I remember a scene in a movie about the same time. perhaps it was the Tin Drum, where some soldiers are looking for a man and they only find a woman with very wide skirts sitting in a field. After they go away she stands up and a small man appears from under her skirts buttoning his fly.
Yeah, I recall reading that scene in the book from your description. It was all that weird stuff and more that caused me to take 4 years to read the book. Wasn't worth it, IMO.