Top-rated
Wed, Nov 24, 2021
In 1950, with the outbreak of the Korean War, the Cold War came to a head. As part of its NATO commitments, the US is relocating tens of thousands of soldiers to the West Palatinate. The small town of Baumholder with 2,500 inhabitants becomes a military base for 30,000 American soldiers within a few years, in Kaiserslautern with its 80,000 inhabitants 40,000 GIs will soon be stationed. The West Palatinate becomes the hub of world history, because the NATO doctrine is: "In Germany, world peace is defended."
With the soldiers, a touch of America and with it a new lifestyle moves into the rural region: chewing gum and American ice cream for the children, cigarettes and jazz music for the young people, nylon stockings and lipstick for the women. Bars and souvenir shops are opening, there are new jobs, now also for women, and the farmers are renting out living space to wealthy new residents. There is a gold rush atmosphere. And then the love between the young, dashing GIs and the German "Frolleins" comes into play. "He was so easy-going and polite, the Germans weren't," says Adele Müller from Hoppstädten, who fell in love with a GI at the time.
Churches and local politicians, on the other hand, are often critical of the social upheaval, particularly complaining about the rampant "prostitution". On "Payday", foreign women appear in the 40 bars in Baumholder, who disappear with the GIs in the "dollar forest". "It was hell," recalls Hanna Schissler, the daughter of Baumholder's Protestant pastor at the time. Many of the bar operators like Max Neiman's father are Jewish "displaced persons". Only a few years after the Holocaust, they are again the target of anti-Semitic attacks.
"It was'nt easy" There are also many African American soldiers among the US armed forces in the West Palatinate. Compared to their homeland, where their lives are still shaped by institutionalized racial segregation, they perceive Germany to be much more liberal. But here too, discrimination and racism are part of everyday life. When an African American soldier visits a white comrade bar, there is trouble. There are even more arguments when an Afro-American GI goes out with a German woman or even if she has a child from him. The white Americans and Germans agree: This is "racial disgrace".
"It wasn't easy," remembers Rosmarie Hawner. "My boss treated me like fair game because I had a black friend." A few African-American soldiers see no other way out than to flee to the GDR with their German friend, where they hope for a life without prejudice.
The documentary, shot in Germany and the USA, uses archive material and conversations with women who fell in love with GIs and had children from them to tell how difficult it was back then when you followed love. Interviews with experts and the son of a Jewish bar owner in Baumholder round off the film.
With the soldiers, a touch of America and with it a new lifestyle moves into the rural region: chewing gum and American ice cream for the children, cigarettes and jazz music for the young people, nylon stockings and lipstick for the women. Bars and souvenir shops are opening, there are new jobs, now also for women, and the farmers are renting out living space to wealthy new residents. There is a gold rush atmosphere. And then the love between the young, dashing GIs and the German "Frolleins" comes into play. "He was so easy-going and polite, the Germans weren't," says Adele Müller from Hoppstädten, who fell in love with a GI at the time.
Churches and local politicians, on the other hand, are often critical of the social upheaval, particularly complaining about the rampant "prostitution". On "Payday", foreign women appear in the 40 bars in Baumholder, who disappear with the GIs in the "dollar forest". "It was hell," recalls Hanna Schissler, the daughter of Baumholder's Protestant pastor at the time. Many of the bar operators like Max Neiman's father are Jewish "displaced persons". Only a few years after the Holocaust, they are again the target of anti-Semitic attacks.
"It was'nt easy" There are also many African American soldiers among the US armed forces in the West Palatinate. Compared to their homeland, where their lives are still shaped by institutionalized racial segregation, they perceive Germany to be much more liberal. But here too, discrimination and racism are part of everyday life. When an African American soldier visits a white comrade bar, there is trouble. There are even more arguments when an Afro-American GI goes out with a German woman or even if she has a child from him. The white Americans and Germans agree: This is "racial disgrace".
"It wasn't easy," remembers Rosmarie Hawner. "My boss treated me like fair game because I had a black friend." A few African-American soldiers see no other way out than to flee to the GDR with their German friend, where they hope for a life without prejudice.
The documentary, shot in Germany and the USA, uses archive material and conversations with women who fell in love with GIs and had children from them to tell how difficult it was back then when you followed love. Interviews with experts and the son of a Jewish bar owner in Baumholder round off the film.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
Top Gap
By what name was Greetings from America (2021) officially released in India in English?
Answer