In a devastated country with bombed-out cities, millions of refugees were given a place of residence by the communities. The Western Allied Powers issued far-reaching decrees, which gave the mayors the opportunity to confiscate quarters. This led to tensions with the locals. Some of the refugees lived for more than a year in emergency quarters without any running water or heating.
Almost everywhere people resisted further immigration and pointed out the bad food situation and hygienic conditions. In common parlance Luneburg was spoken of as the "city of 1,000 gables and 1,000 buckets" as in many places there was still no connection to the sewage system. Tuberculosis, typhus and scabies were common diseases.
Due to the enormous growth in population, the destroyed infrastructure and war-related deficiencies in arable farming, the food requirements could not be met. A normal consumer was allocated 1,550 calories – about six slices of bread per day – on food ration cards. Donations from abroad helped to alleviate the distress, foraging trips and the black market became part of everyday life.
Illustration:
Foraging trips
Thousands of starving Hamburg townspeople came to the flat countryside to exchange food.
Archive of the national newspaper, photo: Josef Makovec