(skipping further down)So far as the services were concerned the women were soldiers only during the hours they were on duty. During that time they wore uniform and were paid for the hours they worked. Off duty, they had to wear civilian clothes and were, for the purposes of administration, considered to be camp-followers. This bizarre interpretation had the shocking effects upon the women soldiers who were captured by the Red Army. Soviet officers pointed out to them that they could not claim the protection of the Geneva Convention, becasue,'Even your own army says that you are not service personnel.'
The story of one girl is representative of many who suffered.
Source:World War Two through German Eyes -James Lucas'When the war ended I was in Schörner's Army Group in the Protectorate (Bohemia and Moravia). We were attacked by Czech partisans on the day the war ended and during the scrimmage I was struck on the head. That blow knocked me unconscious and also split my scalp so badly that my face was covered in blood. That blow and the amount of blood probably saved me from being raped for it must have seemed that I had been klled. In the following days the effect of the blow puffed my face so much that it was completely deformed for nearly a week.
'Like many of the Blitzmäderln (the Signals Corps girls) I changed into a man's uniform seeking to disguise myself as a man and thus to avoid rape. This deception may have stopped the sexual attacks but not the beatings which were hard and frequent. In addition, we women disguised as men had to do a man's share of work and we also received, of course, a man's share of beating. When one of the girls collapsed at work the major in charge of our unit told them that their future was to serve as whores for the Red Army. By not being acknoledged as soldiers we were, therefore, legally outside the protection of the Hague Convention. Our own army, he told them had described them as "matresses for officers". The Blitzmäderln would fulfill that function for the Russians. Not for officers, but for the rank and file. The girls were, after all, common whores and not good enough for the officer heroes of the Red Army. What happened to the girls I do not know and all inquiries in post-war years have been fruitless.'
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