einzelne, nach oder durch Warschau reisende Wehrmachtangehörige, Warschau, März 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 213, Fr. 1113-1114.
36 Merkblatt, no date, NARA, RG 242, T 454, R. 16, Fr. 667. In addition to regulations and warnings, one form of educational tactic was the hygiene poem, which was a humorous jingle that rhymed and encouraged the soldier to follow the rules surrounding safe sex. An example of an original from World War I is as follows: “Willst du gesund sein, frisch und froh, Nicht krank und überhaupt und so, So halte fern dich jedem Weibe, Bleib jedem Weib drei Schritt vom Leibe!Doch sind zu stark der Liebe Triebe, Sei klug! Sehr große Vorsicht übe! Du holst dir sonst ‘ne Krankheit flink! Das Ende ist „ein böses Ding“. Hast ohne Gummi du geliebt, Und keine Vorsicht mal geübt – – Desgleichen – ist solch Ding geplatzt – – So wasch’ dich, sonst bis du verratzt! Wasch’ dir dein Glied recht gründlich rings, Desinfizier’ dein ganzes Dings, Nimm dann die Harnröhre beim Köpfchen, Und spritz’ die Protargolschutztröpchen! Befolge diese Vorschrift peinlich, Halt immer sauber dich und reinlich! Nur so bewahrst du dich gewiß Vor Tripper, Schanker, Syphilis! Noch eins, laß zeigen immer dir Des Weibs Gesundheitszeugnis hier! Merk’ dir die Nummer, umvor Schaden, Zu schützen deine Kameraden. Hat sich ein Schmerz mal angekündigt, Am Glied, mit dem du hast gesündigt, Zeigt Ausfluß – – Ausschlag jene Stelle, So geh zum Arzte, aber schnelle. Nur wenn sofort etwas geschieht, Wird schnell gesund dein krankes Glied! Merk’ dir – – je schneller, um so besser!!! Den Rat erteilt dir Stabsarzt Messer.” Hirschfeld and Gaspar, eds., Sittengeschichte der Erste Weltkrieges. Nachdruck der 2. neubearbeiteten Auflage, 175.
37 Kdt. St. Qul, rückw. Armeegebiet 585, Abt.Qu. Kommandanturbefehl Nr. 5, 6 February 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 65, Fr. 334-338.
Sanitation
Since 1938 the German military leadership began installing sanitation stations for soldiers and officers. It was believed that proper and timely sanitation prevented venereal diseases.38 After completing an official sanitation, a man received a slip which verified this. Sanitation consisted of the “cleansing of the glans and foreskin with water, if possible also with soap. Then urination, the insertion of a three centimeter long needle with a cleansing solution into the urethra and finally, swabbing with a cotton ball.”39
The laws concerning sanitation for soldiers and members of the SS changed throughout the war. Since 1939 all Wehrmacht soldiers were required to sanitize after any extramarital sex.40 The SS were required to do so only after unprotected sex or after sexual intercourse during which the condom broke. Since 1938 a sanitation room near all SS barracks was required.41 In June 1943 Himmler, the Reich Leader of the SS, issued a new law that also required members of the SSandpolicetosanitizeafteranysexualintercourseunderthreatofpunishment.42 However,in July of t he same yea r, an unpu blicize d append um (Zusatz) was added. Himmler had decided that the failure to sanitize oneself should not be punishable, because if it were punishable then the danger existed that out of fear of discipline men would not report themselves as infected. However, Himmler ordered that those SS men who did not report themselves as sick were to be punished.43 It was most important to have everyone treated and to gather information on the source of infection. This also was a change from the order from March 26, 1943, which stated
38 Seidler, Prostitution, 107, 110.
39 Seidler, Prostitution, 107. For World War I sanitation methods, see Hirschfeld and Gaspar, eds.,
Sittengeschichte der Erste Weltkrieges. Nachdruck der 2. neubearbeiteten Auflage, 174.
40 OKW ChHrüst und BdE Az. 49r 50 AHA/SIn Abt. H Nr. 2605.11.39 vom 2.12.1939,
Bundesrachiv/Militärarchiv H 20/58 und H 20/840 [n. 130], quoted in Seidler, Prostitution, 107.
41 Ausbildungsbrief Nr. 5 des SS-Sanitätsamtes vom 15.11.1938, S. 13, Bundesarchiv Sammlung
Schumacher Nr. 442, [n. 131], quoted in Seidler, Prostitution, 107.
42 SS-Obersturmbannführer und SS-Richter, p. 2 of report, n.d., BAB NS19/536 Persönlicher Stab
Reichsführer-SS, doc. 1.
43 Jüttner, Der Chef des SS-Fühurungshauptamtes, Abschrift Betr., Verhütung von Geschlechtskrankheiten (Sanierfungsbefehl Reichsführer SS), Berlin-Wilmersdorf, 9 September 1943, BAB NS7/1084, doc. 6 [the Zusatz from 4 July 1943 is included in this Abschrift from 9 September 1943]; SS-Obersturmbannführer und SS-Richter, p. 2 of report, n.d., BAB NS19/536 Persönlicher Stab Reichsführer-SS, doc. 1. For discussion of this law, also see Seidler, Prostitution, 112-113.
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that the SS and police were not required to report their venereal disease.44 This ruling for the SS and police was different than the law for the Wehrmacht which allowed for punishment merely if the soldier evaded sanitation.45 Still, even the Wehrmacht soldier could get a lighter punishment if he cooperated in the search for his source of infection.46
As mentioned previously, in the fall of 1943 Himmler reemphasized the danger of sexually transmitted diseases and the responsibility of the SS to also take heed. He wrote that it was the duty of every member of the SS and Police to do everything possible avoid a sexually transmitted disease, including following sanitation guidelines immediately following extramarital sexual intercourse. Those who did not fulfill this duty put the vitality of the German folk at risk.47 On October 25, 1943, the OKW (High Command of the Armed Forces) issued a new law concerning the fight against sexually transmitted diseases for both the Waffen-SS and the Wehrmacht. Now members of the SS, who were treated for a sexually transmitted disease in a reserve hospital of the Wehrmacht could also be punished merely for not following sanitation procedures.48 These multiple changes in the law highlight the leadership’s continual struggle to control a probably uncontrollable situation. It also is another indication of the non-compliance of rules of conduct by soldiers and officers, including members of the SS.
This routine evasion of the procedure of sanitation frustrated health officials and military leaders. At least for one army group, the failure to comply usually was met with shabby excuses.49 A memo from late 1944 clearly shows frustration with soldiers not reporting for sanitation after having sexual intercourse. It states that every division’s member was required to
44 SS-Obersturmbannführer und SS-Richter, p. 2 of report, n.d., BAB NS19/536, doc. 1.
45 Der Chef des Sanitätswesens der Waffen-SS Gez. Dr. Genzken, Oberstabsarzt, Letter to the Chef des Wehrmachtsanitätswesens, Generaloberstabsarzt Prof.Dr.Handloser, 21 February 1944, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R. 188, Records of Headquarters, German Army High Command Fr. 6129274.
46 Seidler, Prostitution, 127.
47 Jüttner, Der Chef des SS-Fühurungshauptamtes, Abschrift Betr., Verhütung von Geschlechtskrankheiten (Sanierfungsbefehl Reichsführer SS), Berlin-Wilmersdorf, 9 September 1943, BAB NS7/1084, doc. 6; Also see Stabsarzt Dr. Julius Mayr, Vierteljahresbericht, München, 3 July 1944, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R189, Fr. 6130735-38.
48 Der Chef des Sanitätswesens der Waffen-SS Gez. Dr. Genzken, Oberstabsarzt, Letter to the Chef des Wehrmachtsanitätswesens, Generaloberstabsarzt Prof.Dr.Handloser, 21 February 1944, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R. 188, Records of Headquarters, German Army High Command, Fr. 6129274.
