The Hunger
Meal times were the most important event of each day. After morning roll call prisoners would be given their morning ‘meal’ – imitation coffee or herbal ‘tea’ and for lunch, a liter of watery soup.
"In the morning they gave us one piece of bread mixed with sawdust to eat. We also got a piece of margarine and a cup of coffee. It was not real coffee. We had to work until the evening. In the evening we got soup. If we were fortunate, we might sometimes find a few potatoes and a piece of meat in the liquid. Most of the time it was just hot water and a few potatoes. . . .The hunger was also terrible. We used to search for a potato peel and fight over it. We were constantly, 24 hours a day, always hungry. We would think about food and dream about it." - Pincus, a survivor of Auschwitz. |
In the evening prisoners may have been given a small piece of black bread; they may also have received a tiny piece of sausage, or cheese. The bread was supposed to last the prisoners for the morning, so prisoners would try to hide it while they slept.
The dead body had a piece of bread...” “... I’m taking this piece of bread from this dead body... ... and I’m taking this one pair of boots and I can sell it. With this I can buy myself a place to live. I can buy myself a place to sleep. With this bread I bought myself a bit of access [to wash]. Your bowl was your life, without your bowl you didn’t eat.” (Kitty - Return to Auschwitz, YTV 1979)
The dead body had a piece of bread...” “... I’m taking this piece of bread from this dead body... ... and I’m taking this one pair of boots and I can sell it. With this I can buy myself a place to live. I can buy myself a place to sleep. With this bread I bought myself a bit of access [to wash]. Your bowl was your life, without your bowl you didn’t eat.” (Kitty - Return to Auschwitz, YTV 1979)
"Sometimes I was too sick to eat my soup, but I treasured it so much that I hid that little soup behind my bunk. One day when there was an inspection, the guards found the soup I was hiding. We weren't supposed to have any soup in the barracks. They took me outside and beat me. I passed out after three blows. A friend gave me coffee. He saved my life because I felt so sick I couldn't even move. With the coffee I was able to stand up when the camp officials came into the barracks for the next inspection. Anybody who couldn't move from his bed was taken away." - Ben, a survivor of Auschwitz.