On the street – around 1945

After the Second World War came a time of deprivation, when people struggled simply to survive. Many houses were damaged or destroyed. Food supply was catastrophic, with consequential malnutrition and starvation. Meat, vegetables and fat were luxury goods. Because the old currency was worthless, barter had its heyday. Many town-dwellers went on foraging trips to the country, where they could exchange their few possessions, such as paintings, carpets or jewellery for farmers' turnips, potatoes or milk.

A witness reports on her childhood during the post-war time:
"At first Mum often …went on foraging trips, in order to procure food. For my brother, my sisters and me this meant we …became so-called latch-key children. We could go home when we wanted, with the key to the flat on a string around the neck. We were left to our own devices until Mum came back from the foraging trip and, if things had gone well, brought something to eat. When this came about always depended on how quickly she could obtain something from a farmer."
(Koerner, Silvia: So erlebte ich als Kind die Nachkriegszeit in Berlin, in: Deutsches Historisches Museums Berlin/Haus der Geschichte Bonn LeMo Kollektives Gedächtnis, Januar 2000)

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