49 Kdt. St. Qul, rückw. Armeegebiet 585, Abt.Qu. Kommandanturbefehl Nr. 5, 6 February 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 65, Fr. 334-338. This document also states that “the importance of protection and timely sanitation must be continually pointed out.”
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be sanitized at an official sanitation office after sexual intercourse. According to the memo, “self sanitizing is not enough!” and whoever did not follow this rule and became infected with a venereal disease was to be punished. The punishment was not to be only on the basis of insubordination, but also for subversion of the military power. In such cases the law provided for a prison sentence (Gefängnisstrafe) as well as penal servitude (Zuchthausstrafe).50
Even at the end of the war, German officials were still trying to persuade the soldiers to sanitize. Oberstabsarzt Professor Dr. Greipl, advising dermatologist (beratender Dermatologe) to doctors in the military areas of Böhmen und Möhren, wrote to Dr. Löhe that “Again and again the reason given for not sanitizing is that there were difficulties getting to the sanitation station. Another reason often given is that the overall good impression of the partner seemed to render sanitation unnecessary.” Dr. Greipl concluded with the comment that he would consider the problem of sanitation and if he came up with any ideas he would write.51 By this time officials were realizing that it was unlikely a soldier would leave their partner immediately after sexual intercourse to cross town and have themselves sanitized. The sanitation examples show how the rules were ignored by many in the east. Another area into which officials put much energy was in finding the alleged “sources of infection” (Infektionsquellen), and there were problems with compliance here as well.
Source of Infection
As mentioned previously, women had been targeted as sexually transmitted disease sources by health officials for centuries before the world wars. However, with the high rates of infection during World War I, the German leadership issued the 1918 Emergency Decree on sexually transmitted disease control, which granted officials power to forcibly examine any individual suspected of carrying a venereal disease. The law emphasized prostitutes as carriers, but included males as potential sources in its definition as well.52 This inclusion of men continued in the 1927 venereal disease law and during World War II as well. However, as
50 Meldung und Befehlsersuchen des Gerichts der 256. Volks-Granadier-Division, Div.St.Qu., 23 December 1944, BAB NS7/266, doc. 2. Zuchthaus was “an imprisonment that included dismissal from the army and loss of pay,” and thus was more severe than a prison sentence (Gefängnisstrafe). Definition quoted from Beck, “Rape,” 270, n.8.
51 Oberstabsarzt Prof.Dr.Greipl beratender Dermatologe beim Wehrkreisarzt Böhmen und Möhren, Letter to Herrn Generalarzt Prof.Dr. Löhe, Berlin – Dahlen, Miquelstrasse 11, Prague, 25 January 1945, NARA, RG242, T 78, R. 189, Fr. 6130817.
52 Timm, “Politics”, 408. Also see Chapter One and Chapter Two in Timm, “Politics”.
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historian Annette Timm has found, the phrasing by various officials highlights the assumption that it was primarily women who were to blame for endangering society.53 The targeting of women as the source of venereal disease was not unique to Germany. In World War I England the Defense of the Realm Act (DORA) was passed. This law prohibited women who were listed with the police from being out between the hours of eight in the evening until seven in the morning. The act was issued by the military as early as November 1914, and by December many women had already been detained and some sentenced to hard labor. According to Colonel East, who issued the act, it was to protect the health of the soldiers. Feminists protested that it was simply a reinstatement of the nineteenth-century Contagious Diseases Act which targeted women as sources of venereal disease. The activist C. Nina Boyle argued in a suffragette periodical that “prostitution typically went unnoticed, but ‘[w]hen inconvenient and dangerous – to men, not to girls – there is an immediate resort to persecution of a peculiarly dastardly kind.’”54 In literature from various countries, including the U.S., men “contract” the diseases, while women “give” them.55
Shortly after World War II ended, Darson Carter wrote about the hypocrisy of so many who talked about syphilis as a social evil, but blame only the women instead of all society. In the U.S. during World War II the “Victory Women” (young, mostly teenage prostitutes who took the place of the older, professional prostitutes) were blamed for spreading infection among American soldiers. As Carter wrote,
Apparently the crusaders against venereal disease suffer form a peculiar form of one-eyed sight. With unerring accuracy they can trace infection to women and girls. They can even calculate with precision the number of times per night a Victory Girl is capable of violating human dignity. But when it comes to investigating the other partner in sex they can only blink and pass by. Outraged by the infected, irresponsible, delinquent girl, these vice-blind reformers pound the table for action. Speak of women, and we get cleanup
53 Timm, “Politics”, 408-409.
54 C. Nina Boyle, “The Prime Minister and a ‘Scrap of Paper’. C.D. Acts Re-established in a New Form,” The Vote (December 1914), quoted in Susan R. Grayzel, “The Enemy Within: The Problem of British Women’s Sexuality During the First World War” in Nicole Ann Dombrowski, ed., Women and War in the Twentieth Century: Enlisted with or without Consent, vol. 13, Women’s History and Culture (New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1999), 73. Also see Ann Taylor Allen, “Feminism, Ven ereal Diseases, and the State of Germany, 1890-19 18,” Journal of the History of Sexuality 4, no. 1 (1993).
55 Carter, Sin. The woman invariably was viewed as the source of infection, not the other way around. This correlated with the historical view of the prostitute being the criminal. See Haberling, “Morals.” There were also female Wehrmacht members who contracted venereal diseases, but not much is known about these cases. See Seidler, Prostitution, 96.
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On the eastern front during World War II the situation was similar, and the German leadership spent considerable energy to find the female sources of infection. Male military personnel who were ill or had signs of a venereal disease were to report to a doctor immediately. They could receive treatment and diminish the chances of spreading the disease to future sex partners. One of the first things the physician wanted to know was the “source of infection” because this source required treatment to help stop the spread of whatever disease had been transmitted. If civilian sources of venereal disease were found, this was important and positive information to report to senior officials. The number of such sources was very often included in World War II monthly reports (Monatsberichte) immediately following the lists of the numbers of new sexually transmitted disease cases. One doctor wrote that “next to sanitation the determination of the source of infection is the most important preventative measure in the fight against the spread of this epidemic.” Doctors were to question soldiers about sexual partners immediately after determining that there was a venereal disease,57 and they and other officials, including the morality police (Sittenpolizei), were vigilant in finding these sources. Having a venereal disease and having sex with a German was a crime. Women found with German soldiers were to be immediately handed over to the police on ‘security’ grounds.58 They then faced up to threeyearsimprisonment.59 Aspreviouslymentioned,inPolandanon-Germanwhoinfecteda German faced the death penalty.60 As with other methods to control the military’s sexual behavior, the German leadership was not successful in matching their regulations to wartime
56 Carter, Sin, 9.
57 Generalstabsarzt a.D. Wissemann, Three page report on VD to Generalarzt Prof. Dr. Löhe, Beratender
Dermatologe des Heeres-Stanitätsinspekteurs, Berlin, 20 January 1945, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R. 189, Fr. 6130752-55.
58 BA-MA RH27-18/177, 17.11.41, quoted in Bartov, Eastern Front, 127. In northwest France a woman caught without an identification card who had been with a German was punished. In special cases the crime was construed as a subversive crime against the military and handed to the secret state police. See Verordnungsblatt für den Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich Nr. 8/1940 [ns. 106, 107], quoted in Seidler, Prostitution, 178.
59 Seidler, Prostitution, 116. For additional background, see Haberling, “Morals.” Again, unfortunately I have not found voice to any women who were arrested for these alleged crimes.
60 Timm, “Politics”, 144.
campaigns. But mention the men – and they are merely statistics! Girls must be chased, arrested, sentenced, reformed. Men simply have to be cured, warned, handed a prophylactic kit, or a sermon.”56
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reality. 6 1
Still, a search for the alleged source could not begin until the men reported themselves
to the doctor, but as with the sanitation rule, many did not comply. Field Commander 608 reported in 1942 that in the former region of the Feldkommandanteur where it was required to report to the hospital, every opportunity was taken to evade treatment.62 When this happened, there were generally three results: first, the infected soldier could spread the disease to someone new; second, because of the delay, treatment became more difficult; and third, the recent sex partners of the soldier or officer would likely spread the disease as well.
