War period and food worries: A look at Paula's historical notes

War period and food worries: A look at Paula's historical notes

In 1944, 18-year-old Paula Kösters spent a formative year on a farm in Legden. She documented her experiences in a handwritten notebook that now serves as a valuable contemporary witness. According to the Münsterland Zeitung, the DIN A5 was evaluated in white linen issue on March 15, 1945 with the grade "good" and contains over 50 pages in detailed records in Sütterlin script, written with a fountain pen. The envelope bears the inscription "Mein Merkbuch" in red letters.

Paula came from Coesfeld and completed her second year as a housekeeper at the Schulze Beilkel Hof in Beilkelort. Her instructor, Elisabeth Schulze, encouraged her to regularly capture impressions, learning content and useful household tips. Her daughter, Annelie Sierp, found the booklet in the estate of her mother and remembers the lively stories about life and work on the field. The 40 reports of their experiences in the yard, which also document the challenges of the war, are particularly impressive

life on the farm

Kösters described the adversities of the war, including the considerable food shortage that people experienced at the time. Today we know that such supply bottlenecks heavily burdened the entire national population. According to regional history.net, the ration for normal consumers in Rhineland-Palatinate in 1947 was only 1,183 calories per person. This undersupply led to massive social tensions and an increasing mortality rate that was due to hunger and inadequate medical care.

Paula's memo is an important source to understand the living conditions at that time. Your detailed insight into laundry care and the processing of food reflects the reality of a time in which refrigerators were not yet a common household appliance. She gave her reading descendants valuable tips on stain removal and noted recipes for the processing and preservation of meat, an important topic in the nutritional crisis after the war.

The nutritional crisis of the post -war years

The starting point in which Paula Kösters lived was characterized by serious deficiency symptoms. Scientific studies, as carried out by renowned historians such as Ernst-Günther Schenck and Hermann Arnold, demonstrate the dramatic effects of the food crisis in the immediate post-war period. The decline in agricultural productivity, caused by the war and loss of East German Saatzucht, led to a drastic decline in food production, which was estimated in Europe in 1946 by 37% and 25% compared to 1938/39.

The effects of this crisis were not only of agricultural nature, but also influenced social structure. Military control over the food distribution was often ineffective; Many regions were affected by hunger and black market transactions. 30.4% of the population were self -catering, but suffered from the high inflation and the unfavorable circumstances of post -war life.

Paula's experience and the details recorded in their memo book about the everyday challenges and creative solutions are invaluable today. The Hof Schulze Beilkel, which is now led by the grandson of Elisabeth Schulze, represents not only a place of learning for Paula, but also a piece of history that is deeply associated with the emergency situations and the survival of an entire generation.