2017/04/04 by Lee, Sabine
#American Soldiers #Britain #Children Born of War #Germany #Occupation #World War II
paper · doi:10.12759/hsr.34.2009.3.321-351
During the last years of the Second World War, the quasi-occupation of Britain by American troops in preparation of the D-Day landings in June 1944 left the unintended legacy of over 22,000 children born of American GIs and British women. Similarly, the post-war occupation of Germany resulted in more than 37,000 children born to German women and fathered by American occupation soldiers until 1955 alone. The aim of this article is to investigate these two occupations in view of the relationships between American soldiers and local women. Before the background of this historical context, the situation of the children born of the occupations is examined on the basis of historical documents and anecdotal evidence in the form of personal accounts of children of the occupation. It is concluded that the stigmatization and discrimination experienced by the mothers of the majority of children of the occupation, were often transferred to the children who suffered similar stigmatization, especially if they were of biracial origin.