Women at the front: Why they were reluctant to get married and what happened to children born in the war

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

If men, returning from the war, proudly bore the status of "hero", then women preferred to hide this fact of their biography. The label "military field wife" was stuck to everyone indiscriminately, even in spite of heroic deeds and military achievements. The victory was not a sufficient reason to give women, who shared the military hardships on an equal basis with men, at least in peacetime to be happy.

During the war, from 800 thousand to one million women fought on the side of the USSR. All of them were in different conditions, and got there for different reasons. Nurses and nurses went to the front by conscription and more often than others, like those women whose specialties allowed them to work as radio operators and signalmen. But there were many women among those whose front-line professions are not considered to be female. They flew airplanes, were snipers, scouts, and chauffeurs. They worked at the headquarters as topographers and reporters, many women were intelligence officers, they even met in tank platoons, artillerymen and infantry.

Defense of the Motherland and even just military service in the USSR was an honorable thing, including for women. In the first months of the war, rallies were held with the participation of women, who also demanded being sent to the front and rushed after the men in order to defend the country's borders. Up to 50% of the applications from volunteers wishing to go to the front were from the weak half of humanity. So, in the first weeks, 20 thousand applications came from Muscovites (more than 8 thousand of them were subsequently drafted) and 27 thousand from Leningrad girls (5 thousand went to the front, after another 2 thousand fought on the Leningrad front). Considering the fact that young, healthy and fighting girls were eager to become volunteers, of course, not married and childless, it goes without saying that they were guaranteed increased attention at the front. Considering that many men had wives and children in the rear, who took upon themselves all the hardships and difficulties, doing too much work, then at the end of hostilities, the legal wives gave such "front-line soldiers" a warm welcome, hanging on them the labels "military field wife ". It got to the point that mothers chased their daughters who had returned from the war, under the pretext that after such a "shame" no one would marry her sisters and let them perish. Did the women volunteers rushing to the front then suppose that such an unenviable fate awaited them?

Camping wives - who were called that and why they were disliked

In 1947, the "abandoned wives" wrote a letter to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Yes, at that time it was considered normal to discuss family problems at party meetings, but the Supreme Soviet of the USSR ?! But the authors of the letter were not so simple, and there were almost 60 of them - all of them are the wives of former military commanders. Women demanded to protect their rights, as those who for 20 years or more were in an official marriage with the highest military ranks, but were later left to fend for themselves. As it turned out, the abandoned "generals" who wandered around the garrisons with their husbands in their youth and often raised their husband's career success with their own hands were not destined after the war, since husbands returned from the war with … new wives. Unexpectedly, given that the official wives did not anticipate such a turn of events from the person who went to defend the Motherland. This meant not only a lonely, but also a poor old age, since all the husband's pensions and his property were transferred to the new wife.

Well, what about the girls who ended up in the war? Among them were many young and beautiful and those who took courtship, and from the highest military ranks. Here, in a male society, the principle of hierarchy worked, if the general liked the girl, and just to the one who was higher in rank, hardly anyone would have dared to look after her. Medicines and radio operators, who, as a rule, were from simple and poor families, such attention was flattering. Well, when else would they have attracted the general's attention? Even if they knew that his family was waiting for him at home, they believed that the war would write off everything, and the temptation to receive a promotion from the chief was too high. After the end of the war, not all chiefs were in a hurry to marry young military field wives, many returned to their official ones, and the young people had no choice but to accept this fact. Zhukov repeatedly in his letters called for an end to promiscuity and "sexual intemperance", but no serious punishments followed. Perhaps because Zhukov had his own military field wife.

Ordinary soldiers evilly joked about the girls who became military field wives, hinting at their venality and commercialism. After all, "love" at the front among women happened exclusively with the highest ranks, and not with ordinary guys. There were attacks on women at the front from all sides.

