Figure 1.--The Norwegians as a result of the German invasion faced a severe food shortage for over 5 years. Norway before the war imported nearly 60 percent of its food, the most serious food defecit in the NAZI Großraum. Only with the NAZI surrender and the arrival of the Allies did the food needed by the Norwegians arrive. This little Norwegian boy after liberation seems quite pleased with his loaf of bread.

The Germans introduced many new regulations restricting freedom of movement. Violations were harshly punished. People were forbidden to sing Norwegian songs or to say anything critical about the Germans. People had to turn in their radios and those found hiding radios were arrested. Newspapers were banned to prevent Norwegians from learning about what the Germans were doing or how the War was developing, especially as the War began growing against Germany. Rumors spread about what happened to those arrested by the Germans. Norway lost access to its trading partners. Instead Norway had to trade with Germany. The Norwegian economy continued to operate, but the Germans began confiscating a substantial portion of the output. Some estimates suggest over 50 percent. [Klemann and Kudryashov, p. 403.] Another problem was the very substantial German occupation force. Percapita, Norway had the largest German occupation force in Europe. And the Germans had to be fed. This further reduced the food available for Norwegians. Shortages quickly devloped. Food and consumer goods were rationed. Food was a special problem and became an inceeasing problem as the War went on. Ration cards were needed to buy foods and clothes. Eggs, cream, meat, butter and sugar were in short supply. Long lines appeared where rations were distribued. Imported goods disappeared from shops. Fruit, tea, and coffee became almost impossible to obtain. People did what they could to produce their own food. They fished, hunted or farmed what land they had. In the country and amall towns people could raise pigs. Rabbits and chickens were less demanding but you needed feed to raise animals. City parks were divided up into allotments where people could their own vegetables such as potatoes and cabbages. Gray and black market appeared. As in Germany ersatz products appeared, specially for coffee, tea, and tobacco. The Germans did not allow people to frrely move about. One concern of the Germans was people escaping by crossing the border into Sweden. Unlike many other countries, the Germans were unable to seal off norway. The Germans evacuated some Norwegian for various reasons. Some Norwegians who were teenagers at the time recall being moved by trucks into the couuntryside where local families had to take them in. Others remember ther school buildings being taken over by the German military. They attended school in churches. Many teenagers had towork for the Germans, assigned to picking fruit and vegetables or peeling potatoes.

Regulations

The Germans introduced many new regulations restricting freedom of movement. Violations were harshly punished. People were forbidden to sing Norwegian songs or to say anything critical about the Germans. People had to turn in their radios and those found hiding radios were arrested. Newspapers were banned to prevent Norwegians from learning about what the Germans were doing or how the War was developing, especially as the War began growing against Germany. Rumors spread about what happened to those arrested by the Germans.

Economy

Norway lost access to its trading partners. Like other countries in the NAZI Großraum, Norway had established trading patterns that rather than strnthening Germany put additional strains on Germany. Norway imported most of it fuel, primarily coal. Without ir, Norwegin industry could not opertte effeciently. It also imported its oil, without which the fishing fleet coud not operate. Instead Norway had to trade with Germany. Germany could not replace either in the quantities needed as oil was the German's principal strategic weakness. Germany was a major producer of coal, but did not fully supply the domestic demand and export demand increased from Allies abd other occupied coutries. The Norwegian economy continued to operate, albeit at a reduced level. The Germans began confiscating a substantial portion of the output. Some estimates suggest over 50 percent. [Klemann and Kudryashov, p. 403.]

Food

Food with the German invasion was a special problem for Norway during World war II. No country in the German Großraum was more dependent on food imports than Norway. The country is located at a northerly lattitude and much of the land is too far morth for agricukture, And the rugged terraine means that even in the south there is only limited agricultural land. An estimated 57 of the food had to be imported. [Kay, p. 123.] The German occupation meant that almost all of those imports ceased. Norway's agricultural sector was also highly dependent on imports of fodder for livestock and fertilizer for crops. This reduced the productivity of Norwegian farms. Another part of the food problem was the very substantial German occupation force. Percapita, Norway had the largest German occupation force in Europe. Hitler fearing an Allied invasion garrisoned some 0.5 million soldiers there. Norway had a population of some 3 million people meaning one German soldier for every six Norwegians. And the Germans had to be fed by the Norwegians. Feeding so many Germans was a heavy burden for the Norwegians. It further reduced the food available for Norwegians. Shortages quickly devloped. Food and consumer goods were rationed. Food was a special problem and became an inceeasing problem as the War went on. Ration cards were needed to buy foods and clothes. Eggs, cream, meat, butter and sugar were in short supply. Long lines of people appeared where rations were distribued. Imported goods disappeared from shops. Fruit, tea, and coffee became almost impossible to obtain. People did what they could to produce their own food. They fished, hunted or farmed what land they had. In the country and amall towns people could raise pigs. Rabbits and chickens were less demanding but you needed feed to raise animals. City parks were divided up into allotments where people could their own vegetables such as potatoes and cabbages. . Gray and black market appeared. As in Germany ersatz products appeared, specially for coffee, tea, and tobacco. Unlike some countries like Poland and the Soviet Union where Herbert Backe's Hunger Plan was designed to kill, the Germans did not want to kill Norwegians and other food defecit countries like Belgium and the Netherlands with what Himmler called 'genetically valuable material'. The NAZIs were not willing to provide food from Germany, but believed that victory in the Soviet Union would provide vast quantities of food from the East that could have been shared throughout the NAZI Großraum. [Voglis, p. 18.] The plan was to starve the population of the East to feed Germany. As it turned out, the food obtained in the east barely was sufficent to feed the German armies committed there. As a result, as the War dragged on the food available througout the NAZI Großraum continued to decline. A rare positive feature of the German food policies was the advance of food freezing technology. As part of that effort, the Germans operated a food freezing ship in Norwegian waters. [Milward, p. 243.]

Movement

The Germans did not allow people to frrely move about. One concern of the Germans was people escaping by crossing the border into Sweden. Unlike manu other countries, the Germans were unable to seal off norway. The Germans evacuated some Norwegian for various reasons.

Forced Labor

Some Norwegians who were teenagers at the time recall being moved by trucks into the couuntryside where local families had to take them in. Others remember ther school buildings being taken over by the German military. They attended school in churches. Many teenagers had towork for the Germans, assigned to picking fruit and vegetables or peeling potatoes.

Sources

Klemann, Hein A.M. and Sergei Kudryashov (2011). Occupied Economies: An Economic History of Nazi-Occupied Europe, 1939-1945 (Berg: 2011).

Kay, Alex J. Exploitation , Resettlement, Mas Murder: Political an Economic Planning for German Economic Policy in the Soviet Union, 194-1941 (Berghahn Books: Oxford, 2006).

Milward, Alan S. The Fascist Economyin Norway (Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1972).

Voglis, Polymeris. "Surviving hinger: Life in the cities and countryside during the occupation," in Robert Gildea, Oliver Wieviorka and Anetta Warring eds. Surviving Hitler and Mussolini: Daily Life in Occupied Europe (Berg: Oxford, 2006), pp. 16-41.

Created: 10:42 PM 8/25/2016 Last updated: 10:42 PM 8/25/2016