This story is so sad, how women suffer in wartime

[Scarletohello]

I just read this and it made me cry. We so rarely hear about how women suffered during the Second World War but this 96 year old woman has spoken out about what she was forced to endure. Soon there will be no women left to tell their stories...

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/hitlers-food-taster-reveals-the-horrors-of-the-wolfs-lair-9738880.html

[Scarletohello]

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/hitlers-food-taster-reveals-the-horrors-of-the-wolfs-lair-9738880.html

[tribpot]

I don't think we'll ever be able to grasp the full horror of what happened on our continent only a short time ago - her story is truly dreadful and yet is only one of millions from that period.

I'm actually semi-surprised they used Germans as food tasters, rather than Jews or other prisoners. Not that the Nazis had a very high opinion of women either.

As to the story of the Russian occupation - I've read something about this before and it beggars belief. Day after day of that - how the hell did they survive it?

[Scarletohello]

'A Woman in Berlin' is an excellent account of what happened to many young women in that city at the hands of the Russian soldiers after the fall of Berlin.

[Scarletohello]

Let alone the women forced to work as prostitutes in the concentration camps.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/exclusive-joy-divisions-448906

[Scarletohello]

And the so called 'comfort women', forced to work as sexual slaves to the Japanese...

www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/27/wwii-comfort-women-pain-that-time-cannot-heal/

[Zazzles007]

That story about being Hitler's taster is so heartbreaking. Imagine thinking that every meal is going to be your last, and going through the grief and relief of living every single time . We are so privileged to live in the times we live in - her experiences make ours look like first world problems in comparison.

I lived in Japan for a short time in my mid-20's and am still angry about the treatment of these 'comfort women' (I am sure it was of no comfort to these women) by the Japanese. It is hardly surprising though, as I understand that to this day, women are still treated as second class citizens, just as I was when I was there .

[TheWanderingUterus]

I read a horrific book about the months after the end of WW2 in Europe, last year.

Because the whole of Europe was affected, there were food shortages, a constantly moving population, soldiers still everywhere, limited transport etc.

Horrific accounts of endemic rape and women always walking in groups, especially in reassignment camps, but there was one particular bit that stayed with me. In an Italian town housewives sat in a hall, soldiers entered with tins of food and used them to buy a woman's sexual services. The woman added the tins to their piles and went back to waiting for the next soldier. That was the only source of food to keep their children alive.

[TheWanderingUterus]

It was Savage Continent by Keith Lowe.

[velveteenbunny]

yy the wandering, was just coming on to mention Savage Continent.

And German women being tied to 2 different cars and torn to pieces by the Soviet army. Just beyond comprehension.