Cold War France: World War II Economic Recovery--Child Care Programs

Figure 1.--Here we see a group of French children being flown to Sweden for a holiday in 1948. The caption read, "Femton av barnen tillsammans med sina följeslagarinnor: m:lles Jeorgette Balat och Thérèse Lepeltier. Trettio franska barn från Paris kom i går till Bromma. De har utvalts bland barnrika familjer och kommer att gästa Sverige under cirka två månaders tid, inbjudna av Svensk-franska stiftelsen och landskamrer J. Löwgren. Från fransk sida ombesörjdes transporten av det franska luftfartministeriet, som ställt de två militära maskinerna samt personal till förfogande. Barnen åtföljdes av tyra franska municipalassistenter under leedning av m:lle Bernadotte de Sacy. På lördag fortsätter kontingentn till Malung i Dalarna där de kommer att inkvarteras i en skollovskoloni. " This translates as something like, "Fifteen of the children together with their följeslagarinnor: Miss Jeorgette Balat and Thérèse Lepeltier. Thirty French children from Paris came yesterday to Bromma. They have been selected among large families and will be visiting Sweden for about two months, invited by the Swedish-French foundation and Landskamrer J. Labbe. The French Aviation Ministry, provided the transport. They made two military planes and staff available. The children were accompanied by Tyra French municipalassistenter during the leeding of Miss Bernadotte de Sacy. On Saturday, contingents continue to Malung in Dalarna, where they will be housed in a skollovskoloni." The photograph was dated July 31, 1948.

Getting the economy fuctioning again was no easy matter. As a result there was no instant recovery after the War. And this includd the agricultural sector. And the socialist actions taken by the PG hardly incouraged a revival of free market activity. Foo was a spcial problem. nd of course the children and elderly were the two populations most at risk. The Government saw to it that no one starved. There were, however, food shortages and proper nutrition was a problem. The PG ininiatd some domestic food programs. The United States as in World War I provided food assistance. We note groups of at risk children being invuted to countries where the food situation was better. We see small groups being hosted in both Britain and Sweden. We see a group being given a holiday in Sweden (figure 1). We notice a group in Britain being hosted by the International Help for Children Foundation in 1949.

Created: 5:37 AM 3/20/2018
Last updated: 5:37 AM 3/20/2018