As Allied troops entered and occupied German territory during the later stages of World War II , mass rapes of women took place both in connection with combat operations and during the subsequent occupation of Germany by soldiers from all advancing Allied armies, although a majority of scholars agree that the records show that a majority of the rapes were committed by Soviet occupation troops.
According to historian Antony Beevor , whose books were banned in from some Russian schools and colleges, NKVD Soviet secret police files have revealed that the leadership knew what was happening, but did little to stop it. Sexual violence was committed by the armies of the Western Allies and the Red Army as their troops fought their way into the Third Reich and during the period of occupation.
The details and level of violence committed on this incident have since been disputed. The majority of the assaults were committed in the Soviet occupation zone; estimates of the numbers of German women raped by Soviet soldiers have ranged up to 2 million. Soviet and Polish women were not spared either.
When the Yugoslav Partisan politician Milovan Djilas complained about rapes in Yugoslavia , Joseph Stalin reportedly stated that he should "understand it if a soldier who has crossed thousands of kilometres through blood and fire and death has fun with a woman or takes some trifle". Konstantin Rokossovsky issued order No.
For example, the commander of one rifle division is said to have "personally shot a lieutenant who was lining up a group of his men before a German woman spread-eagled on the ground". The historian Norman Naimark writes that after mid, Soviet soldiers caught raping civilians were usually punished to some degree, which ranged from arrest to execution.
