Aimee Dupre had always kept silent about the rape of her mother by two American soldiers after the Normandy landings in June 1944. But 80 years after the brutal assault, she finally felt it was time to speak out.
Nearly a million US, British, Canadian and French soldiers landed on the Normandy coast in the weeks after D-Day in an operation that was to herald the end of Nazi Germany's grip on Europe.
"They were drunk and they wanted a woman," Aimee, now 99, told AFP, producing a letter that her mother, also called Aimee, wrote "so nothing is forgotten".
In her neat handwriting, Aimee Helaudais Honore described the events of that night. How the soldiers fired their guns in the direction of her husband, ripping holes in his cap, and how they menacingly approached her daughter Aimee.
"My mother sacrificed herself to protect me," she said. "While they raped her in the night, we waited, not knowing whether she would come back alive or whether they would shoot her dead."
The events of that night were not isolated. In October 1944, after the battle for Normandy was won, US military authorities put 152 soldiers on trial for raping French women.
In truth, hundreds or even thousands of rapes between 1944 and the departure of the GIs in 1946 went unreported, said American historian Mary Louise Roberts, one of only a handful to research what she called "a taboo" of World War II.
"Here's What We're Fighting For," read a headline on September 9, 1944, alongside a picture of cheering French women and the caption: "The French are nuts about the Yanks."
The incentive of sex "was to motivate American soldiers", Roberts said.
羅伯茨說(shuō),這種性刺激“是為了激勵(lì)美國(guó)士兵”。
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"Sex, and I mean prostitution and rape, was a way for Americans to show domination over France, dominating French men, as they had been unable to protect their country and their women from the Germans," she added.
In Plabennec, near Brest on the westernmost tip of Britanny, Jeanne Pengam, nee Tournellec, remembers "as if it was yesterday" how her sister Catherine was raped and their father murdered by a GI.
"The black American wanted to rape my older sister. My father stood in his way and he shot him dead. The guy managed to break down the door and enter the house," 89-year-old Jeanne told AFP.
Her sister Catherine kept the terrible secret "that poisoned her whole life" until shortly before her death, said one of her daughters, Jeannine Plassard.
Asked whether she ever told anybody, her mother replied: "Tell anybody? It was the Liberation, everybody was happy, I was not going to talk about something like this, that would have been cruel," she said.
French writer Louis Guilloux worked as a translator for US troops after the landings, an experience he described in his 1976 novel "OK Joe!", including the trials of GIs for rape in military courts.
Racial stereotypes on sexuality facilitated the condemnation of blacks for rape. White soldiers, meanwhile, often belonged to mobile units, making them harder to track down than their black comrades who were mostly stationary.
"If a French woman accused a white American soldier of rape, he could easily get away with it because he never stayed near the rape scene. The next morning, he was gone," Roberts said.
After her book "What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France" appeared in 2013, Roberts said the reaction in the US was so hostile that the police would have to regularly check on her.
"People were angry at my book because they didn't want to lose this ideal of the good war, of the good GI," she said. "Even if it means we have to keep on lying."
Peter Burnet
both my grandfather's fought in WW1 how many dead American soldiers are buried in France since 1916 and the end of WW2, maybe you'll find your answers there to all those American troops who died for France.
David Banas
You can say anything you want 80 years after.
Is is possible? Yes.
Probable? It likely did happen to some.
Was it rampant? Probably not to the point like a few hearsay headlines in the media will lead you to believe.
Efficient-Giraffe-84
the potential for sexual violence during war is enormous. no one likes to acknowledge it. i am happy their stories are being told.
Rammsteinman
It's not surprising either. It's an army full of only men and aggression where you readily justify doing horrible things to other humans. Masturbation was discouraged as well. Pressure cooker (in the balls).
ooouroboros
Soldier behavior in these situations seems to be very close to the types of transgressions that take place in mob violence.
士兵在這種情況下的行為似乎與暴民暴力中的違法行為非常接近。
JclassOne
Groups of humans joined by hate are the most dangerous thing on earth.
以仇恨為紐帶的群體是地球上最危險(xiǎn)的東西。
Banned3rdTimesaCharm
Army full of gun and a populace full of vulnerable people.
全副武裝的軍隊(duì)和脆弱的民眾。
TheSnowNinja
Masturbation was discouraged as well.
Seriously? That doesn't seem like a good idea.
“也不鼓勵(lì)手淫?!?br />
真的嗎? 這似乎不是個(gè)好主意。
LoudSwordfish7337
Making people whose job is to kill sexually frustrated and angry?