But there were several reasons not to report. Some soldiers wanted to stay where they were instead of being shipped to a hospital in a far away, even more unfamiliar place. Many also fearedthebanagainstvacationforthoseinfectedwithasexuallytransmitteddisease.63 Others wanted to avoid any kind of civil divorce case, and there were those who wanted to protect their partner.64 Finally, many wanted to avoid the punishment for not sanitizing.
Administrators and army leadership experimented with different ways to ensure the soldiers would report their illness and their source of infection. Soldiers were to be encouraged to report themselves and to be told that partners would be prosecuted only if they could not show thattheywerebeingtreatedbyadoctor.65 Thethreatofpunishmentalsowasusedtopersuade
61 This was not a new tactic either. Haberling writes that “In compliance with the Regulative of August 8th, 1835, when treating venereal disease, physicians, civilian and militarysurgeons of Prussia in each case were obliged to ascertain the source of infection and report it to the police. ‘Dissolute persons through whom syphilis may be spread are to be watched by the police.’” Haberling, “Morals,” 78.
62 Major and Kommandant, Feldkommandantur 608, Ia/Br.B.Nr. 386/42, Tätigkeitsbericht an Korück 553, Simferopol, O.U., 14 June 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 65, Fr. 135-138.
63 With gonorrhea soldiers were banned from a vacation to their home for two months, and with syphilis until the treatment was finished.Zeiss, Oberstarzt, Der Beratende Hygieniker beim Heeres-Sanitätsinspekteur, Sammelbericht über Kriegserfahrungen der Beratenden Hygieniker to the Beratenden Hygieniker des Feld- und Ersatheeres, part 3, pp. 10-11, 20 January 1944, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R. 189, Fr. 6131272-73. Also see Seidler, Prostitution, 97,122. Still, Seidler also found that many men were infected while at home on leave. Toward the end of the war, in an attempt to forego punishment soldiers also falsely accused their own wives of being the source of their infection, knowing that the investigation would take longer.
64 Generalstabsarzt a.D. Wissemann, Three page report on VD to Generalarzt Prof. Dr. Löhe, Beratender Dermatologe des Heeres-Stanitätsinspekteurs, Berlin, 20 January 1945, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R. 189, Fr. 6130752-55.
65 Generalstabsarzt a.D. Wissemann, Three page report on VD to Generalarzt Prof. Dr. Löhe, Beratender Dermatologe des Heeres-Stanitätsinspekteurs, Berlin, 20 January 1945, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R. 189, Fr. 6130752-55.
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soldiers to comply with the rules.66 One example of experimentation comes from an air force division, which apparently had success finding the female sources of infection. The troop doctor had his senior office produce a bulletin in the form of a questionnaire which included information on the latest instruction and on which measures would be taken according to disciplinary code. Every case came before the division commander, and since the soldiers feared being known as trouble-makers, they complied with the rules. Apparently, this division saw a sixty-percent decrease in the number of sexually transmitted disease cases.67
When an infected soldier met with his doctor, one standard method used to find the source of infection was a questionnaire filled out by the soldier. There were different versions of such forms, but basically it consisted of questions concerning the soldier’s most recent sexual partner, where she lived, what she looked like, when and where the sexual intercourse had taken place, and other such information. However, it was common that a soldier could not remember much about the woman with whom he had sexual intercourse. Sometimes, at best, he knew her first name, where she lived, or at least where they had sex. This frustrated the sanitation officers, whose job it was to curtail the spread of disease. One angry chief sanitation officer complained about the irresponsibility of the soldiers who, “through blind drunkenness or stupid indifference” could only remember some of the basic facts. “It is not seldom that the infected one does not know the town, let alone the street or the house number in which the sexual intercourse took place.”6 8
Women frequently sold sex in places other than their own apartment,69 so even if the soldier was lucid enough to remember where he had been, this did not always help the officials who then searched for the woman, often in vain. This reveals the leadership’s ongoing struggle with the reality that prostitution was very widespread, much of it was unregulated, and the men of whom they were in charge were very often intoxicated and not interested in complying with
66 Leitender Sanitäts Offizier OFK 365, Merkblatt für durchziehende Truppen im Distrikt Galizien, Lemberg, 1 January 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 215, Fr. 505-506.
67 Anweisung für Truppenärzte, Einzelanordnungen Nr. 8, Berlin, 31 October 1943, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R. 192, Fr. 6135726.
68 Der Chef des Militärverwaltungsbezirks A – Leitender Sanitätsoffizier – Az. 49r vom23.8.1941, Bundesarchiv/Militärarchiv RH 36/v. 491, [n. 159], quoted in Seidler, Prostitution, 119.
69 Wehrkreisarzt XVIII Az.:49r50 Ref.Ch/Hug, Salzburg, 3 January 1945, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R. 189, Fr. 6130761-62. Also see Seidler, Prostitution, 121.
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the rules surrounding their sexual behavior.
In addition to not being able to provide enough information on the source of infection,
soldiers also lied about who their sex partners were. This could have been to protect their real partner who for some reason wanted to avoid treatment, to avoid punishment if the military member slept with someone of an illegal race or nationality, or the man simply could have been mistaken. As a result, women were falsely “accused.” An example of this comes from the documents surrounding the cannoneer Alfons Haupt. He had given a woman’s first name as his source of infection and claimed she lived on Kork Street in Liepaja. His physician, Dr. Vedigs, wrote a letter to the Leitender Arzt (chief doctor) saying there was no such street in Libau and that even the description of the alleged woman’s place of residence was of no help.70 A Marta B., with a Latvian last name, was falsely accused of infecting someone with gonorrhea. She was forced to be examined, but found to be healthy.71 A Wehrmacht soldier in Hannover reported in July 1943 that a woman named Frau Anna W. in Latvia infected him with syphilis. Her name was prefaced with the German “Frau” and the family name also appeared to be German, with the exception that it ended in “s.” But either he misunderstood the pronunciation of her last name or he purposely tried to hide the fact that she was a Latvian woman. Her name actually started with a V. and was spelled with a Latvian spelling. By September 1943 it was finally reported that she was healthy.72 A Salomeja N., with a non-German name, who worked in the German lazarett in Balvia, Latvia, also was falsely accused. A Dr. J. L§cis performed two different tests on her to determine that she was healthy. 73 A Lisa S. in Jelgava (Mitau) had three different tests performed on her and was found to be healthy each time, despite the accusaion that she infected a military man with the last name Gehsel.74 Dr. Kirschentals wrote that a Marianna B. was
70 Letter from the Sanitätsabetilung Libau to the Leitenden Arzt b.Generalkommissariat in Riga, No. 1244 signed Dr. J. Vedigs, 24 May 1943, BAB R92/10036, doc.66.
71 Dr. H. Kirschentals, director of the Riga Health Department, Memo to Herr Kommissarische Oberbürgermeister, 12 February 1943, BAB R92/10036, doc.22.
72 Venereal Disease Form, signed, Hannover, 16 July 1943; Dr. Marnitz, Letter to the Health Department in Riga, signed, 27 July 1943; Dr. T. Wankin, Letter to Dr. Marnitz, signed, 10 September 1943; all in BAB R92/10036, doc. 199-202.
73 Dr. Th. Wankin, Letter to Dr. Marnitz, Riga, September 1943, BAB R92/10036, doc. 198.
74 Oberarzt, Two page venereal disease questionairre, signed, 4 May 1943; Dr. Marnitz, Letter to Herr Dr. Dargewitz in Mitau, 12 May 1943; Dr. A. Darg‘vics, Memo to Dr. Marnitz, 5 July 1943, BAB R92/10036, docs. 104- 107.
