Hunger and Food

Prisoners received so little food that many of them perished within a few months after their arrival at the camp. Hunger determined the prisoners’ every thought and action during the day. In the morning, prisoners were given half a litre of watery substitute coffee; at noon, they received around one litre of thin soup; and at night, they were given a piece of coarse bread with some inferior cheese or sausage. Towards the end of the war, bread rations (“Kuhle”) became smaller and smaller.

Starving prisoner. Hunger governed the prisoners´ every thought and action. Detail from a photograph taken by a member of the US Army at Wöbbelin satellite camp shortly after its liberation in 1945. Photo: US-Army (USHMM).

In 1943/44, the members of certain commandos received two slices of bread as a “bonus”. Prisoners suffered from protein and vitamin deficiency and a lack of fat. Many tried to acquire food illegally. Prisoners could only buy food at the canteen if they received money from home or if they were given bonuses at work, a system which was introduced in 1943. Many prisoners only survived because they received food parcels from their relatives or from the Red Cross.