I don’t know if it’s a good idea, but it sounds like it might work perfectly as intended.
witchcottageonwheels
Most ‘taboo’ sex topics or activities are still discouraged today in active military, they even do searches for sex toys as they’re strictly not allowed
porgy_tirebiter
Happens in every war. In East Germany women were more or less required to get a Russian boyfriend to protect them from other Russians. There’s an anonymous memoir about it, Eine Frau in Berlin.
trisul-108
It happens in every war, but some armies try to limit it, others turn a blind eye and some actively encourage it ... the difference is very significant.
TheSnowNinja
It's an absolute indictment of human nature that the idea of men raping women during/ after a battle is so common in history that it is basically a trope.
DeadFishCRO
I heard/read somewhere that when the red army was advancing a jewish woman was happy to see them as liberators from the nazis, but they raped her because "a woman is a woman".
awry_lynx
I mean, just look at the sexual assault stats within a single army... for many of the people willing to rape at all, doesn't really matter whose side you're on.
Makes sense if you think about it, I mean is a rapist's choice of victim really going to be dependent on differing ideology? Is that really what they think? "You support X politician, therefore..." lol no. But the predator knows they can get away with it more one way than the other.
DeadFishCRO
Yeah in army rapes are basically raping your own comrades in arms. Let alone when you have the power to do it at will. I.e during the break up of Yugoslavia. UN troops would withhold humanitarian aid unless women slept with them. So mother's would basically let themselves be raped so the children would have food
Capt_Pickhard
There are shitty people in every country. War just really sort of favours them.
每個(gè)國(guó)家都有人渣。戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)對(duì)他們有利。
arsenicwarrior0
Honestly the sexual violence in war has always seen as a taboo in the history of a country (and in society as well) so they know what happen but its easier to deny or minimise it in the possible because is useful in a very horrible way.
The sexual violence isused as a weapon to keep the population in cheek and as a "reward" to keep moral, the soviets where infamous for this in Germany, Poland, Rumania and Hungary. But also we have to remember that the french did the same after the battle of Monte Cassino in Italy, just that they put all the blame on the colonial troops for their "natural barbarity" even when the commanders give them the good check in first place.
Silidistani
lolno
Rape was absolutely standard part and parcel for sacking towns for millennia, literally only since perhaps the past 150 years did it become really taboo and then only in a few countries of the West.
shishaei
Yep.
Raping women has been seen as part of the spoils of war since time immemorial. And some men have the gall to pretend that women have nothing to fear in wartime.
TinyFlamingo2147
The Canadians did the same thing in France. My uncle served and after the war didn't talk about it at all, but he wrote a memorial before he died. In it, he wrote about he was basically put in a group that was supposed to drive around collecting all the guys that were out raping and taking advantage of people. He had to drag four Canadian guys out of the house of a French grandma who asked him what happened to Canadians since they were so nice in the last war. I guess that really messed him up for a long time.
abandonliberty
In WWI.... Canadians worked through their energy in battle. Quite possibly the most savage at the time.
What confused both friend and foe alike was why Canadians were so vicious. The French had seen large swaths of their country destroyed and subjugated. The British had zeppelins bombing their cities and U-boats trying to starve their populace. But Canadians had left behind safe and prosperous homes that wouldn’t see the slightest tinge of German aggression.
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-forgotten-ferocity-of-canadas-soldiers-in-the-great-war
both my grandfather's fought in WW1 how many dead American soldiers are buried in France since 1916 and the end of WW2, maybe you'll find your answers there to all those American troops who died for France.
我的兩個(gè)祖父都參加過(guò)一戰(zhàn),從1916年到二戰(zhàn)結(jié)束,有多少死去的美國(guó)士兵被埋葬在法國(guó),也許你會(huì)在那里找到所有為法國(guó)而死的美國(guó)士兵的答案。
You can say anything you want 80 years after.
Is is possible? Yes.
Probable? It likely did happen to some.
Was it rampant? Probably not to the point like a few hearsay headlines in the media will lead you to believe.
80年后你想說(shuō)什么都可以。
這可能嗎? 是的。
可能性大嗎? 這可能確實(shí)發(fā)生在一些人身上。
猖獗嗎? 可能不會(huì)像媒體上一些道聽(tīng)途說(shuō)的頭條新聞想讓你相信的那樣。
the potential for sexual violence during war is enormous. no one likes to acknowledge it. i am happy their stories are being told.
戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間發(fā)生性暴力的可能性是巨大的。沒(méi)有人愿意承認(rèn)這一點(diǎn)。我很高興他們的故事被講述出來(lái)。
It's not surprising either. It's an army full of only men and aggression where you readily justify doing horrible things to other humans. Masturbation was discouraged as well. Pressure cooker (in the balls).
這也不足為奇。這是一支只有男人和侵略性的軍隊(duì),很容易為對(duì)其他人做可怕的事情辯護(hù)。也不鼓勵(lì)手淫。壓力鍋(在蛋蛋里)。
Soldier behavior in these situations seems to be very close to the types of transgressions that take place in mob violence.
