Evening star., 1947-03-16
CIWfe Is sOutcast inCermany

MUNICH (By MaiD lis the
American wife in Germany an angel
in slacks and, bandanna, or is she
an official mistake?
This is undoubtedly the most-dis-
cussed question among Americans in
Germany today. Black market quo
tations take a back seat for news Of
the latest privilege granted Ameri-
can womanhood The private. the
unmarried lieutenant and the civil
ian worker wonder If she deserves
the milk, meat and eggs, the maid
service and the warm home she gets
only because Of the gold band on her
finger.
They also wonder when-if ever
they will get few of the same
privileges. Dozens Of young officers
and civilians are being moved from
apartments daily to make room for
increasing numbers of wives and
children. For example, girl work.
er in Frankfort was sordered from
her apartment without being as
signed another When she refused
to move, the heat was turned OF.
The young woman went home to
America.
USO and Red Gross Worker
Resents Parasite Label
The Army's term for these wives
and their children is dependents"
Many of them are sensitive to the
criticism of their position. One
wrote to Stars and Stripes recent
ly that she had served the Red
Cross and USO well during the war
years and it hurts her to be re-
garded as a parasite only because
she at last has a chance to make a
home for her husband.
Actually the average wife is
barred from making any construc-
tive contribution to the life Of the
community where her husband
works. She may not take a govern
ment job unless she signs for a year,
and most wives are uncertain about
how long their husbands will be
here. The Red Cross has an ade-'
quate staf1 Of paid workers in most
of its clubs.
Most of the larger communities
have started women's clubs, but
these offer mainly the weekly bridge
game and classes in beginners Ger
man. German servants are auto
matically assigned to homes and
do all the housework well. A house,
keeper, maid and nursemaid are
easily obtainable for $40 month
each. Additional dressmaker, laun-
dry. and shoe repair services are to
be had for cigarettes.
The Army furnishes transporta-
ton for children to distant gov
ernment schools and assigns WACS
to escort those who attend schools
near the homes. The WACS COM
plain bitterly, but this is an official
policy in some parts Of Germany and
the wives should not be blamed.
Faux Pas on Streetcar
Leaves Soldiers Silent
Thus. the wife's community activ-
tiles are limited largely to buying
priceless china for cigarettes at the
barter market; standing in line for
fresh fruit at the grocery store, and
complaining. A streetcar full of GIs
leaving a mess hall where hot dogs
had been served for dinner, froze
into silence the other day when one
wife told another:
II left the steak on the table for
a. minute and when I came back
that little devil Of a dog had eaten
It'll"
From an ofncial standpoint the
dependents have done what they
came to do-to bring a certain
stability to the lives Of men already
long overseas who face many more
months of service to make the occu-
patton a success. But the average
soldier argues that the wife has
done more harm than good by
creating unnecessary dissatisfaction
among both occupying forces and
Germans.
Some of the dependents have
turned their grocery buying priv
iieges-from which every one else in
the theater is barred-to q financial
advantage. The latest price for 2