[In process.]

Abstract

The children from families of officers of the "Soviet forces temporarily stationed in the territory of the GDR" were treated on an in- and out-patient basis in East German paediatric clinics from 1945 to 1994. Since paediatric wards were not a regular component of military hospitals, newborns, infants and toddlers who became ill were sent to regional paediatric clinics for "special treatment" or in cases of emergency. This exception, regulated by law between the USSR and the GDR, required the approval of the garrison commander or the military doctor, though, in practice, this was circumvented. Linguistic problems could be resolved and no special rate of morbidity was observed in Russian children. Financing was arranged through contracts that had to be intricately negotiated when the Soviet troops were withdrawn after the German Reunification. Despite the heavily charged relationship historically between the inhabitants of East Germany and the occupying power imposed upon them, Russian children received good treatment and were tenderly cared for in the hospitals. Russian mothers impressively placed their unwavering trust in the nurses and physicians.