Abstract
The spread of venereal diseases after the Second World War constituted a grave public health danger in Europe. Especially in all four occupation zones in Germany and the Polish People's Republic high morbidity rates were observed. In order to limit the spread of diseases, respective administrations adopted specific regulations. The aim of this research is the analysis and comparison of legal regulations for controlling and combating venereal diseases in these countries. We have analyzed legislative and administrative acts concerning combatting venereal diseases issued by the official organs of the Soviet Occupation Zone, the German Democratic Republic, and the Polish People's Republic from 1945 to 1989. Subsequently, the analyzed sources were evaluated in light of the existing literature on the topic. Our analysis shows that policy approaches in both countries were based the Soviet Union's model for fighting venereal diseases. Visible are similarities of the approaches. They include organization of anti-venereal services, compulsory hospitalization, and actions against social groups perceived as sources of venereal diseases. Beside the purpose of breaking the spread of the epidemics, the approaches had also a political aim of sanctioning behavior that diverged from prescribed socialist moral norms.
Highlights
After the Second World War, venereal diseases constituted one of the major threats to public health in Europe
The main sources used for this analysis were legislative and administrative acts concerning the fight against venereal diseases issued by the official organs of the Soviet Occupation Zone (SOZ) in Germany, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and the Peoples’ Republic (PPR) during the period 1945–1989
From 1945 to 1947, it was supplemented by two orders of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SMAG): “Order No 25” and “Order No 030.”
Summary
After the Second World War, venereal diseases constituted one of the major threats to public health in Europe. According to the data of the World Health Organization presented by King [1], morbidity rates in several European countries, i.e., in Norway, Denmark, Greece, Italy, and France, reached their peak during wartime or shortly after the war. The epidemiological outbreak was influenced by multiple factors, such as deregulation of the norms of social life, movements of troops, the destruction caused by military operations, massive migration of the people, administrative chaos, and general impoverishment of the population [2]. Desolate post-war medical infrastructure played a major role. Scarcities in medication, low number of practicing physicians, lack of hospital beds contributed to rising numbers of individuals with venereal diseases [3]
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