士兵在這種情況下的行為似乎與暴民暴力中的違法行為非常接近。
Groups of humans joined by hate are the most dangerous thing on earth.
以仇恨為紐帶的群體是地球上最危險(xiǎn)的東西。
Army full of gun and a populace full of vulnerable people.
全副武裝的軍隊(duì)和脆弱的民眾。
Masturbation was discouraged as well.
Seriously? That doesn't seem like a good idea.
“也不鼓勵(lì)手淫?!?br /> 真的嗎? 這似乎不是個(gè)好主意。
Making people whose job is to kill sexually frustrated and angry?
I don’t know if it’s a good idea, but it sounds like it might work perfectly as intended.
讓那些以殺人為職業(yè)的人在性方面感到沮喪和憤怒?
我不知道這是不是一個(gè)好主意,但聽(tīng)起來(lái)它可能會(huì)像預(yù)期的那樣完美地工作。
Most ‘taboo’ sex topics or activities are still discouraged today in active military, they even do searches for sex toys as they’re strictly not allowed
大多數(shù)“禁忌”性話(huà)題或性活動(dòng)在今天的現(xiàn)役軍人中仍然是不被鼓勵(lì)的,他們甚至?xí)阉餍酝婢?,因?yàn)檫@是嚴(yán)格不允許的。
Happens in every war. In East Germany women were more or less required to get a Russian boyfriend to protect them from other Russians. There’s an anonymous memoir about it, Eine Frau in Berlin.
在每場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中都會(huì)發(fā)生。在東德,女性或多或少被要求找一個(gè)俄羅斯男朋友,以保護(hù)她們免受其他俄羅斯人的傷害。有一本匿名回憶錄,叫《柏林的夫人》。
It happens in every war, but some armies try to limit it, others turn a blind eye and some actively encourage it ... the difference is very significant.
這種情況在每場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中都會(huì)發(fā)生,但有些軍隊(duì)試圖限制它,有些軍隊(duì)睜一只眼閉一只眼,有些軍隊(duì)積極鼓勵(lì)它……差異是非常顯著的。
It's an absolute indictment of human nature that the idea of men raping women during/ after a battle is so common in history that it is basically a trope.
這絕對(duì)是對(duì)人性的控訴,男人在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中或戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)后強(qiáng)奸女人的想法在歷史上如此普遍,基本上是一種比喻。
原創(chuàng)翻譯:龍騰網(wǎng) http://mintwatchbillionaireclub.com 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處
I heard/read somewhere that when the red army was advancing a jewish woman was happy to see them as liberators from the nazis, but they raped her because "a woman is a woman".
我在某個(gè)地方聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò),當(dāng)紅軍前進(jìn)時(shí),一個(gè)猶太婦女很高興看到他們從納粹手中解放將她出來(lái),但他們強(qiáng)奸了她,因?yàn)椤芭司褪桥恕薄?/b>
I mean, just look at the sexual assault stats within a single army... for many of the people willing to rape at all, doesn't really matter whose side you're on.
我的意思是,看看一支軍隊(duì)里的性侵犯數(shù)據(jù)……對(duì)于許多有意愿強(qiáng)奸的人來(lái)說(shuō),你站在哪一邊并不重要。
如果你仔細(xì)想想,這是有道理的,我的意思是,強(qiáng)奸犯對(duì)受害者的選擇真的會(huì)取決于不同的意識(shí)形態(tài)嗎? 他們真的是這么想的嗎?“你支持某某政客,所以……”哈哈,不。但捕食者知道它們總有辦法逃脫。
原創(chuàng)翻譯:龍騰網(wǎng) http://mintwatchbillionaireclub.com 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處
Yeah in army rapes are basically raping your own comrades in arms. Let alone when you have the power to do it at will. I.e during the break up of Yugoslavia. UN troops would withhold humanitarian aid unless women slept with them. So mother's would basically let themselves be raped so the children would have food
是的,在軍隊(duì)里強(qiáng)奸基本上就是強(qiáng)奸自己的戰(zhàn)友。更不用說(shuō)當(dāng)你有能力隨心所欲的時(shí)候。例如,在南斯拉夫解體期間,除非有婦女與他們上床,聯(lián)合國(guó)部隊(duì)將暫停人道主義援助。所以母親們基本上會(huì)放任自己被強(qiáng)奸,這樣孩子們就有吃的了。
There are shitty people in every country. War just really sort of favours them.
每個(gè)國(guó)家都有人渣。戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)對(duì)他們有利。
Honestly the sexual violence in war has always seen as a taboo in the history of a country (and in society as well) so they know what happen but its easier to deny or minimise it in the possible because is useful in a very horrible way.