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examined and found to be healthy.75 A Welta O. in Riga was also falselyaccused by someone but later, after forced examination, found to be “innocent.”76
A late-September 1943 case of a forced examination that generated considerable paperwork and ended with the conclusion that the accused woman was healthy is that of the married Unteroffizier Alfred Fick. He accused a Russian woman, Anni P. of being his source, despite his use of a condom. He did not know if other people had slept with her or not. Apparently he had spent the night in the room of a man named Schutzmann, who knew Anni better than Fick did. A Reichsangestellte (bureaucrat) in Department II Z (B) wrote to a Mr. Bornheim in the same department that Anni worked for them. The bureaucrat had spoken to her, and even though she denied having had sexual relations with Fick, she was told she needed to be examined. The other women apparently said about Anni that Fick “did not bother himself about anyone like he did her. He always sat in the kitchen with her and even ate there.”77 Two days later, Bornheim wrote back repeating the story that Fick had been at the apartment of the head of his Lager and had sexual intercourse with Anni. He demanded that Anni be examined by the Latvian health department and that the results be sent to him. In addition, if Anni P. were found to be healthy, then he suggested that all twenty-one Russian women in the Lager be examined.78 By October 8, Dr. Marnitz, the Amtsarzt in Riga, was involved. He wrote to Dr. Kiršentals in the Riga health department that Anni P. needed to be examined and the details sent to him.79 Finally, on November 19 and again on December 15, Kiršentals wrote to the Herr Kommissarische Oberbürgermeister in Riga that Anna P. was examined at the venereal department of the hospital at Alexanderhöhe and was found to be healthy.80
75 Dr. Kirschentals, Letter to Herrn Kommissarische Oberbürgermeister of Riga, 22 October 1943, BAB R92/10036, doc. 244.
76 Venereal Disease Form from Staatliche Kommunale Gesundheitsamt, 2 pages, signed in Riga, 27 April 1943; Memo from Dr.H.Kirschentals to Herr kommissarische Oberbürgermeister in Riga, 27 May 1943, BAB R92/10036, docs. 53-55.
77 Reichsangestellte, Letter to Herr Bornheim, signed illegibly, Riga, 2 October 1943, BAB R92/10036, docs. 224-225.
78 Reichsangestellte, Letter to Abteilung II Gesund imHause from Bornheim, signed illegibly, Riga, 4 October 1943, BAB R92/10036, doc. 226.
79 Dr. Marnitz, Signed letter to Dr. Kiršentals, Riga, 8 October 1943, BAB R92/10036, doc. 228.
80 Dr. Kirschentals, Letter to Herr Kommissarische Oberbuergermeister in Riga, signed, 15 December 1943, BAB R92/10036, docs. 229 and 246.
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A male patient infected with gonorrhea had sex with a woman (first and last name unknown) in her apartment on Lasdonas Street, 9, Apartment 4 on February 21, 1943, around ten to eleven in the evening. Like many women in the case studies, she was young (twenty-three years of age), tall and slim with a round face, and had light blond hair and spoke broken German. He could not remember the color of her eyes, but thought she worked in a factory. The patient (unnamed) told the doctor in the Reservelazarett in Riesenberg81 that he had used a condom, but had not sanitized himself afterward. The doctor did not write that the patient was trustworthy, but in that blank on the questionnaire wrote that the patient had been told that if he was lying he would be punished.82 Seventeen days later, on May 19, 1943, there is a note that says the health department had reported by telephone that the “one infected with gonorrhea” who lives at Lasdonas Street 9 had been summoned for medical examination. The health department had believed the man and blamed her as being the source of infection.83 On June 8 Dr. H. Kirschentals wrote that the woman who lived at Lasdonas Street 9, who was incidentally named Pauline K., had been examined and was found to be healthy. No other comments were made.84 Women and girls had to endure these forced, often repeated, and probably humiliating gynecological examinations under the male leadership in their countries.
In addition to lying, another problem was that the soldier would only name the last partner he had, but not all previous partners. At least by 1945, doctors finally were instructed to ask about additional partners, especially if the soldier first placed blame on a prostitute in a Wehrmacht brothel.85 Two examples follow. It is also evident that if an accused woman were found to be innocent (meaning free of infection), at least in Riga, the soldier was to be interrogated further. Additionally, having weekly checkups and being registered with the German officials did sometimes help to clear a prostitute’s name of having a venereal disease.
81 I cannot find the Latvian name for this.
82 Oberstabsarzt and Chefarzt at the Reservelazarett Riesenburg, Krankenabteilung III, VD form from the Health Department, illegible signature, 2 May 1943, BAB R92/10036, docs. 75-76.
83 Vermerk, signed illegibly, Riga, 19 May 1943, BAB R92/10036, doc. 73.
84 Dr. H. Kirschentals, Director, Letter to the Herr kommissarische Oberbürgermeister of Riga, 8 June 1943, BAB R92/10036, doc. 79.
85 Generalstabsarzt a.D. Wissemann, Three page report on VD to Generalarzt Prof. Dr. Löhe, Beratender Dermatologe des Heeres-Stanitätsinspekteurs, Berlin, 20 January 1945, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R. 189, Fr. 6130752-55. Also see Der Chef des Militärverwaltungsbezirks A – Leitender Sanitätsoffizier – Az. 49r vom 23.8.1941, Bundesarchiv/Militärarchiv RH 36/v. 491, [n. 158], quoted in Seidler, Prostitution, 119.
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Sometime between the 27th and the 29th of April 1943, Peter Arras visited the military brothel in Riga on Park Street, Number 4 and had sex with a “brothel girl” (Bordellmädchen) named Vera (last name unknown). She was over thirty years old, one and a half meters tall, with a full face and light blond hair. He paid fifteen Reichsmarks. The patient told the doctor that he had sanitized himself after the visit to the brothel, but that he had destroyed the sanitation verification slip (Sanierschein). Having had sex with no one else, Vera was most probably the source of his infection.86
That Peter Arras had visited the Wehrmacht brothel would have been verifiable since all soldiers were required to sign in at the door. Based on what was done elsewhere in the Reich, it is likely that it was also checked by his name if he had been given a condom.87 Whether Vera had been his only partner of course was not verifiable. Vera, however, was examined at the thrice weekly examinations by the brothel doctors, but not once found to be infected with a venereal disease. Doctors at the brothel wrote that this proved that the infected Wehrmacht member was entirely unreliable, and that the affected Wehrmacht member was to be questioned about which other women he had had sex within the possible incubation period.88
Unteroffizier Richard Labeit, infected with gonorrhea, named a prostitute in the Park Street Wehrmacht brothel in Riga who was registered under the name of “Fenja” Number 13 as his source of infection. In July 1943 the Oberarzt and Standortarzt reported that Fenja had been clean of any venereal disease since November 1942. The doctors argued that all of the women in that brothel were checked three times a week by a specialist, and that sexual intercourse was only allowed with condoms. There was “no question” that “Fenja” was not the “source of infection” (underline in original). They requested that Labeit should be thoroughly questioned about which other women he had had sex with.89
Apparently desperate for new strategies, Dr. Wissemann, General Staff Doctor, wrote in his 1945 three-page report on sexually transmitted diseases that additional questions be posed
86 Lt. Arzt des Generalkommissariates, VD questionnaire, Riga, 19 May 1943, BAB R92/10036, docs. 58-59. 87 Bericht Oberfeldarzt Dr. Schmidt, Heeresgruppe C, Bundesarchiv/Militärchiv H 20/148, [n. 87], quoted in
Seidler, Prostitution, 167.
88 Wehrm.-Orts-Kommandantur Rig Abt.: IV b- Standortarzt, Br. Tageb. Nr. 3907/43, signed Stabsarzt and
Standortarzt, 17 August 1943, BAB R92/10036, doc. 167.
89 Oberarzt and Standortarzt, Letter to Reserve Lazaret III, Department III in Königsberg, Riga, 23 July 1943, BAB R92/10036, doc. 142. Emphasis in original.
