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Bringing Back Memories: GIs, Souvenir Hunting, and Looting in Germany, 1945

Abstract Details

2010, Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, History (Arts and Sciences).
As the United States Army drove deep into Germany in early-1945, American soldiers stole and appropriated objects on a large scale. While GIs did take items when marching through Allied countries, what occurred in Germany throughout the final campaigns was different and more extensive. Not only was there souvenir hunting on the battlefield—taking pistols, helmets, and flags from German soldiers—but also widespread looting of civilian homes. Servicemen justified their actions by claiming wartime necessity, opportunities for profit, keepsakes, and revenge for Nazi atrocities. Drawing on memoirs, journals, personal papers, and interviews, this thesis seeks to divide American soldiers' stealing into two categories, souvenir hunting and looting, and to extrapolate the four major reasons why GIs looted. Using archival evidence, this work will also examine the U.S. Army' reaction to soldiers' rapacity, its policy-making processes, and the civil-military relationships in Europe throughout the dying days of World War II.
Ingo Trauschweizer (Advisor)
Steven Miner (Committee Member)
John Brobst (Committee Member)
139 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Givens, S. A. (2010). Bringing Back Memories: GIs, Souvenir Hunting, and Looting in Germany, 1945 [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1275450120

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Givens, Seth. Bringing Back Memories: GIs, Souvenir Hunting, and Looting in Germany, 1945. 2010. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1275450120.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Givens, Seth. "Bringing Back Memories: GIs, Souvenir Hunting, and Looting in Germany, 1945." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1275450120

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)