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**woodie** · 05-24-2013, 11:39 AM

get hold of a book entitled "A Social History of the Third Reich" by Richard Grunberger.

Her's some info, German Rationing during World War II.. http://histclo.com/mat/rat/cou/rat-gerw2.html

**byterock** · 05-24-2013, 12:33 PM

A neglected subject in English the one thing I have read is that the Germans started rationing some things even before the war.

Don't have the specifics handy but I think is was such imported 'hard-curacy' products like bananas oranges, coffee etc.

**juoneen** · 05-24-2013, 01:04 PM

This would be great to find out, but ,what I wonder, is how much crystal methadrine was issued to SS troops during the war. Its is claimed meth was issued to help them keep going in their fanatical attempt to conquer the world. (may have been the forerunner of present day crystal meth, but basicly in the same family.

**feldpost 58** · 05-24-2013, 03:19 PM

Hi,

Thanks for the link and the tip on the book, Woodie!
Many items were rationed even pre-war under slogans like "Guns, not butter!" etc.
In William Shirer's book "Berlin Diary 1934-1941" several mentions are made to German rationing, will check out Woodie's book, but I am unaware (at present) of any detailed analysis of the German rationing system.
Must admit though, it would be a dull and uninteresting subject for most people;

and would not be at the top of the bestsellers list!
Period publications are also a good source of information on the subject, but again - no TR era publication appears to have been issued solely on the subject of rationing and the regulation involved.
Thanks again for your replies gents,

Very best wishes,

John.

**W Petz** · 05-27-2013, 03:15 AM

If you did a search in the book forum you would have found several books written by LTC (Ret) Jim Pool who is a member here on WAF who goes by djpool. Here are the links to his books on the German Rationing system (two volumes). He is also in the process of writing another book on personal items. You can directly send him a PM or email through the forum on any questions you may have as he is very knowledgeable about the German rations system.

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...hlight=rations

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...hlight=rations

**djpool** · 05-27-2013, 08:23 AM

Originally posted by juoneen View Post

This would be great to find out, but ,what I wonder, is how much crystal methadrine was issued to SS troops during the war. Its is claimed meth was issued to help them keep going in their fanatical attempt to conquer the world. (may have been the forerunner of present day crystal meth, but basicly in the same family.

As part of my book on Personal items I did discuss Pervitan. I won't publish the complete text here but heres one paragraph from the draft book:<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w

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<text>So if the findings of the above study are correct, the German dosage of 6mg is well below what the study deemed to be a safe dosage of 10mg. From the available evidence it appears that the German use of Pervitan was not excessive after the France 1940 campaign when its use was supervised by Medical personnel. While I certainly don’t condone the use of drugs its apparent that Germanys policies were in line with the other major combatants that used stimulants during WWII. While Pervitan was administered to the German soldier, it has to be pointed out that caffeine was the overwhelming stimulant of choice by the German military. It was widely dispensed in the form of chocolates like Scho-ka-kola.

**djpool** · 05-27-2013, 08:30 AM

Originally posted by feldpost 58 View Post

Hi,

I believe I am in the correct forum here, but I require information on the above.
I have done web-searches etc, but with no really informative data forthcoming.
I have been collecting WW2 German "ration" cards (have 28 + at present) and would like to know if any books are available on this subject?
From buying items at German fleamarkets, I have gathered that clothing cards were issued in several formats; red for women and beige for men.
Also, pale grey for children under one year of age, and in pale green for children between 3 and 14.
These cards appear to have been issued annually throughout the war years, being described as "zweite" card, "dritte" card and so on.
I also have cards for two types of bread, meat, eggs, marmalade and sugar,

A typical German housewife must have had a handful of documents to go "to the shops"
Any information would be gratefully recieved.

Best wishes,

John.

John.

John,

I saw your post but didn't want to disappoint you. I do have a good analysis done by Allied intelligence after the war. I haven't had the time to dig it up. I've actually been collecting ration card photos etc in case I decide to write an article or maybe a small book on the subject. In any case the Personal items book will probably keep me occupied for a few more years. If I get a break I'll try to help you. Jim

**feldpost 58** · 05-28-2013, 05:30 PM

Hi.

Thank you gentlemen on your replies!
I am very greatful for all input into my lack of knowledge.
Actually, I am very surprised to have any response at all to such an obscurce question.
Many thanks to all contributers to this thread; mostly Wehrmacht related, although that was not my original query.
Civilian rationing is the subject I wish to explore, not military.
My original question still needs to be resolved - where (if any) are documents pertaining to the rationing of civilians during the TR period?
There must be a booklet, or book about this subject?
I have had replies (more than gratfully received) - thanks very much from "greats" on this forum, but none answer my basic question!
Perhaps I should find out for myself?
But where to start?

Best wishes,

John.

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