Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Back to Germany
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
to find out how the population occupied itself. The
shops were few and so were the opportunities for
spending money. The people were not interested in
money either. Only goods had any value, and they
were very scarce. Barter and black market operations
flourished. Cigarettes had become a sort of currency,
”a hard currency”. An American or English cigarette
was quoted at about six marks, a value which can be
judged in relation to the fact that a German laborer
earned about 160 marks per month. Morale had sunk
catastrophically. People begged openly in the streets
and thefts were countless.
This was the background for our tour of
inspection. We first went to the so-called ”Big Kitchen”,
the place where the soup was prepared. The
organization functioned excellently. At five-thirty each
morning preparations were started, from six-thirty to
eight-thirty the soup to be distributed during the day
was cooked, between eight-thirty and nine-thirty the
containers were filled and thereafter delivered on big
trucks to the different canteens. We then went to see
these canteens. During the years, I have seen many
of these, centers for an activity which undoubtedly
has been important to pòstwar Germany. Originally,
the food for the children was fetched by the mothers.
This system, however, was changed. The children had
to come themselves to eat their soup on the spot. At
first, the mothers protested. They did not like to have
to wait for their children while they were eating, and
quite naturally so. The Hamburg women must spend
hours in lines anyway to get something eatable. for
the other members of their families. But this was the
only proper way to control the distribution, the only
5 — Instead of Arms 129
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
