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Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
February 2023
Print publication year:
2023
Online ISBN:
9781009105293
Creative Commons:
Creative Common License - CC Creative Common License - BY Creative Common License - NC Creative Common License - ND
This content is Open Access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/creativelicenses

Book description

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.

Reviews

‘This is a wonderful book on an important yet understudied topic. Using the themes of food and hunger to analyze everyday life and experience in three Nazi ghettoes, Sinnreich significantly expands our understanding of Jewish experience during the Holocaust. Her careful attention to the symbolic, social, and material functions of food is especially impressive.’

Alice Weinreb - Loyola University Chicago

‘The book explores how socioeconomic status, gender, and religion affected access to food. It also depicts Jewish communal and individual efforts to smuggle, barter, or steal in order to stave off food deprivation. … Highly recommended.’

M. Rice Source: Choice

‘Sinnreich's book is thoroughly researched and skillfully constructed, effectively achieving her aim to narrate the stories of Jews navigating the challenges of surviving the genocidal famine conditions imposed by Nazi ghettoization. Holocaust scholars, famine researchers, and students exploring everyday life during this period will find Sinnreich's The Atrocity of Hunger to be a valuable resource for deepening our comprehension of Jewish experiences during the Holocaust, particularly in relation to the profound impact of hunger.’

Anne van Mourik Source: H-Net

‘[An] absorbing, horrifying, and - by thinking broadly about what she terms ‘the atrocity of hunger’ - smartly conceived study worth careful attention, not only for students of the Holocaust but also for those working on famines and mass violence in general. … Sinnreich’s attention to nuance and context makes this book such an important addition to our knowledge about the Holocaust, about hunger and starvation, and about life and death in the ghettos.’

Katrin Paehler Source: German Studies Review

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Contents

Full book PDF
  • The Atrocity of Hunger
    pp i-ii
  • Copyright page
    pp iv-iv
  • Dedication
    pp v-vi
  • Contents
    pp vii-vii
  • Figures
    pp viii-viii
  • Tables
    pp ix-ix
  • Acknowledgments
    pp x-xii
  • Introduction
    pp 1-16
  • 1 - The Nazi Invasion
    pp 17-34
  • Violence, Displacement, and Expropriation
  • 2 - Jewish Leadership
    pp 35-53
  • 3 - The Supply and Distribution of Food
    pp 54-76
  • Strategies and Priorities
  • 4 - The Physical, Mental, and Social Effects of Hunger
    pp 77-90
  • 5 - Hunger and Everyday Life in the Ghetto
    pp 91-106
  • 6 - Socioeconomic Status and Food Access
    pp 107-125
  • 7 - Relief Systems and Charity
    pp 126-142
  • 8 - Illicit Food Access
    pp 143-168
  • Smuggling, Theft, and the Black Market
  • 9 - Labor and Food in the Ghettos
    pp 169-185
  • 10 - Deportations and the End of the Ghettos
    pp 186-200
  • Conclusion
    pp 201-206
  • Appendix: - List of Kitchens and Food Distribution Sites in the Warsaw Ghetto
    pp 207-210
  • Notes
    pp 211-267
  • Bibliography
    pp 268-280
  • Index
    pp 281-294

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