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The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945-1949

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Norman M. Naimark, Robert and Florence McDonnell Professor of East European Studies at Stanford University, has written an admirable treatment of a rarely touched topic: the Soviet occupation of Germany from 1945 to the creation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1949. Naimark draws from a wealth of freshly released Russian archival material, and newly tapped GDR sources. The result is a thematically arranged work that argues the Soviet regime failed in its governing policies in the occupational zone of Germany as well as, failing to win the hearts and minds of the East German people. Naimark combines a smooth blend of social and political history along with an engaging narrative to develop his argument. Chapter One chronicles the fledgling attempts of the Russians to administer the newly "liberated" territories. He describes the role the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SVAG) played in administrating the region, and providing for the cultural and educational welfare of the Red Army troops. The chapter concludes with the transformation from a military government to a puppet run by the "Moscow" Germans (Socialist Unity Part of Germany, SED) under the control of figurehead Walter Ulbricht.                 The author wastes no time in switching gears. Chapter two describes the wholesale rape of German women, and plunder of towns and villages that reached epidemic proportions. This is by far the most disturbing section of the book in spite of Naimark's gallant efforts at objectivity. The author suggests it was this barbaric behavior more than any other contributing factors that caused the bitter relationship and eventual demise of the GDR. What was once a potential worthy ally and friend, of the Soviet Union, he argues, eventually became a burden of resentment and hatred. The author stresses in this chapter that the abuse and rape of German women continued well into 1947 and there were still significant rapes occurring in 1949. This was not a crime committed solely by war-weary frontline soldiers seeking reprisals and intent on taking revenge on the civilian populous. Rather, it occurred at all levels of the military. Officers as well as rank and file became perpetrators. Literally, German females from age eight to eighty became victims. Oftentimes the crime was committed in full view of family members, particularity husbands. Naimark weighs all the factors for this heinous behavior. Obvious reasons such as lack of control by military authorities and alcoholism are examined. In a few instances, officers and even a NKVD agent were shot when they tried to intervene in an attack of a German woman. Naimark admits Soviet documents are still scarce, and Joseph Stalin's reaction to the behavior of his troops is not well known. He suggests, however, that Stalin turned a blind ear and contributed the reports to mere Western propaganda. A counter-propaganda campaigned was launched by their Socialist Germen brethren proclaiming in the German press that German women were blamed for the spread of venereal disease among the Soviet military. Naimark considers some social and psychological determinates as well. Turning to a true gender study, Naimark explores the emotional and psychological effects this behavior had on German men. After the war, German women out-numbered the male population as most of the marriage aged men were either killed or maimed in the six-years of war. What able-bodied German men returned, quickly reclaimed the jobs the women held. As a result, German women were regulated to bucket brigades clearing the rubble from the leveled German cities. Divorce and abortion quickly rose throughout German society, the former, claims Naimark was a result of the emotional blow the abuse of German women had on the male population. In short, the Russians were delivering another form of total war, an emotional and psychotically blow to already vanquished German males that felt obligated by nature to defend their womenfolk, but helpless in its execution. These examples support Naimark's contentions, that this scar on society became a lasting legacy that permeated East Germany until its collapse in 1989. Placing the rape chapter and its social consequences near the beginning of the book creates an emotional impact that dominates the remaining chapters. Economically and politically, Naimark argues that the Soviet regime had no long-term goals for the establishment of the East German state. The author points out that the only model the Soviets had to utilize was that of the New Economic Policy (NEP) and collectivization. Major land distributions and the plundering of what was left of German industry had a detrimental affect of the German economy. The author ties in a chapter on Soviet policy making decisions and examines such institutions as Colonel Sergei Tiul'panov's Propaganda Administration. Naimark asserts that Marxist/Leninist ideology alone does not make for a successful Soviet block state in spite of the temptation the new archives presents to reexamine the rhetoric of the top Soviet leaders. A chapter on culture and education rounds out the work. The thematic approach makes for a slight unevenness, as each lengthy chapter could be an independent publication in its own right, particularly the upsetting topic of rape and plunder. Naimark utilizes an impressive array of Soviet and East German sources throughout. He also gleans from western archival material, particularly that of the Hoover Institute. Secondary sources in English seem to be lacking, however, perhaps reflecting the deficiency of English language scholarship on this much over-looked subject. The author admits that more material is yet to be revealed making this, like several other revisionists work within the realm of Soviet studies, an avenue to build upon through yet further revisions. Aside from these slight distractions, this work is a welcome addition to the birth of the Cold War period.

This book is required reading for anyone interested in the ex-East Germany. From the very beginning, Naimark shows how the Moscow Germans (Ulbricht, et al) were apologists for everything and anything the Soviets did to their conquered German "friends." This more than anything else painted the Communists and their "United Front" Party, the SED, as little more than stooges for the hated Russians. Thus, the GDR leadership had no legitimacy in the eyes of the average worker. Naimark's study also describes how complete Sovietization was in the arts and education, though he only peripherally describes the Lutheran Church's involvement in the social transformation being wrought. This is curious, since it was the Church that provided a haven for dissent in the future years, but Naimark clearly had to prioritize his subjects of focus. This is a "must-have" for anyone interested in the Cold War, the GDR and the Soviet Union.

This is a quite outstanding piece of research into a subject that was once all but closed off to scholars, thanks to East German and Soviet secrecy. The author seems familiar with all the available source material in German and Russian and as a result writes with complete authority. Among his conclusions are that even the East German Communists found it hard to accept some of the sheer brutality and bullying of the Soviet occupiers. At the same time, the Soviet authorities were not too impressed with the East German comrades' plans to accelerate the imposition of a Soviet-type political and economic system. Meanwhile, rape and rapacity on the part of the occupiers proceeded apace. A remarkable work that leaves a lasting impression.

