"Oswobodziciele" from the east stretched out their hands freely for whatever they wanted. With the tacit approval of the command, they also attacked women. For Polish women, the encroachment of the Soviet army was often a lethal danger. What were they doing to avoid falling into the hands of the ravaged soldiers?
The march of the Red Army through Poland heralded the end of the war, but some soldiers left behind little memories of little better than the Nazis. They were aggressive and felt that as winners they had the right to anything. Also for women. Drunken soldiers raped Polish women on a massive scale. They did not spare anyone. Little girls, pregnant women and nuns were at risk. Even female prisoners liberated from concentration camps and old women could not feel safe.
The attack could have happened anywhere. The vicinity of railway stations was swarming with soldiers hunting for victims. Mass rapes took place in city streets. The Red Army soldiers were attacking random Polish women who happened to be passing nearby.
Our own house did not guarantee safety either. Soldiers often stayed in private farms or came to eat there. So many women were raped in their own bedrooms, kitchens and yards. This often happened in front of their husbands and children.
Handkerchief, ash and soot
The women attacked by the Russians could not count on anyone's help. A man who defended his wife, mother, daughter or sister could have simply been shot. Often times, especially in the case of gang rape, even the police were afraid to intervene. In order to protect themselves from a terrible fate, Polish women used a number of more or less desperate measures.
Both little girls and women who were old were victims of sexual violence. The Red Army soldiers did not spare anyone. Illustrative photo from the book "Red Plague. What the liberation of Poland really looked like. ”
One of the most common ways to keep soldiers from being unobtrusive was by aging. Polish women also tried to scare off rapists, pretending that they had typhus. They tied handkerchiefs on their heads, soiled their face with soot, and rubbed ashes on their skin. They put on layers of clothes and wrapped a shawl. Everything to look as unattractive as possible. In Rokitno, the mother cut her daughter's long blonde hair, because it attracted the attention of the soldiers and she was at risk of rape. The girl was only 11 years old!
Sometimes, disfigurement helped protect against attack. Most of the Red Army soldiers were so feral and not very picky that they attacked every woman they met. And if there were no representatives of the fair sex nearby, they would take on… animals. An exceptionally disgusting incident took place in the village of Wysoki Małe - a Red Army soldier cooperated there with a local farmer's goat - writes Dariusz Kaliński in the book “Red Plague. What was the liberation of Poland really like? ”.
"Polish women should take care of the Red Army's needs"
Soviet commanders ignored the problem of raping Polish women. Soldiers are without women a long time ago. And due to the lack of German women - Polish women should take care of their needs - this is how researchers of the history of the USSR military in Poland summarize their attitude. In fact, the Red Army men were encouraged to use sexual violence primarily against German women. In this way, they wanted to "break the pride of a racial German woman." The road to Berlin, however, led through Poland and soldiers were allowed almost everything here.
This tacit consent to the soldier's arbitrariness was also a sentence against Polish women. Women all over the country have been honored. Every exit from the house was associated with a great danger. One had to be especially careful not to come across a crowd of drunk soldiers. In some regions of the country, a lonely walk could have ended tragically. Especially the inhabitants of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship were warned against this. These are the times of the march recalled by Anna Szatkowska, daughter of Zofia Kossak-Szczucka:
You have to leave very carefully, having investigated the situation first. To go to the city or to the market, we have to walk along a circular, busy street where it is safer .
Guest home, enemy home
However, it was not always possible to avoid meetings with the Red Army soldiers. The enemy often went directly to the victim's home . After all, Polish families, voluntarily or forcibly, gave the Soviets hospitality. When there was even one soldier under the roof, the women went to bed fully clothed for their own safety. Even if he wasn't being aggressive.
Poles often had no choice but to accept the accommodation of Red Army soldiers under their roof. It often had a tragic end.
Fortunately, some Soviet "guests" were allowed to say no. This was the case with the officer who had asked for an overnight stay with Maria Rutkowska's family. He was put in one room with two young women. In the middle of the night, one of the girls ran to her parents' room and left the door open so that we could hear what was going on in the other room.
He began to speak sweetly to Alina, naively suggesting that he only wanted to caress, caress and nothing else - recalls Rutkowska. He accepted the girl's refusal calmly. However, not all women were lucky enough to find a reasonably cultured soldier who did not intend to use violence.
Most of the Red Army soldiers did not ask for permission, and their "advances" were much more brutal. In such cases, it was best to call for help. For example, Bierula Białynicka, a gymnasium secretary from the Białystok voivodeship, found out about it. Its story was described by historian Kristian Kowalski.
Sometimes, loud calls for help could be saved from being raped. Illustration from Dariusz Kaliński's book "Red Plague".
In Bierula's house, the captain of the Red Army was quartered. On the very first evening he tried to make her have sex by threatening with a revolver. He also blackmailed the woman that if she did not agree to be his mistress, he would bring 20 soldiers, who would have fun with her as much as they could . The woman, however, did not allow herself to be intimidated. She started screaming loudly, which woke her mother and alerted the neighbors. It stopped the Russian.
Attics full of frightened women
The news of the rape spread throughout Poland. Knowing what to expect, the women simply hid and barricaded when they heard of the invading army. This is how the functioning of the home shelter was reported by an inhabitant of Bytów, where as many as five girls were hiding:
They locked themselves in a small room at the top, to which a small door led. The door was locked with a large wardrobe, and my mother brought the girls food and drink.
The virgins from Bytów managed to avoid rape. The soldiers did not detect their presence, although they even looked into the wardrobe, which camouflaged the entrance to the hideout.
It also happened that the soldiers noticed the places where the women were hiding. One of the inhabitants of the Sławno district, together with her sisters, hid from the Russians in the attic. One evening one of them wandered upstairs. Wanting to get into the locked room, he tried to break the glass in the door. However, he cut his hand and gave up further attempts. The hidden women breathed a sigh of relief.
Krystyna Wojciechowska, whose account is quoted in "The Red Plague" by Dariusz Kaliński, also found an effective hiding place. She hid in ... a distillery. She spent many hours in the cold room, full of rats. She watched from the window what was happening in the yard of her house. Five ravaged Soviets were prowling there. The soldiers beat her father and raped her mother.
The Red Army soldiers did not miss any opportunity to satisfy their desires.
Unfortunately, the hiding place was never 100% certain. Drunken soldiers searched the entire house amok. At that time, the only thing left for the women was to try to escape. Some have succeeded. They took advantage of the confusion that resulted from the actions of aggressive soldiers. This was the case with the daughter of Maria S. from Toruń. She herself did not avoid being raped, her uncle was beaten, but the girl managed to escape:
My daughter, 17, hid during the shooting, taking advantage of the moment when the soldiers were busy with me, ran out of the window. After the rape of me, all my things and underwear were taken .