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in an attempt to jog the memory of the soldier, questions such as “After the intercourse, did the soldier bring the stranger (Unbekannte) home? In which direction did the road travel (into or out of town)? Did they use a streetcar (which line, direction)? Position of the home (far/near to the stop, left/right of the traveling direction, corner house, attached or single-family house)?” Other suggestions included asking “What did the stranger tell about her personal relations? Kind of employment, place of work, if her father or brother was wounded or killed in action. Approximate age, size?” Additional questions were even more detailed: “Did the stranger have any dinstinguishing features? (Hair light blond, dark black, how it was parted, etc.; eye color; eyebrows natural/painted; teeth nice/with holes/gold teeth; earrings; finger nails natural or polished; hands well-kept/soft/rough and hard; speech refined/not refined; dialect from the Rhine/Saxony, Bavaria, etc.)”90 It is not clear if there was any success in jogging the memories of the men with these questions or if these suggestions were carried out at all. But it is clear from the wording that the leadership acknowledged that the men had sex with strangers, which probably meant that many of them paid for the sex, even if on the forms they denied this.
In all fairness, there are a few cases on file which ended with the Germans successfully finding an infected female accused by the patient. For example, Otto Pomorin worked for the Germans in Riga and was infected ten days before he went to the doctor on March 30, 1943. Although he did not divulge how long he had known his partner, he did know her name and claimed he was infected by an Elisabeth B., who lived on Brückenstreet 20 in Riga.91 By the eighth of May 1943, Dr. H. Kirschentals, Director of the Health Department in Riga, wrote that she had been let out of the Alexanderhöhe hospital and had been treated for gonorrhea.92 Such cases probably proved to the Germans that the woman was the source of infection, yet the woman also could have been infected by the man.
Another successful case was that of the military man Gerhard Meier who named an Irma K. as his source. She was a twenty-six-year-old Latvian. They used no protection and he did
90 Generalstabsarzt a.D. Wissemann, Three page report on VD to Generalarzt Prof. Dr. Löhe, Beratender Dermatologe des Heeres-Stanitätsinspekteurs, Berlin, 20 January 1945, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R. 189, Fr. 6130752-55.
91 Dr. Lange, Anzeige, 30 March 1943, signed, BAB R92/10036, doc.47.
92 Dr.H. Kirschentals, Director of Gesundheitsamt, Letter to the Herrn komm. Oberbürgermeister der Stadt Riga, 8 May 1943, BAB R92/10036, doc.46.
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not sanitize himself.93 Dr. Marnitz, Amtsarzt, wrote to the health department in Riga on August 30 describing Irma K., her address, and asking that she be found and checked for gonorrhea. On September 30, Dr. Th. Wankin, Director of the Health Department, wrote back to Dr. Marnitz to tell him her name was actually Irina K., with a very Latvian spelling, not with the obvious German spelling originally given. She was examined, had gonorrhea and was being treated.
Outside of establishing medically supervised military brothels, the final step for the officials to try to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases was to force “suspicious” women to have medical exams and treatment if necessary, and to gain control of the unregulated or unofficial prostitution that flourished in the wartime economy. According to Seidler, the spread of venereal diseases would have been much greater had there not been so much energy placed on finding the sources of infection. To encourage soldiers to reveal their sexual partners, lighter sentences were offered if they cooperated with the search. The most effective method to reduce the incidence of venereal diseases was to establish Wehrmacht brothels, but since the soldiers fraternized with women outside these official German houses of prostitution, energy was put into finding these sources.94 If the search for the female source was successful, from the German point of view, the leadership forced the woman or girl into having a gynecological examination. If an infection was found, treatment was required.
Forced Examination and Treatment
Prostitutes and women suspected of having a venereal disease have been subjected to humiliating genital exams performed by men for centuries. Feminists in Germany had denounced this treatment and denigration of women since the beginning of the nineteen hundreds, especially since men were not forced to be examined for venereal diseases.95 During World War I women were denigrated in pamphlets warning soldiers about the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases. Accordingly, people were infected with sexually transmitted diseases by “foolish girls and women” who because of their “loose” lifestyle were almost all sick and who then infect the
93 Meldung über Geschlechtskranke, 22 August 1943, Handwritten, signed illegibly Stabsarzt, BAB R92/10036, doc. 213; Dr. Marnitz, Letter to the Health Department in Riga, 30 August 1943, BAB R92/10036, doc. 214; Dr. Th. Wankin, Health Department in Riga, Letter to Dr. Marnitz, 30 August 1943, BAB R92/10036, doc. 215.
94 Seidler, Prostitution, 126-127.
95 Mosse, Nationalism, 110. Also see Haberling’s study, which has examples of many decrees to force medical examinations. Among other places, see especially pages 60-67.
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prostitute was not unique to Germany. In the U.S. a 1936 magazine article by a former surgeon general of the United States Public Health Service shocked millions of Americans who read for the first time facts about the spread of venereal disease in the U.S. among all levels of the population. What had been unspeakable and only viewed as a “moral sin” suddenly became a social problem that needed to be solved. Despite the attempts after this article by researchers, doctors, editors, members of the clergy, and others to wipe out syphilis and gonorrhea, little progress was made. In 1942 it was clear that any progress that had been made was being reversed with the number of cases rising again. At this time, the military stepped in to “clean up” and, as Carter writes, “blind to the lessons of the past they decided to chase sin with patrol wagons. Very soon they whipped up a chase after that perennial scapegoat, the prostitute.”97
In German-occupied territory during World War II some prostitutes worked either on their own or with a pimp or a madam, but were not regulated by the Germans. Some of these women could have been prostitutes before the German occupation. Many women in German occupied areas, as well as in labor and concentration camps, entered sexual relationships only because of the needed material goods it would bring. As the German officials tried to gain control of the independent prostitutes and have them be medically controlled, women who worked as prostitutes on the streets or in private brothels were the target of denigration, raids, forced treatment, and arrest. They were commonly referred to in German documents as the Dirnenunwesen (whore menace) and were blamed for the widespread venereal diseases among the Nazi soldiers, officers, and bureaucrats. Primarily because of the rapid spread of sexually transmitted diseases, German authorities quickly moved to control unregulated prostitution and the men who visited “black” (schwarzen) or independent brothels instead of the official German ones. The solution to the venereal disease problem was thought to be to gain control over these women, establish official brothels, and discourage soldiers from anything other than safe sex in medically supervised brothels. It is not clear from the evidence I found how many women and girls in the east came under German control, but still worked the streets or in other brothels
96 Hirschfeld and Gaspar, eds., Sittengeschichte der Erste Weltkrieges. Nachdruck der 2. neubearbeiteten Auflage, 174.
97 Carter, Sin, 5.
men with whom they consort.96
As with so many aspects of the topic of sexual violence and disease, blaming the
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another way to limit the spreading venereal diseases among the Wehrmacht was to conduct raids on the suspicious women, who would then be brought to an army hospital for forced examination and if necessary, treatment. Not all local commanders were concerned with conducting raids and enforcing examinations on unregulated women. In his study of the eastern front, Theo Schulte provides one example from Korück 582 where the commander declared that women need not be forcibly hospitalized. In this case, it was suggested that the authorities deal with the German soldiers who were paying for sex with their black leather boots.98 This, however, was not the rule. There are abundant examples of doctors and commanders who often wrote about forced examination and raids. If anything, the example by Schulte again shows us how military authorities grappled with the problem of sex between the occupiers and the native women. Various methods were attempted, including questioning the soldiers, raids on the women, and the forced examination and treatment of “suspicious” women.99 Specific case studies of occupied countries follow.
Occupied Poland
In Poland, fighting unregulated prostitution was a considerable problem in 1941 and 1942.100 The authorities carried out systematic raids in the large cities such as Warsaw, Lvov, and Krakau. This was usually done in the evening hours when men were visiting women for paid sex.
