Nazi Hunger Politics: A History of Food in the Third Reich PDF
Preview Nazi Hunger Politics: A History of Food in the Third Reich
NAZI HUNGER POLITICS Rowman & Littlefield Studies in Food and Gastronomy GeneralEditor:KenAlbala,ProfessorofHistory,UniversityofthePacific ([email protected]) Rowman&LittlefieldExecutiveEditor:SuzanneStaszak-Silva ([email protected]) Food studies is a vibrant and thriving field encompassing not only cooking and eating habitsbutalsoissuessuchashealth,sustainability,foodsafety,andanimalrights.Schol- ars in disciplines as diverse as history, anthropology, sociology, literature, and the arts focusonfood.ThemissionofRowman&LittlefieldStudiesinFoodandGastronomy istopublishthebestinfoodscholarship,harnessingtheenergy,ideas,andcreativityofa wide array of food writers today. This broad line of food-related titles will range from foodhistory,interdisciplinaryfoodstudiesmonographs,generalinterestseries,andpopu- lar trade titles to textbooks for students and budding chefs, scholarly cookbooks, and referenceworks. TitlesintheSeries AppetitesandAspirationsinVietnam:FoodandDrinkintheLongNineteenthCentury, byEricaJ.Peters ThreeWorldCuisines:Italian,Mexican,Chinese,byKenAlbala FoodandSocialMedia:YouAreWhatYouTweet,bySigneRousseau FoodandtheNovelinNineteenth-CenturyAmerica,byMarkMcWilliams ManBitesDog:HotDogCultureinAmerica,byBruceKraigandPattyCarrol NewOrleans:AFoodBiography,byElizabethM.Williams(BigCityFood Biographiesseries) AYearinFoodandBeer:RecipesandBeerPairingsforEverySeason,byEmilyBaime andDarinMichaels Breakfast:AHistory,byHeatherArndtAnderson(TheMealsseries) CelebracionesMexicanas:History,Traditions,andRecipes,byAndreaLawsonGrayand AdrianaAlmazánLahl FoodHistoryAlmanac:Over1,300YearsofWorldCulinaryHistory,Culture,andSocial Influence,byJanetClarkson TheFoodSection:NewspaperWomenandtheCulinaryCommunity,byKimberlyWilmot Voss SmallBatch:Pickles,Cheese,Chocolate,Spirits,andtheReturnofArtisanalFoods,by SuzanneCope NaziHungerPolitics:AHistoryofFoodintheThirdReich,byGesineGerhard NAZI HUNGER POLITICS A History of Food in the Third Reich Gesine Gerhard ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD Lanham • Boulder • New York • London PublishedbyRowman&Littlefield AwhollyownedsubsidiaryofTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc. 4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706 www.rowman.com UnitA,WhitacreMews,26-34StannaryStreet,LondonSE114AB Copyright©2015byRowman&Littlefield Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorby anyelectronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrieval systems,withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewer whomayquotepassagesinareview. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Gerhard,Gesine,1969– Nazihungerpolitics:ahistoryoffoodintheThirdReich/GesineGerhard. pagescm.—(Rowman&Littlefieldstudiesinfoodandgastronomy) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-1-4422-2724-8(cloth:alkalinepaper)—ISBN978-1-4422-2725-5(ebook)1.Food supply—Governmentpolicy—Germany—History—20thcentury.2.Nationalsocialism—Socialas- pects.3.WorldWar,1939–1945—Foodsupply—Germany.4.Food—Politicalaspects—Germany— History—20thcentury.5.Food—Socialaspects—Germany—History—20thcentury.6.Food— Symbolicaspects—Germany—History—20thcentury.7.Hunger—Politicalaspects—Germany— History—20thcentury.8.Hunger—Socialaspects—Germany—History—20thcentury.9.Germa- ny—Politicsandgovernment—1933–1945.10.Germany—Socialconditions—1933–1945.I.Title. HD9015.G32G372015 363.8'56094309043—dc23 2015005789 TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsof AmericanNationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperfor PrintedLibraryMaterials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica CONTENTS ListofIllustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 NoMoreTurnips:TheImportanceofFoodinNaziIdeology 19 2 EatingatHome:FoodRationingandtheNaziDiet 47 3 HerbertBackeattheCenterofFoodPolitics 65 4 TheHungerplan:BarbarossaandtheStarvationoftheSoviet Union 85 5 TheScienceofFood 103 6 TheHungerYearsaftertheWar 121 Epilogue 141 Notes 143 SelectedBibliographyandSources 173 Index 179 v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig.1.1 “HeIsResponsible.” 26 Fig.1.2 “MiseryandHunger.” 30 Fig.1.3 “AgainstHungerandDesperation!” 31 Fig.1.4 “WeRebuild!” 32 Fig.1.5 “ForOurChildren’sBread!” 33 Fig.1.6 “OnePot.” 36 Fig.1.7 “EatWholeWheatBread.” 38 Fig.1.8 HitlergreetingthemassesontheBückeberg. 44 Fig.1.9 PeasantsintraditionalcostumeorTracht. 45 Fig.3.1 RichardWaltherDarrégivingaspeechon December13,1937. 78 Fig.3.2 HerbertBacke,attheheightofhispower, June2,1942. 83 Fig.5.1 AdolfHitlerandEvaBraunwithdogs,June 14,1942. 113 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS T his book has been in the works for several years, and along the way, I havereceivedsupportfrommanypeople.Iwillalwaysbegratefulforthe encouragement, the critical feedback, and the distractions that helped me continue my labors. The research started in the Federal Archives in Ko- blenz,Germany,amostwelcomingplaceforanyhistorian.GregorPickro in Koblenz represents one of the many archivists I could reliably count on. Herr Pickro suggested I contact the Backe family, and reading this book, you will know where this led me. David Schoenbaum deserves credit as my mentor early on, for it was his critical eye that pushed me much further than I thought I could go. I also owe a large debt to my students at the University of the Pacific, whose curiosity is a constant source of energy. My colleagues in the history department and beyond have been wonderful and inspirational. A special thank-you goes to Ken Albala,whointroducedmetofoodstudiesandhasbeensupportivesince I first put foot on this campus almost sixteen years ago. Caroline Cox gavefeedbackoneverythingIneededtotalkabout,andonlyheruntime- ly death in July 2014 prevented her from reading drafts of all chapters. The weekly phone calls with Edie Sparks kept me on target during the last writing phase when deadlines could not be pushed out any further. Bill SwagertyandRobinImhofallowedmeto nagthem with questionsI had along the way. Thank you to Mike Sharp for his careful copyediting of the manuscript and to Gerda Story, who transcribed Ursula Backe’s diariesforme.IamindebtedaswelltoWendiSchnaufer,theeditoratthe press who first recruited me. She had great ideas and a vision for this ix
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