Occupation Duty - Germany - late 1945
The United States made a terrible mistake when it agreed to use a common Occupation currency throughout Germany, east and west. German Deutsche marks were worthless, now that the government had fallen. The U.S. gave the other occupying powers duplicate plates for printing the Occupation Marks being used by the Americans. There was little problem with the British and the French, but the Russians really took us for a ride.
The Russians had not paid their soldiers throughout the War other than providing them with necessities. When the War ended, these soldiers were mostly in Germany and they were paid off in full, for all their years of Wartime service, with Occupation Marks printed from the American plates. They were not permitted to convert any of this money to Rubles nor to send it home, but could only spend it in Germany. Of course, the Germans had nothing to sell them and they would have stolen it, rather than buy it, in any case. So American liquor which cost us $1 per ration bottle, brought $50 a bottle from the Russians, a pack of American cigarettes for which we paid 5 cents would bring $10 in occupation currency. Cheap, used wrist watches went for $200.
The American soldier could then go to his mail clerk and convert these Occupation Marks into a postal money order which he could send home where it was converted to American dollars. In this way, the Russian Government got the American Government to pay for a large part of their soldiers’ wartime pay and the American consumer paid for it in the postwar inflation which took place in the U.S. in 1946-47.
The problem, of course, was in making contact with the Russians which was not easy. We were deployed on opposite sides of the Fulda River. (Allies who didn’t trust each other!) But with opportunistic combat vets on both sides, eager to take advantage of the situation, many were able to find a way. Enterprising vets, both American and Russian, skilled in evading odious regulations, found ways.
Shortly before I came home, the Army finally smartened up and instituted a currency control system whereby no one could send home more money in postal money orders than he received in pay.
Russ Cloer - 3_7_I_Recon