98 Korück 582, OK Witebsk, Standertarzt, ‘Maßnahmen zur Verhütung und Bekämpfung übertragbarer Krankheiten: 4’, dated 25.08.1941, quoted in Schulte, German Army, 168.
99 Forty-eight percent of all women treated at the Leipziger University Skin Clinic from 1938-1940 had been arrested during raids. The marines also conducted many raids in the harbors before allowing the soldiers to land. This was believed to help limit the spread of disease. See Der Heeressanitätsinspekteur 1910/40 vom 20.12.1940, Bundesarchiv/Militärarchiv RH 36/v.491 [n. 108], and Vgl. Kriegstagebuch des Leitenden Sanitätsoffiziers beim Marineoberkommando Süd, Eintragung vom 8.1.1945, Bundesarchiv/Militärarchiv K 70-1/2 [n. 110], quoted in Seidler, Prostitution, 178.
100 This is repeated in several documents. For example, Leitender Sanitäts Offizier b.d. OFK 365 Az.: 449.s. (I), Monatsbericht, St. Qu., 14 September 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 214, Fr. 520-524; Leitender Sanitäts Offizier OFK 365, Az.: 49.s. (I), Monatsbericht, St. Qu., 18 November 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 214, Fr. 1240- 1243; Leitender Sanitäts Offizier OFK 365, Az.: 49. s. (I), Monatsbericht, Lemberg, 18 December 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 214, Fr. 1055-1057; NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 215, Fr. 872. Tomaszow/Maz., den 10.7.42 Kommandeur des Heeresstreifendienstes beim Mil. Befh. Im Gen.Gouv. Nr. 404 / 42 geh. Erfahrungs – und Tätigkeitsbericht für die Zeit vom1. – 30. 6. 1942; Leitender San.-Offizier, OFK 365, Anlage 2 zumMonatsbericht Mai 1941, Az. 49.s. (I), Tätigkeitsbericht für die Zeit vom 16. April bis 15. Mai 1941, St. Qu., 17 May 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 214, Fr. 329.
outside the German state-run military brothel system.
In addition to relying on soldiers to report their venereal disease source truthfully,
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The Lvov monthly reports from chief sanitation officer, Dr. Fahr between early 1941 and spring of 1943 show that the spread of sexually transmitted diseases was of a primary concern to OFK 365. The numbers of cases of sexually transmitted diseases in Lvov climbed throughout the war.102 There was also concern about the rising number of cases among the civilian population. Often Dr. Fahr assured his reader that “as usual” the fight against prostitution and sexually transmitted diseases was given high priority.103 Officials generated large amountsof paperwork in their continued attempt to resolve the venereal disease problem.
In March 1941 a private brothel in Mielec at Zermoskiego Number 188 was cause for concern for hygienic and for moral policing reasons because of its “indefensible”conditions. Despite various petitions from the Ortskommandantur to shut down the place, the brothel stayed open. The author of one report wrote that the series of events surrounding this brothel was being sent to the OFK 365 with the request for a further investigation.104
In May 1941 according to Dr. Fahr, raids regularly took place in all locations to fight secret prostitution, and the numbers of those with a sexually transmitted disease had been reduced considerably. The reporting officer seemed proud to announce that in the towns of Tarnow, Jaroslau, Krosno, and Rudnik there had not been a single case of a sexually transmitted disease reported, and in Przemysl and Rzeszow just one case each.105
The Standortarzt in Lvov wrote another optimistic report in August 1941 that all
101 Tomaszow/Maz., den 10.7.42 Kommandeur des Heeresstreifendienstes beim Mil. Befh. ImGen.Gouv. Nr. 404 / 42 geh. Erfahrungs – und Tätigkeitsbericht für die Zeit vom 1. – 30. 6. 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 215, Fr. 872.
102 Leitender San.- Offizier OFK 365, Ax.: 49 s (I/F), Monatsbericht, Anlage 4 to OFK 365 Ia Nr.6020/43, geh. Lemberg, 15 December 1943, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 217, Fr. 846;
Leitender Sanitäts Offizier OFK 365, Az.: 49.s. Monatsbericht, Lemberg, 15 March 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 215, Fr. 102-104; Leitender Sanitäts Offizier OFK 365, Az.: 49.s. (I), Monatsbericht, Lemberg, 16 February1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 215, Fr. 323. Also see Seidler’s chapters One and Two on sexually transmitted diseases which include statistics that cover the entire Reich and war on this topic.
103 Übersicht of gemeldeten Seuchenerkrankungen in der Zivilbevölkerung im Bereich OFK 365, O.U., 6 Januar 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 215, Fr. 501-504.
104 Kommandantur Truppenübungsplatz Süd Abt. Ia Aktenz. 4. Monatsberichte An Militärbefehlshaber im Generalgouvernement in Spala, Deba, 19 March 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 213, Fr. 1107-1108.
105 Leitender San.-Offizier, OFK 365, Anlage 2 zum Monatsbericht Mai 1941, Az. 49.s. (I), Tätigkeitsbericht für die Zeit vom 16. April bis 15. Mai 1941, St. Qu., 17 May 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 214, Fr. 329.
Polish-speaking soldiers would accompany the morality police (Sittenpolizei) to cheap hotels, private apartments of suspicious women and known “black brothels.”101
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venereal disease sources were registered with him and were forcibly brought to treatment through the field police (Feldgendarmerie).106 Just one month later, in September 1941, the chief sanitation officer had a much bleaker report. Raids still were carried out, but only periodically and with the help of German police and the Ukrainian Militia. “Suspicious” women were watched and then put under control through the district hospitals. Presumably this meant that the women were then registered and required to be examined regularly or risk arrest and imprisonment. Although he wrote that all “suspicious” women were registered after being examined, the registration of the many prostitutes needed to be completed before an official brothel in Lvov would be opened.107 By November 1941 the chief sanitation officer in OFK 365 wrote that sexually transmitted diseases had spread tremendously, and the troops were being made aware of this increased danger. In addition, “suspicious female persons” were registered with the public health officials and their compliance in the hospitals was rigorously watched.108
German military leaders, usually sanitation officers, reported on a weekly basis about the fight against secret prostitution, the numbers of women who had been arrested and how many of those were sick. In Tarnopol, Poland in a two week span in 1941 thirty-eight “suspicious” women were brought in for examination, and twenty-four of them were found to be infected with a sexually transmitted disease. Controls and control books (Kontrollbücher) of the “suspicious ones” were being put in place everywhere.109 The control books referred to a book prostitutes were then required to have with them at all times. Their examination results were recorded in the book by the physician.
As awareness over the problem grew, so too did the number of cases. In December 1941 Dr. Fahr reported that they were giving, as usual, high priority to the fight against sexually transmitted diseases, and that the numbers of soldiers being caught was growing.110 In February
106 Standortarzt, O.U., Monatsbericht, Lemberg, 17 August 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 214, Fr. 724-
725.
107 Leitender Sanitäts Offizier b.d. OFK 365 Az.: 449.s. (I), Monatsbericht, St. Qu., 14 September 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 214, Fr. 520-524.
108 Leitender Sanitäts Offizier OFK 365, Az.: 49.s.(I), Monatsbericht, St. Qu., 18 November 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 214, Fr. 1240-1243.
109 Leitender Sanitäts Offizier OFK 365, Az.: 49.s. (I), Monatsbericht, St. Qu., 18 October 1941, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 214, Fr. 1405-1408.
110 NARA, RG 242, T501, R. 214, Fr. 1055-1057.
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1942 he repeated that the fight against the prostitution menace (Dirnenunwesens) was as before being conducted vigorously. They conducted raids and picked up “suspicious” women for examinations.1 1 1
The chief sanitation officer in Lvov reported in March 1942 that their fight against the Dirnenunwesens (whore menace) was conducted in cooperation with the civilian authorities. Because of the strong controls over the independent prostitution, most of the professional prostitutes had been caught. In the first months,112 between 140 to 180 street prostitutes were registered and brought under control, but by the time of this report the monthly number had been reduced to around fifteen. All arrested prostitutes were to be examined two times a week. Showing the necessity of this examination schedule, Fahr explained that a raid in Tarnopol that produced 120 examined women revealed that eleven of them had “fresh” gonorrhea and four “fresh” syphilis.113 Street or independent prostitutes risked arrest if they did not comply with the required examinations.
