"A girl who tastes the forbidden fruit must bear the consequences herself..."

"In the April 18, 1946 issue of `Stars and Stripes', the newspaper published for the American Armed Forces in Europe, I read an article bearing the headline `Pregnant Fräuleins are Warned!' I am enclosing a German translation of this article in the hope that you will publish it in your newspaper. Perhaps a girl or two will be brought to their senses by reading these lines.

`Girls who are expecting a child fathered by an American soldier will be provided with no assistance by the American Army.' Thus reads the text of the recently issued military regulations. They were issued in response to a letter received from a pregnant girl in which she asked the army for help. The regulations make two main points:

1. The army can in no way be held responsible for the sexual relationships of its soldiers.

2. A `Kraft durch Freude' (Strength through Joy, a Nazi recreational organization) girl who tastes the forbidden fruit must bear the consequences herself.

`If the soldier denies paternity,' it goes on to say, `no further action will be undertaken other than to merely inform the woman of this fact. She is to be advised to seek help from a German or Austrian welfare organization. If the soldier is already in the United States, his address is not to be communicated to the woman in question, the soldier may be honorably discharged from the army and his demobilization will in no way be delayed. Claims for child support from unmarried German and Austrian mothers will not be recognized. If the soldier voluntarily acknowledges paternity, he is to provide for the woman in an appropriate manner."

From: Demokratisches Volksblatt, Austrian daily newspaper, May 25, 1946