During World War II, the Germans put the Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland into ghettos which restricted their movement and, most crucially for their survival, access to food. The Germans saw the Jews as 'useless eaters,' and denied them sufficient food for survival. The hunger which resulted from this intentional starvation impacted every aspect of Jewish life inside the ghettos. This book focuses on the Jews in the Łódź, Warsaw, and Kraków ghettos as they struggled to survive the deadly Nazi ghetto and, in particular, the genocidal famine conditions. Jews had no control over Nazi food policy but they attempted to survive the deadly conditions of Nazi ghettoization through a range of coping mechanisms and survival strategies. In this book, Helene Sinnreich explores their story, drawing from diaries and first-hand accounts of the victims and survivors. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Author(s): Helene J. Sinnreich
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 298
City: New York
Cover
Half-title page
Title page
Copyright page
Dedication
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Factors of Survival
The Atrocity of Hunger
Inside a Famine: Coping Mechanisms
Divergent Paths: Kraków, Warsaw, and Łódź
Kraków
Warsaw
Łódź
Sources
Organization and Summary of Chapters
1 The Nazi Invasion: Violence, Displacement, and Expropriation
Food Access during the German Occupation
Conclusion
2 Jewish Leadership
Warsaw
Łódź
Kraków
Jewish Leadership inside the Ghetto
Conclusion
3 The Supply and Distribution of Food: Strategies and Priorities
Food Distribution in the Łódź Ghetto
Provisioning the Kraków Ghetto and Food Distribution
Provisioning the Ghetto and Distributing Food in the Warsaw Ghetto
Mail Service and Food Packages
Agricultural Production in the Ghettos
Manufacture of Food in the Ghettos
Food Lines
Conclusion
4 The Physical, Mental, and Social Effects of Hunger
Physical Transformation
The Mental Effects of Hunger
Food Fantasy and Hunger
Humor
Death from Starvation
Conclusion
5 Hunger and Everyday Life in the Ghetto
Assets into Food
Hunger Foods
Household Strategies
Conclusion
6 Socioeconomic Status and Food Access
Impoverishment
Rich Ghetto, Poor Ghetto? Geographic Location and Food Access
Affluence
Gender
Religion
Conclusion
7 Relief Systems and Charity
Foreign Aid and Its Distribution
Official Community Care for Those in Need
Charitable Organizations and Initiatives
Refugees
Soup Kitchens
Begging
The Death of the Poor
Conclusion
8 Illicit Food Access: Smuggling, Theft, and the Black Market
Food Smuggling
The Black Market
Food Prices
Łódź
Kraków
Warsaw
Dangers of the Black Market
Food Theft
Prosecution of Theft and Smuggling in the Ghettos
Conclusion
9 Labor and Food in the Ghettos
Labor in the Three Ghettos
Forced Labor
Work Outside the Ghettos
Hierarchy of Work
Social Networks and Jobs
Work in the Ghetto
Community Employees: Bureaucrats, Food Service, and Police
Factory Work
Piecework
Private Employment and Supplemental Work
Hunger and Productivity
From Ghetto to Labor Camp
Conclusion
10 Deportations and the End of the Ghettos
Deportations into the Ghettos
Western Jews
The Condemned
Deportations Out
Hiding from Deportation
Final Liquidation of the Ghettos
Conclusion
Conclusion
Appendix: List of Kitchens and Food Distribution Sites in the Warsaw Ghetto
List of Boarding Houses and Orphanages
Day Cares Which Supplied Food for Children
Kitchens
Food Bank
Food Shop
Restaurants and Cafes
Notes
Introduction
1 The Nazi Invasion
2 Jewish Leadership
3 The Supply and Distribution of Food
4 The Physical, Mental, and Social Effects of Hunger
5 Hunger and Everyday Life in the Ghetto
6 Socioeconomic Status and Food Access
7 Relief Systems and Charity
8 Illicit Food Access
9 Labor and Food in the Ghettos
10 Deportations and the End of the Ghettos
Conclusion
Appendix: List of Kitchens and Food Distribution Sites in the Warsaw Ghetto
Bibliography
Archival Collections
Primary and Secondary Sources
Index
