Soviet children of occupation were born between late 1945 and mid-1956 in Austria, some following voluntary sexual relations between local women and Red Army soldiers, others as a result of rape. They were considered by many to be ‘children of the enemy’ and encountered various forms of discrimination and stigmatisation. The children involved were largely a ‘fatherless’ group of war children. By the time of their births even fathers who wanted to stay in touch had generally either been sent home or transferred to another barracks in line with the Kremlin's view that intimate relations between Soviet soldiers and Austrians were politically and ideologically reprehensible. Even after the signing of the Austrian State Treaty and the end of the occupation in 1955, the political situation largely ruled out further contact. This situation was exacerbated by the onset of the Cold War. In many cases, the children of occupation were hemmed in by a wall of silence that in some cases persists to this day. This has led to widespread questions about personal identity and searches for their ‘roots’. Against this background, the article analyses the impact of the specific historical, political and social background of the lives of Soviet occupation children. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
Copyright of European Review of History is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
