LONDON: The problem of “the German girlfriend” is worrying the French authorities. A large number of returning French military and civilian prisoners of war have taken back to France hundreds of German girls whom they regard as “Good Germans” and from whom they are determined not to be separated. These girl friends are being put in special camps....

According to the “Daily Mail” Paris correspondent, a French Control official said, “German and Austrian girls are raising all sorts of problems. One of the most difficult cases is that of a young military prisoner who on arrival from the repatriation centre stated, ‘I have a German girl with whom I have been in love for two years. We have one child. Why can’t I bring her to France?’”

Some prisoners have tears in their eyes. During the years of solitude in Germany they have fallen in love and now feel they are losing happiness if they come back alone. A number of them say, “We owe everything to these German girls. We could not have endured life as prisoners without them.” Officials are concerned to see each girl questioned to make certain she is not a spy.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2020