How was the life of women at the front arranged and what happened during pregnancies

Despite the fact that everyone knew that this was the commander's "fighting friend", they always had ranks and positions, they did a certain job, and did not just travel with the general as an officer. If the fan was especially influential, then the girl was transferred to a relatively safe job, closer to the headquarters. Although the military comrades-in-arms accused the girls of the fact that their "love" manifests itself only to the highest ranks, this can be explained by many circumstances. probabilities would soon be free again. And if at the same time one of the officers laid eyes on her, then sending her loved one on a dangerous mission was the easiest way to get rid of an opponent. • Often it was the commander's attention that finally saved her from constant encroachments and harassment. If for her they are all equally unloved, then it is better to have one defender. • Upon agreeing to the role of a fighting friend, various benefits awaited her, ranging from a cut for a new dress and an extra day off and ending with a promotion. • The sincere love that broke out between people who found themselves in terrible conditions also cannot be written off. After all, common difficulties, as you know, unite. And it was not in vain that the commanders abandoned their wives and married yesterday's combat friends.

Sometimes, in order to protect themselves, girls had to use force, and this is not about slaps and repulsions. War is like war. But one should not think that this was the lot of all women, in a number of detachments the commander made it clear that there could be no hazing between the soldiers and strictly suppressed any courtship. Sometimes friendships were established between the fighters and the soldiers did not give offense to their nurse, protecting not only her life, but also honor. For most girls, having a “friend” meant that she could no longer be afraid for herself, constantly being in the male team. There were also pregnancies, this happened quite often, so there was even order 009, according to which girls and women who "suddenly" became pregnant at the front, were sent to the rear for childbirth and motherhood. There was no question that the young mother would return to the battlefield, because the relationship during the war could be considered over. And what a "warm" welcome awaited the front-line soldier and her future baby in the rear, one can only guess.

How was the PPW treated in the rear

In her book "The War Does Not Have a Woman's Face" Svetlana Aleksievich says that there was one for the whole battalion, as well as a six-meter dugout, in which I had to spend the night. Yes, she was given a corner, but it was at that time that she learned to fight in her sleep, because she constantly had to fight off persistent admirers, with whom she had completely different relations during the day. Therefore, she voluntarily moved to the commander's dugout, guided by the principle "it is better to be with one than to be afraid of all at once." Later he returned to his family, and she alone raised their daughter together.

Such stories happened everywhere, and rumors about the PW (field-field wives) quickly reached the real wives left in the rear. Their feelings can also be understood, they truly waited for their men, wrote letters, protected children and tried to survive by working in unbearable conditions. As is often the case, some women willingly blamed other women for what was happening, while men were again “out of work”. Since then, it was believed that since a girl came from the front, then there is no place to put a stamp on her, for four years she and men, sometimes all this turned into a real persecution. Even if PPZ managed to become a legal spouse, this did not mean at all that her rumors would be bypassed. The wives of the rest of the officers never accepted such as equals, they were contemptuous. Only after the 70s did the attitude towards women returning from the war become more dignified. Apparently, this fact is explained by the fact that the front-line soldiers have already become adults and elderly women and society was no longer so interested in their love past.

Did the Germans have PPZh?

The difference in mentality and approaches to any situation can be traced even in this sensitive issue. Initially, the Germans had brothels that followed along the front line with the army. Servicemen were given coupons for visiting this institution (usually about 6 times a month), for some merits they could be encouraged with an additional trip and vice versa. They recruited girls of a certain type - tall and fair-haired. By the way, working in such a place was not considered shameful, rather even very patriotic. The girls underwent regular medical examinations, and the soldiers who came for an hour-long meeting had to wash themselves with soap and water beforehand. Twice. The Germans did not always formalize brothels, sometimes this responsibility was assigned to the workers of the canteen. The Germans even arranged brothels in concentration camps as an additional way to control the prisoners.

On the principle of the German side, the Soviet side also tried to arrange "rest homes for officers" in wartime. But then the German calculation, and then the Russian soul. The very first batch of officers, having "rested" in such an institution for three weeks, simply took their girlfriends with them. They did not recruit new ones, apparently it became clear that there was no point in such an undertaking. If it is not clear what awaits tomorrow and whether it will come - this is tomorrow, everyone was in a hurry to live, and the girls who had not seen life were very afraid that they would not have time to live in a truly adult way. The war will write off everything … I wrote it off, but, alas, not for everyone. Most Soviet women were afraid to be captured, since the German side did not treat them as servicemen, which means that they were inevitable and painful death.