By April 1942 German officials, presumably frustrated with trying to catch all the women, resorted to forcing women into being examined by withholding their food ration cards. The chief sanitation officer of OFK 365, Dr. Fahr, reported that at the request of the Standortarzt (station surgeon) the distribution of food ration cards was dependent on the woman undergoing a medical examination for sexually transmitted diseases. More than eight hundred women who obviously depended on their food ration cards were examined, sixty-three of whom were found to have a sexually transmitted disease (thirty-three women had syphilis, and thirty had gonorrhea).114 From the tone of this document, this apparently was a significant number of sources to find. Considering that the strength of the German people (Volk) was at risk, there was of course no mention of any ethical issues surrounding forced medical examinations of that nature.
On May 5, 1942, it was reported that Wehrmacht soldiers in Tomaszow were
111 Leitender Sanitäts Offizier, Lemberg, Monatsbericht,16 February 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 215, Fr. 323.
112 Presumably “in the first months” referred to the first months of the occupation.
113 Leitender Sanitäts Offizier OFK 365, Az.: 49.s., Monatsbericht, Lemberg, 15 March 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 215, Fr. 102-104.
208.
114 Leitender Sanitäts Offizier, Monatsbericht, Lemberg, 15 April 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 216, Fr.
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overstepping their vacation allowances. It was mostly the rank and file (Unteroffiziere and Mannschaften) who were living with Polish women in hotels or guesthouses without any authorization. Compliance was being achieved through increased raids of the hotels at irregular times conducted in conjunction with the field police. With the cooperation of the security service (Sicherheitsdienst or SD) a whole array of so-called black brothels were found through these controls. It was reported that permanent monitoring was secured through the use of registration and lists.115 Another problem the authorities had was soldiers who picked up civilians, especially female civilians. In just one month, April 1942, there were eighty-five complaints in Tomaszow alone.1 1 6
In Kielce, Poland raids were carried out in 1942 in cooperation with the field police and the criminal police. On August 19, 1942, a widespread raid was carried out on “suspicious female persons” that resulted in “complete success.” In addition, on September 21, 1942, in the regions of the individual Ortskommandanturen “moral controls” (Sittenkontrollen) were carried out, from which many infected girls were taken to undergo forced treatment.117
As we have seen, in many Polish cities, the Germans had considerable difficulties controlling the independent prostitutes, the soldiers, and even officers. Soldiers and officers continued to visit independent brothels instead of the state-run brothels which were being established in all cities (see Chapter Four). A report from Tomaszow, dated August 14, 1942 reads:
The arrests of the still large number of soldiers who stayed out past curfew happened mostly because of the systematic combing of black brothels and cheap hotels, less of the public localities (Lokalen). The number of soldiers who visit Polish prostitutes and mostly unworthy private brothels for Wehrmacht members far outnumbers the visitor numbers in the Wehrmacht brothel. Besides regular soldiers, increasing numbers of officers and officials in Warsaw are caught in cheap hotels with Polish prostitutes.118
115 Kommandeur des Heeresstreifendienstes beim Mil.Befh. im Gen. Gouv. Nr. 342 / 42 geh. Erfahrungs – und Tätigkeitsbericht, Tomaszow/Maz., 15 May 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 216, Fr. 112.
116 Kommandeur des Heeresstreifendienstes beim Mil.Befh. im Gen. Gouv. Nr. 342 / 42 geh. Erfahrungs – und Tätigkeitsbericht, Anlage 1, Tomaszow/Maz., 15 May 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 216, Fr. 112.
117 OFK 372 Abt. Ia-Nr.3512/42 geh., St.Qu.Kielce, 21 September 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 216, Fr.
1164.
118 Kommandeur des Heeresstreifendienstes, beim Mil. Befh. im Gen. Gouv. Nr. 442 / 42 geh. Erfahrungs – und Tätigkeitsbericht für die Zeit vom 1. – 31. Juli 1942, Tomaszow, Maz., 14 August 1942, NARA, RG242, T 501, R. 215, Fr. 667.
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This was something that was known to have been a regular occurrence throughout the entire Reich,119 despite the widespread repetition by authorities and knowledge by all military members of the rules against sex with “women of another race” (Geschlechtsverkehr mit andersrassigen Frauen). The same process occurring in Poland also happened in Ukraine and Russia. With my initial investigation, there was less documentation from these areas than from Poland, but I am confident many documents still exist, though unfortunately the voices of the women and girls are mostly silent. Some examples from occupied Russia, Ukraine, and Latvia follow.
Occupied Russia and Ukraine
In June 1942 the Leutnant of the field police in Kerch, Ukraine wrote that in “recent times there has been the appearance of sexually transmitted diseases in large numbers. Within just a few days five female persons with venereal diseases were picked up and brought to the local doctor. Immediate measures also were being taken to secure any suspicious people possibly infected with a sexually transmitted disease.”120 Elsewhere, in the Crimean city of Karasubasar and the surrounding region, four women infected with sexually transmitted diseases were arrested and escorted to the venereal disease hospital in June 1942.121 In June 1942 the Sixteenth Army in Russia also conducted effective raids against “women who hung out and turned up at notorious meeting places.” Those who were arrested had forced gynecological examinations by Russian doctors under German control and supervision. If there was even the slightest sign of venereal disease they were brought to the women’s hospital.122
In the area of Feldkommandantur 756 in July 1942, it was reported that the civilian birth rate exceeded the death rate by a good one third. Only a few sexually transmitted disease cases were reported. The forced treatment of the infected women showed good results and was
119 Feldkommandostelle, Vermerk, Betr.: Geschlechtsverkehr mit andersrassigen Frauen, 13 May 1943, BAB NS7/13, docs. 7-9; Vgl. Der Reichsführer-SS B Nr. I 2382/39 Ads. vom 24.10.1939, Bundesarchiv R. 19/403-1, [n. 122], quoted in Seidler, Prostitution, 181-182.
120 Leutnant d. Feldgendarmerie, Tgb.Nr. 248/42, Tätigkeitsbericht, illegible signature, Kertsch, 30 June 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 65, Fr. 284-287.
121 Ortskommandantur II/937/V, Tätigkeitsbericht, Karasubasar, 12 June 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 65, Fr. 196.
122 Vgl. Bericht IV b vom 15.6.1942, Bundesarchiv/Militärarchiv AOK 16/23467/28, [n. 111], quoted in Seidler, Prostitution, 178.
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drawing to a close.123 A fairly conservative report from February 1943 states that “obviously, sexually transmitted diseases are slowly on the rise in the east. The sources of infection were in part from France and in part from Warsaw.” It had also been reported that there also was an increase in underground prostitution in Russia.124 Thus, the reports from this area are similar to those in Poland. The same attempt to control independent prostitution also took place in the Baltic.
Occupied Latvia
Organizing a system of officially regulated prostitution in Riga, Latvia was probably not as difficult as elsewhere in the occupied eastern territories. Before the German occupation duringWorldWarII,therehadbeenalong-standingsystemofregulatedprostitution,125 andDr. Marnitz, Riga’s Amtarzt, wanted to reestablish this system.126
Already in December 1941, Dr. Marnitz was concerned with the numbers of sexually transmitted disease cases in the German occupied city of Riga, Latvia. He wrote that the number of cases was a very high one, and that to decrease the danger to both the civilian population and the Wehrmacht it was necessary to get the considerably widespread prostitution under supervision.127 Another report states that “in the last six months of the year 1941 the police escorted more than four hundred female persons to the Riga control ambulatory (Kontrollambulanz), many of whom had already done this repeated times, and a large portion of them proved to be sick.”128 But they did not always get it right. A Vetra O. (also spelled Welta in the documents) was accused of being someone’s source of infection and was therefore forced to
123 Der Leit. San. Offz. Beim Kommandanten rückw. Armeegebiet 585, O.U. 17 July 1942, NARA, RG 242, T 501, R. 65, Fr. 531-534.
