'The Tourist Soldier': Veterans Remember the American Occupation of Germany, 1950-1955
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University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2015 'The Tourist Soldier': Veterans Remember the American Occupation of Germany, 1950-1955 Meghan Vance University of Central Florida Part of the Public History Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Vance, Meghan, "'The Tourist Soldier': Veterans Remember the American Occupation of Germany, 1950-1955" (2015). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 1190. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/1190 ‘THE TOURIST SOLDIER’: VETERANS REMEMBER THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION OF GERMANY, 1950-1955 by MEGHAN ASHLEY VANCE B.A. University of Central Florida, 2011 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, FL Spring Term 2015 © 2015 Meghan Ashley Vance ii ABSTRACT Studies of postwar Germany, from 1945-1955, have concentrated on the American influence as a military occupier, the development of German reconstruction and national identity, and memory of this period from the German perspective. Within the memory analyses, firsthand accounts have been analyzed to understand the perspectives of Germans living through the postwar period. Absent from this historiography is an account of American memories and firsthand perspectives of the occupation, particularly during the 1950-1955 period. This thesis employs oral histories of American veterans stationed in postwar Germany, American propaganda and popular cultural mediums during the early 1950s, and modern historiographical trends to provide an understanding of how Americans remember the German postwar decade. American veterans remembered this period, and their encounters with local Germans, as a positive experience. These positive memories were mediated by 1950s Cold War rhetoric and propaganda and were subsequently predicated upon the men’s perspective as occupying soldiers. Their recollections align with American popular memory delineating the military occupation as ending in 1949 upon the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany, therefore overshadowing the 1950-1955 period of occupation. The ways in which Americans remember the postwar occupation in Germany, particularly from 1950-1955, inform broader memory and historical narrative trends of this era. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of this project would not have been possible without the support of my colleagues, friends, and family. In particular, I would like to thank my mentor and advisor Dr. Anne Lindsay. She introduced me to the notion of examining memory as an avenue of historical analysis, a methodology that has changed the way I view the world around me. Personally and professionally, you always pushed me to make an argument and to trust my instincts, and for that I am grateful. My committee members Dr. Rosalind Beiler and Dr. Amelia Lyons also provided helpful feedback and guidance during this process. Thank you for the unique perspectives you offered and for encouraging me to push my own limits as a scholar. I owe a special debt of gratitude to my graduate colleagues. The support, guidance, and comradery I experienced with each of you encouraged me to keep pushing for the goal. In particular, I would like to thank Kendra Hazen, Kris Steele, Drew Fedorka, Kevin Mercer, Autumn Reisz, and Ian Marsh for taking the time to read drafts, provide feedback, and for listening to me work through the process. I am extremely grateful for our friendships. The completion of this research would not be possible without the support of the staff and archivists in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Thank you for gathering and digitizing countless oral histories, and for your excitement to assist me with this research. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for your never-ending support and love. In particular, I would like to thank Shelley Marquez, Den Culwell, Michelle Johnson, Jim Barnebee, and Caitlin Barnebee. Our countless hours of conversation and your unwavering support have enabled me to complete this project and to fight for my dreams. I would not be here without you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... VI LIST OF ACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................. VII INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE: REMEMBERING RHETORIC: VETERAN MEMORIES OF THE POSTWAR OCCUPATION THROUGH THE PRISM OF PROPAGANDA ............................ 12 CHAPTER TWO: DAILY LIFE ABROAD: AMERICAN VETERANS REMEMBER GERMANS DURING THE 1950S .............................................................................................. 41 CHAPTER THREE: THE POWER OF SILENCE IN POSTWAR OCCUPATION: SCHOLARSHIP AND THE SHAPING OF AMERICAN COLLECTIVE MEMORY ............. 68 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 95 APPENDIX A: VETERAN ORAL HISTORY INFORMATION ............................................. 101 APPENDIX B: VETERAN SERVICE LOCATIONS IN OCCUPIED GERMANY................ 110 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 115 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of Occupation Zones in Germany, 1945. ................................................................ 2 Figure 2. Veteran service locations in Germany, 1945-1955. .................................................... 111 Figure 3. Veteran service locations in the American zone of occupation, 1945-1955. .............. 112 Figure 4. Veteran service locations in Germany, by service periods.......................................... 113 Figure 5. Veteran service locations in the American zone of occupation, by service periods. .. 114 vi LIST OF ACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS ACC Allied Control Council CBS Columbia Broadcasting System DP Displaced Persons FRG Federal Republic of Germany GDR German Democratic Republic HICOG High Commission for Occupied Germany JCS Joint Chiefs of Staff JCS 1067 Joint Chiefs of Staff, Foreign Policy Directive 1067 NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization OMGUS Office of Military Government, United States UPC Universal Pictures Company USEUCOM United States European Command USO United Service Organization POW Prisoner of War vii INTRODUCTION Servicemen who served in the American military during the early 1950s helped the United States assist nations recovering from World War II and protected them from a possible Communist invasion. Their contemporary memories of this period frame the scope and aim of this study. Oral histories conducted through the Library of Congress in the early 2000s are analyzed to uncover the ways in which those who experienced life in West Germany from 1950- 1955 remember this period. An analysis of veteran memory necessitates an understanding of the political, economic, and social conditions that the veterans encountered in West Germany during the 1950s. In February 1945, the Allied Control Council (ACC) planned a quadripartite control of defeated Germany, designating four zones of postwar occupation to secure the nation from potential uprisings and to punish those responsible for leading and supporting Nazi war efforts.1 The Soviet Union gained control of the eastern portion of Germany, Britain occupied the northern section, France obtained a small region along its western border, and the United States controlled central and southern Germany (see Figure 1). The American zone, governed by The Office of Military Government United States (OMGUS), included major cities such as Nuremberg, Frankfurt, and Munich. The region had a population of approximately 19 million people prior to the postwar onslaught of Displaced Persons to the region.2 OMGUS managed operations through an American occupation policy, 1 Fraser Harbutt, Yalta 1945: Europe and America at the Crossroads (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 206. 2 Oliver J. Frederiksen, The American Military Occupation of Germany: 1945-1953 (Darmstadt, DE: United States Army Historical Division Headquarters, 1953), 12. Between 1945-1955, an influx of refugees, displaced persons, and returning prisoners of war caused political and economic problems for all Allied powers. For more information, see Giles MacDonogh, After the Reich: The Brutal History of Allied Occupation (New York: Basic Books, 2007). 1 Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) policy 1067.3 Its threefold purpose in Germany aimed “to strengthen and assist the democratic elements in Germany, to provide security, and to punish the active Nazis and militarists.”4 Figure 1. Map of Occupation Zones in Germany, 1945. Source: Lebendiges Museum Online, http://www.hdg.de/lemo (accessed January 17, 2015). In his historic 1946 Stuttgart speech, Secretary of State James Byrnes stated that Germany should be left with a sustainable economy and the ability to produce