GIs and Fräuleins: The German-American Encounter in 1950s West Germany. By Maria Höhn. (Chapel Hill: niversity of North Carolina Press, 2002. xvi, 337 pp. Cloth, $59.95, isbn 0-8078-2706-1. Paper, $22.50, isbn 0-8078-5375-5.)

Abstract

After World War II, the United States pledged to help build a new Japan and Germany. The tactics used in the two countries were very different, but the results were similar. The story at the political, diplomatic, and economic levels has been told, especially for the 1940s. The overall experiences of G.I.'s and their German and Japanese counterparts during the 1950s, however, are less well documented. The social history of individual communities is almost nonexistent. Therefore, Maria Höhn's book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of 1950s community dynamics and race relations during the occupation. Using Höhn's book as a model, it would be fascinating to compare the Japanese and German social experiences. Höhn's focus is on the Rhine-Palatinate area, specifically the town of Baumholder and the city of Kaiserlautern, and the interrelationship between the local communities and the American occupation troops. The soldiers relied on the local economy and German workers to operate their establishments, a practice that exposed many Germans to American culture and mores and appalled local conservative officials. Höhn compares the German reaction to white and black American G.I.'s. When focused on the black G.I.'s, German racial prejudice was often acceptable since the American soldiers also practiced de facto segregation. German leaders could therefore openly condemn or even raid the establishments that catered to black soldiers. Since East European Jews owned many of the establishments black soldiers frequented, German leaders were also able to show their anti-Semitic attitudes.