"Austrian occupation children adopted by American couples..."

1,899 children fathered by American occupation soldiers have been born out of wedlock since 1945 in the province of Salzburg alone. Of these illegitimate children, 335 have been adopted or have achieved legitimate status through subsequent marriages. Adoption faces considerable difficulties, particularly in the case of children with black fathers.

Since only a fraction of these occupation soldiers provide care for the child and its mother (though, admittedly very generously when they do) and compulsory appropriation of the support payments is still not yet a possibility, the majority of these children have become public charges of the Welfare Service. Some of the children are being raised in private foster homes, others in public institutions.

On the `asset side' of the occupation ledger, however, is the adoption of Austrian children by American families. It is a well known fact that the demand for adoptive children is especially high in the USA. Numerous childless couples have now come to recognize in Austria the possibility for the fulfillment of their heart's desire, and a great many of these dreams have actually become reality. In this way, more than a few boys and girls, faced with a childhood as wards of the Welfare Service, have been presented with a genuine home and a secure future."

From: "Salzburg - Jewel of Austria": 10 Years of Reconstruction 1945 - 1955., Salzburg 1956