This is a work of great scholarship, dealing in both Russian and German documents and made possible by the opening up of some, though by no means all, of the relevant Soviet archives. It describes the various attitudes and political strategies adopting by the occupying Soviet power in the Eastern zone of Germany in the immediate post war period. There are revealing episodes in the changing Russian emotions from grotesque revenge in terms of personal humiliations, robbery and `reparations' to the dawning realisation that a viable political and economic system had to be put in place in the emerging, divided Germany. This change necessitated a vibrant, popular German socialist party which would obey Moscow in every detail. The failure of the imposed German communism is quite clearly laid out - from the early days of ignoring Russian soldiers revenge-crimes (the strongest the KPD came to condemnation was that criminals `dressed in Russian uniforms' were marauding) to the intimidation of opponents in the elections which were staged. A surprise for me was the insistence, in documentation at least, among the Soviets that the German communists had to win elections. Huge amounts of vitriol were poured on the hapless Communists for their failure to win popularity, even as the Soviets extinguished all other opposition.
There is quite a level of detail about the political machinations within the German political parties, and within the various parts of the Soviet control systems - towards the end, Stalin became quite suspicious of the loyalty of Soviet officers stationed in Germany. The book is quite excellent in its descriptions of the changing priorities and policies.
Nonetheless I felt somewhat disappointed by the book in two respects - I was quite expecting that the early days in the occupation would see a continuation of the conflict between the Russian commanders Zhukov and Konev, which I had read about in other books. There was almost no discussion of this, though it did concentrat on the Russian militaries efforts to initially administer the zone, and eventually to yield political control to `reliable' Germans. I felt the book could have taken a more anecdotal approach to flesh out some of the personality clashes behind the policy discussions. A more fundamental reservation is the fact that neither the Soviets nor the German communists represented anything like popular political forces, and , by concentrating on the archives, the book does not adequately represent the nature of the struggle that ordinary Germans had in the GDR. The 1953 rebellion, the cynicism of Brecht and his artistic cohorts, the self-censorship and Stasi-control are alluded too, but these, more than Communist policy, gave the GDR its peculiar flavour. It was quite difficult to picture this from the book.
Overall this is book well worth reading, even today, about the perils and travails of an occupying force attempting to install a regime which is both popular and pliant.

Because history is written by the victors, one seldom hears of the plight of the vanquished. The author desribes the rape, plunder, murder, and indoctrination of ordinary Germans after WWII. by the Russians and their communist allies. This book documents the terror these people indured and how they survived.

I found the book to be informative and enlightening. The story of the Russian occupation of Germany, especially Berlin, after the war has received little, if any, attention by those writers of World War II history. The suffering of the Germans under Russian occupation was as severe as in the Russian Gulags. And of course many Germans ended up there as well. This book is well written and documented to provide a unique insight to this little known part of World War II history.

Every story has to have an ending, every tale has winners and losers but to every end their is another beginning. This book tells the beginning of the "new" beginning of Germany after the most horrific war in human history. But as we are to know, their are two tales of Germany, the East and the West. This is story of the East, just the first 4 years and how a broken country was pushed towards Sovietization and had its citizens punished in one way or another until in the end, the cracks of the Soviet/Socialist system broke and Germany in the end was free.

This book is not the greatest as it repeats itself at times and it seems like you are missing a major part of the story when you finish one chapter. Every chapter starts in '45 and ends in '49 and each subject written on that chapter is sorted out that way. Sounds simple but it does get complicated at times. The best chapters though deal with the Formation of the SED and the man with the greatest influence on the East German political system: Tuil'panov. Those two chapters tell the most important aspects of East Germany as they are the best reads of the book.

An intersting book with good research put into it but in the end their is something missing. If the book could have put a little more enphasis on world politics concerning East Germany at that time it would have been more enjoyable otherwise you have to wonder why things happened at the exact moment they happened.

This is the last chapter of WWII for Germany a chapter that laster 46 years. This is how it all began. The major players are all examined in the political sense but not in a personal sense, another flaw in the book. But even they wanted the best for the German people, one system against another, one ideolegy against another and Germany in the middle of it again. The cold war did not revolve around Germany but to Superpowers respected leaders, Germany was the most important place of all to show what each system could do. Understand how it all started by reading this book.

Very unique study of the Red Army Occuaption of Germany following World War 2. It is fascinating to read how the Russians used both the carrot and the stick in an attempt to win the Germans over to the Soviet cause. This should be contrasted to the western allies who viewed all Germans as Nazis.

The Soviets created difficulties for themselves as they had competing agencies trying to rule the defeated Reich each with their own agenda. The author cleary shows through East German communuist and Soviet documents how the brutality of rape and widespread looting caused the soviets to lose the hearts and minds of the majority of the East Germans.

A very well researched account of an unknown chapter in European history. Too much is devoted to the Berlin Wall. Little is devoted to why the east Germans built it. This book explains why.

I gave this book four stars only as this book is not for the light reader but directed to a very specialized market.

This superb book is a very well documented academic account of the treatment of the Germans by the Russian after World War II. In reading the book, I constantly remembered that the Russians would not have occupied East Germany if Germany had not attacked Russia. If the Germans had not elected Hitler and fought for him in World War II, they could have avoided the consequences of the occupation. German women were raped and German men were forced to work in the mines, but no German was sent to gas chambers by the Russians who liberated them from the Nazis.