JC Juncker . love between G.I.s and German "Frolleins" . COMMENT CA VA

Ukraine not ready to join NATO or EU, says Juncker /euronews
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A touch of America - when Palatinate women fell in love with G.I.s /G.Broadcasting
Tens of thousands of US soldiers were transferred to the Palatinate from 1950 onwards. A new lifestyle comes to the rural region - and soon also the love between G.I.s and German "Frolleins".

In 1950, the Cold War came to a head with the outbreak of the Korean War. As part of its NATO obligations, the US is deploying tens of thousands of soldiers to Germany. The small town of Baumholder in the West Palatinate with 2,500 inhabitants will become a military base for 30,000 American soldiers. Soon 40,000 G.I.s will be stationed in Kaiserslautern – half as many as the city's inhabitants. The Palatinate becomes the hub of world history, because NATO's doctrine is: "World peace is defended in Germany".

With the soldiers, a touch of America and with it a new lifestyle from the USA 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 for women as well, and farmers are renting out living space to wealthy new residents from the USA. There is a gold-rush atmosphere. Then the love between the young dashing G.I.s and the German "Frolleins" comes into play.

Churches and local politicians often take a critical view of the social upheaval, complaining about the rampant "prostitute mischief". On "Payday", out-of-town women appear in the 40 bars in Baumholder and disappear with the G.I.s in the "dollar grove". "It was hell," remembers Hanna Schissler, the daughter of the then Protestant pastor of Baumholder. Many of the bar owners, such as Max Neiman's father, are Jewish "Displaced Persons". Only a few years after the Holocaust, they are again the target of anti-Semitic attacks.

Among the armed forces from the USA are also many African-American soldiers. Compared to their homeland, where their lives are still shaped by institutionalized racial segregation, they perceive Germany as much more liberal. But here, too, discrimination and racism are part of everyday life. When an African-American soldier visits a bar for white comrades, there is trouble. There is even more controversy when an African-American G.I. goes out with a German woman or even when she has a child by him. The white Americans and Germans agree on this: This is "racial defilement". "It wasn't easy," Rosmarie Hawner remembers. "My boss treated me like fair game because I had an African-American boyfriend." Some African-American soldiers see no other way out than to flee with their German girlfriend to the GDR, where they hope for a life without prejudice.

This documentary by Sigrid Faltin bears the original title "A touch of America - when Palatinate women fell in love with G.I.s". Broadcast date: 14.12.2021 on SWR television. The documentary was produced to accompany the SWR feature film series. All statements and facts correspond to the status at that time and have not been updated since then.
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