老實(shí)說(shuō),戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中的性暴力在一個(gè)國(guó)家的歷史中一直被視為禁忌(在社會(huì)上也是如此),所以他們知道發(fā)生了什么,但更容易否認(rèn)或盡可能地淡化它,因?yàn)橛杏?,以一種非??膳碌姆绞健?/b>
性暴力被用作一種武器,讓人們保持冷靜,作為保持道德的“獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)”,蘇聯(lián)在德國(guó)、波蘭、羅馬尼亞和匈牙利都因性暴力而臭名昭著。但我們也必須記住,法國(guó)人在意大利卡西諾山戰(zhàn)役后也做了同樣的事情,只是他們把所有的責(zé)任都?xì)w咎于殖民軍隊(duì)的“自然野蠻”,即使指揮官一開(kāi)始就給了他們良好的檢查。
lolno
Rape was absolutely standard part and parcel for sacking towns for millennia, literally only since perhaps the past 150 years did it become really taboo and then only in a few countries of the West.
呵呵,才不是。
幾千年來(lái),強(qiáng)奸絕對(duì)是洗城的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)組成部分,實(shí)際上只有在過(guò)去的150年里,強(qiáng)奸才成為真正的禁忌,而且只在西方的幾個(gè)國(guó)家。
You are absolutely right, - in many cases is was considered a perk or reward in lieu of paying troops
你說(shuō)的完全正確,在很多情況下,這被認(rèn)為是一種福利或獎(jiǎng)勵(lì),代替給軍隊(duì)發(fā)工資。
Yep.
Raping women has been seen as part of the spoils of war since time immemorial. And some men have the gall to pretend that women have nothing to fear in wartime.
是的。
自古以來(lái),強(qiáng)奸婦女就被視為戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)戰(zhàn)利品的一部分。有些男人還厚顏無(wú)恥地假裝女人在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中無(wú)所畏懼。
Ya I believe the Russians raped several million polish and German women which ended up killing several thousand women.
是的,我相信俄國(guó)人強(qiáng)奸了數(shù)百萬(wàn)波蘭和德國(guó)婦女,最終殺害了數(shù)千名婦女。
Depictions of rape in war can be found all throughout human art going back to the bronze age.
Probably even further.
對(duì)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中強(qiáng)奸的描述可以追溯到青銅時(shí)代,在人類(lèi)的藝術(shù)作品中隨處可見(jiàn)。
甚至可能更遠(yuǎn)。
The Canadians did the same thing in France. My uncle served and after the war didn't talk about it at all, but he wrote a memorial before he died. In it, he wrote about he was basically put in a group that was supposed to drive around collecting all the guys that were out raping and taking advantage of people. He had to drag four Canadian guys out of the house of a French grandma who asked him what happened to Canadians since they were so nice in the last war. I guess that really messed him up for a long time.
加拿大人在法國(guó)也做了同樣的事。我叔叔服過(guò)兵役,戰(zhàn)后他完全不談這件事,但他在死前寫(xiě)了一篇紀(jì)念文章。他在書(shū)中寫(xiě)道,他基本上被安排在一個(gè)小組里,這個(gè)小組的任務(wù)是開(kāi)車(chē)到處聚集那些強(qiáng)奸和占別人便宜的人。他不得不把四個(gè)加拿大人從一位法國(guó)奶奶的房子里拖出來(lái),這位奶奶問(wèn)他加拿大人在上次戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中如此善良,他們?cè)趺戳?。我想這讓他困擾了很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間。
In WWI.... Canadians worked through their energy in battle. Quite possibly the most savage at the time.
What confused both friend and foe alike was why Canadians were so vicious. The French had seen large swaths of their country destroyed and subjugated. The British had zeppelins bombing their cities and U-boats trying to starve their populace. But Canadians had left behind safe and prosperous homes that wouldn’t see the slightest tinge of German aggression.
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-forgotten-ferocity-of-canadas-soldiers-in-the-great-war
在第一次世界大戰(zhàn)…加拿大人在戰(zhàn)斗中耗盡了他們的精力。很可能是當(dāng)時(shí)最野蠻的。
讓朋友和敵人都感到困惑的是,為什么加拿大人如此惡毒。法國(guó)人目睹了自己國(guó)家的大片土地被摧毀和征服。英國(guó)人的城市遭到齊柏林飛艇轟炸,還有u型潛艇試圖餓死他們的民眾。而加拿大人留下了安全、繁榮的家園,沒(méi)有看到一絲一毫的德國(guó)侵略。
Leaving a loved "safe and prosperous home" in order cross the world and fight a war would make most people pretty furious.
離開(kāi)心愛(ài)的“安全和繁榮的家園”,去橫穿世界,去打仗,這會(huì)讓大多數(shù)人非常憤怒。
Moroccans working for France did much worse.
給法國(guó)工作的摩洛哥人做的更加過(guò)分。