124 Der Beratende Hygieniker beim Heeres-Sanitätsinspekteur, Letter to the Beratenden Hygieniker des Feld- und Ersatheeres, signed Zeiss, Oberstarzt, Berlin, 10 February 1943, NARA, RG 242, T 78, R. 189, Fr. 6131247-48.
125 This is shown not onlyby what the WWII German documents suggest, but also by the largeamount of documents on the prostitutes prior to World War II. See LSHA Fond 1376, Opis, 2s, Del 18128.
126 BAB R92/10036.
127 Dr. Marnitz, Gesundheit und Volkspflege, Abtlg. II d, Two page letter to Herr Gebietskokmmissar Riga- Stadt und k. Oberbürgermeister der Stadt Riga, 13 December 1941, BAB R92/558.
128 P. Dreijmanis, Stellv. Stadtaltester and Dr. H. Kirschentals, Leiter des Gesundheitsamtes i.V., Letter, Riga, March 1942, BAB R92/558.
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brothel in Liepaja that a woman had been running with her son since before the war through to at least February 1942. The business was in her apartment on Michael Street, Number 4. Even prior to the German occupation she lured girls from her circle of friends into her apartment with the promise that men visited regularly, and there, according to the German report, she apparently “led them to immorality.” The girls paid half of the money they received from the men to Ms. Mockus. In addition, Mockus received money and bartered goods from the men. She charged the men various prices, ranging from two to five Reichsmarks. Of the ten who worked there, the girls’ and women’s ages ranged from fifteen to thirty-five. Two of them were apparently sick with a venereal disease. The infirmary contacted Dr. Straumann in Liepaja with this information because of the concern that these women would spread the diseases. None of them possessed a control book, and they and Mockus were still “running free.”130
In light of circumstances, a commission to fight sexually transmitted diseases was established on February 12, 1942. In the first meeting thirty prostitutes were registered and twenty-one Jewish women were removed from the list. With this commission the authorities had a total of 266 prostitutes registered in sixteen days by the twenty-eighth of February. Police action was called to continue to bring the situation under control.131
In April 1943 it was reported that the number of the 165 prostitutes had not changed, and that since the criminal police had taken over the fight against sexually transmitted diseases more cases had been found. For example, in January 1943 there had only been six new cases, while in February there were already twenty-three new cases of infection.132 Even the Latvian
129 Reichsangestellte, Vermerk, Riga, April 28, 1943, signed illegibly; Staatliche Kommunale Gesundheitsamt, Signed VD form, Riga, 27 April 1943; Dr. H. Kirschentals, Short letter to Herr kommissarische Oberbürgermeister of Riga, 24 May1943, BAB R92/10036, docs. 52-55.
130 Lemke, Hauptwachmeister d. Sch., Schutzpolizei-Dienstabteilung, Signed Police Review, Libau, 11 February 1942, USHMMA, RG-18.002M, Reel 11, R-83, Opis 1, Del 207, docs. 107-107b.
131 P. Dreijmanis. Stellv. Stadtaltester and Dr. H. Kirschentals, Leiter des Gesundheitsamtes i.V., Letter, Riga, March 1942, BAB R92/558.
132 This report concerning the month of March states that there were forty-six cases of syphilis and 151 of gonorrhea. Der Kommandeur der Sicherheitspolzei und d. SD Lettland, Stimmungs- und Lagebericht für die Zeit vom 1. Bis 31. März 1943, Riga, 1 April 1943, LSHA P 82, Opis 1, Del 39, doc. 196. The 165 prosti tutes likely meant those prostitutes who were registered with the police. In February 1942 it was reported that there were 266 prostitutes registered with the Rigaer Prefektur. Dr. H. Kirschentals, Leiter des Gesundheitsamtes, i.V., Rigaer Stadverwaltung, Gesundheitsamt, Letter with two Anlagen to Herr Gebietskommissar and kom. Oberbürgermeister der Stadt Riga, Riga,
have a gynecological exam. She was found to be healthy.129
An example of the independent prostitution in Latvia was the known and unofficial
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women’s police was to help control prostitution. In the Women’s Criminal Police newsletter it mentions that “special attention is being paid to the female youth who have aroused suspicion for hanging out with men and practicing prostitution.”133
Several disparate documents hint at the debate surrounding some aspects of the process to control disease. Mayor Bonner in Liepaja agreed with the new regulations on obligatory health examinations and other control measures, but he did not think that the ordinance would have any practical meaning outside of the city limits.134 In July 1942 the head of the health department in Liepaja felt that the three doctors working on sexually transmitted diseases should be enough for the time being.135 But another letter from the mayor of Liepaja to the General Director of the Interior in Riga, on the same date, is full of panic and states that measures need to be taken immediately. According to the letter, without immediate measures against prostitution there will be an even wider spread of sexually transmitted diseases in the city. As Dr. Marnitz also wrote, the mayor questioned if the old Soviet system of prostitution should be reinstated throughout the entire Generalbezirk Latvia.136
Conclusion
The evidence surrounding the attempts to control venereal disease points to a loss of control on the part of the German leadership. The authorities had great challenges in their efforts to control the behavior of men during wartime occupation. It is clear that soldiers and officers did much of what they wanted despite the many rules of conduct: soldiers and members of the SS were not abstinent, they had unprotected extramarital sex with non-German women in the countries they occupied, they did not sanitize themselves, they did not always report if they were sick, and finally, they did not always comply with the search for their recent sexual partners. This struggle with compliance with the rules of conduct was a continual process in the east during the
March 1942, BAB R92/558.
133 Deutsche Zeitung imOstland, 17 August 1943, BAB R90/243.
134 Bürgermeister Bønner, Letter from, Riga, 12 June 1942, BAB R92/558.
135 Abt.II c., Vermerk, Riga, 17 July 1942, BAB R92/558. This was a concern elsewhere, too. For example in France there was discussion to increase the number of exams for the women each week, but this would mean an increase in the numbers of doctors.
136 Mayor of Libau,letter to General Director of the Interior in Riga, 17 July1942, BAB R92/558.
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war in all areas of the occupation. The case mentioned in Chapter Two of the woman who was accused of being a soldier’s source of infection and who was deported on a train is a clear example of one hand of the leadership not knowing what the other hand was doing. Did the Germans try to follow the source of infection to Germany and a factory or farm where she was forced to work? Or did the source of infection end up in a concentration camp? This woman, likely someone who had been desperate enough to prostitute herself to a military man, had a fate that we will never know.
It is also clear from the previous discussion that many women continued to prostitute themselves outside of official control in exchange for goods from the occupying powers. Even though some people had steady relationships of this sort, either the man or the woman could spread venereal disease if they had other partners, and many women probably prostituted themselves by working on the streets or in private brothels. Women and girls throughout the east were under much economic pressure and obviously felt compelled to prostitution to help themselves and their families. In addition, the German leadership knew women were dependent on their food ration cards, and thus very easily forced hundreds into gynecological exams. Such prostitution out of desperation very likely could have been a major source of the venereal disease problem,137 thoughdefinitivenumbersarehardtoestimatefortheeasternfront.Furthermore,it also is not clear how many women and girls engaged in prostitution on a regular basis, seldom, or once or twice. In addition to the numerous methods used to control venereal diseases, the German state established a widespread system of sexual slavery, consisting of state-run official military brothels, which were medically supervised. These official brothels were considered to be the best way to control venereal diseases and women and girls of various backgrounds were forced to serve the Germans sexually.
137 For the same conclusion on World War I, see also Hirschfeld and Gaspar, eds., Sittengeschichte der Erste Weltkrieges. Nachdruck der 2. neubearbeiteten Auflage, 186.