Figure 1.--The children here are engaged in the potato harvest in Obermillstatt, Carinthia, Austria (September 1942). Austria at the time was aart of of the Ruch--Ostmark. Often the Hitler Youth was involved in these child labor activities. In this cases they look more like local children informally organized to help the farmer at the left. .

As a result of the World War I experience, the NAZIs in World War II gave considerable attention to supplying the home front with food. There was no real effort to increasing domestic food production by investing in the agriculture sector. Rather availble resources were funneled into the rearmament effort. Hitler's view was that the war he was planning for would be the sollution to the food problem. This was pursued in a variety of ways. First, Hitler planned to seize vast areas of prime agricultural land in the East which after the local population was killed or enslaved would be colonized by German farmers. Here Himmler took apecial interest. This would permnently solve Germany's food problem. This was not the only gialnthat drive Hitler East, but it was an important one. This did not work out for Hitler. While the wehrmacht suceded in seizing much of the prime black soil area of the Soviet Union, they failed in their primary mission--destoying the Red Army. This meant that Hitler had to maintain and feed a huge army in the East. As a result, the food obtained in the East was mostly used to feed the military fighting there. And because the war in the East after the first wildly sucessful months was a fierce series of battles eventually going against the Germans. The Germans were, as a result, unable to colonize it. And because of the Soviet burned earth campaign and the German attrocities on civilians, farm production plummeted. Second, the Germans looted occupied countries of food. This was done ruthlessy in the East and in a more civilized, but none the less efficent matter in the West. Little consideration was given to the civilians in the occupied countries. There was , for example, a dreadful famine in Greece even before the Germans began starving people in the East. While little food came from the east except Poland, large quantities of food was obtained in the ocupied West--especially France.. Third, the NAZIs pursued a deadly policy if starving millions of people to conserve availble foods for the Germn military and civilians. Fourth, the NAZIs used POWs and enslaved workers as agricultural labor. Many Polish and Soviet POWs were essentially killed by exposure and starvation. The French POWs were treated more correctly. Then after killing many Polish and Soviet POWS, the NAZIs began seizing workers in the East and deporting them for labor in the Reich. This included agrivultural labor. Fifth, the Hitler Youth and children in general were used as a source of agricultural labor. This was done in a variety of ways. The children were set up in camps for this purpose. Some of the KLV camps were also used. We believe some of it may have been done more informally, simce as HJ boys and girls helping local people. Sixth, an effective rationing program was established. Seventh, there was some effort at addressing the food problem through technology such as developing new protein sources. These efforts interested Herbert Backe, the defacto Minister of Agriculture. [Wieland] They did not, however, interest Hitler who was set on conquest and possession of the East. As a result, Backe is best known for the NAZI Hunger Plan.

Sources

Wieland, Thomas. "Autarky and Lebensraum. The political agenda of academic plant breeding in Nazi Germany," Host-Journal of History of Science and Technology Vol. 3 (Fall 2009).

Created: 7:01 PM 8/24/2007
Last updated: 3:26 PM 3/8/2016