9 - Protection from the Protector

Summary

Court-martial case files documenting noncapital infractions by U.S. military personnel unveil the stormy casual relationships and tense chance encounters, providing a unique opportunity to witness the many different faces of GIs and Germans in the first three years of Berlin's occupation. To maintain discipline among the troops stationed in the destroyed city, courts-martial were assembled swiftly so that potential infractions involving U.S. Army personnel could be adjudicated according to the dictates of military law. The cases adjudicated in these trials provide a view into German-American relations that looks beyond the much-discussed issue of fraternization. The court-martial system was designed to discipline and punish armed service personnel for infractions committed during tours of duty. Police records, MP reports, and personal accounts testify that Americans were represented in scuffles with the Berlin civilian population: these less than pleasant forms of fraternization punctuated the daily contact between Germans and their postwar protectors.