Hunger in KL Stutthof

A history of the concentration camps is related with huge hunger. It was a hunger that was constantly in the psyche and managed the life of the prisoners. Food rations were calculated to let the prisoner survive in the camp for a maximum three months.
The food was monotonous and defective. Based on the memories of the prisoners and reports of the Soviet Commission, it is known that the food was prepared from the worst quality of products, e.g. bread was on the basis of fl our mixed with sawdust, what totally changed the structure, the loaf was clayey, often moldy, and that was the main cause of bloody diarrhea, cheese or marmalade were contaminated or spoiled, the same situation was with the other products. Prisoners tried to fi ght for each additional portion of food. Prisoners stole food, and that was severely punished – in many cases food was taken away for few days, what accelerated their encounter with death.
As a result of prolonged hunger, the body has undergone irreversible changes.The first stage of the disease is a state of nutritional deficiency, which is mainly characterized by losing weight, because the body uses its own fat stores (so called compensation). The second stage is hunger. The body exhausts its own nutritional and energy reserves, and after using them consumes protein bodies, causing tissue damage.
In my article, I would like to explain how hunger affected the body. What happened to organism? What happened to the psyche? Which group of prisoners was the most vulnerable to the destruction of the body? The analysis is based on the source material kept in the Archives of Museum Stutthof in Sztutowo and specialist literature.

A history of the concentration camps is related with huge hunger. It was a hunger that was constantly in the psyche and managed the life of the prisoners. Food rations were calculated to let the prisoner survive in the camp for a maximum three months.
The food was monotonous and defective. Based on the memories of the prisoners and reports of the Soviet Commission, it is known that the food was prepared from the worst quality of products, e.g. bread was on the basis of fl our mixed with sawdust, what totally changed the structure, the loaf was clayey, often moldy, and that was the main cause of bloody diarrhea, cheese or marmalade were contaminated or spoiled, the same situation was with the other products. Prisoners tried to fi ght for each additional portion of food. Prisoners stole food, and that was severely punished – in many cases food was taken away for few days, what accelerated their encounter with death.
As a result of prolonged hunger, the body has undergone irreversible changes.The first stage of the disease is a state of nutritional deficiency, which is mainly characterized by losing weight, because the body uses its own fat stores (so called compensation). The second stage is hunger. The body exhausts its own nutritional and energy reserves, and after using them consumes protein bodies, causing tissue damage.
In my article, I would like to explain how hunger affected the body. What happened to organism? What happened to the psyche? Which group of prisoners was the most vulnerable to the destruction of the body? The analysis is based on the source material kept in the Archives of Museum Stutthof in Sztutowo and specialist literature.