<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > 1945, Germany surrendered. When many people talk about the tragic situation in post-war Germany, they will say that in post-war Berlin, two cigarettes can be exchanged for the accompaniment of a German girl for one night. </h1>
In fact, this statement is a bit exaggerated. Two cigarettes can't be exchanged for a German girl for one night, but a piece of bread can do.
Because the stomach is not full, life is difficult to maintain, who has the strength to smoke?
The troll Hitler once said that if the German army lost in this war, the Third Reich would fall into a bottomless abyss.
At least in the winter after Germany's defeat, his predictions became a reality.
Admittedly, the United States and Britain represent justice, and are not as terrible as Hitler thought.
When the United States, Britain, and France occupied West Germany, they drew a red line: "When Germany pays compensation, it retains sufficient resources so that the German people can live free from foreign aid." ”
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > but the water is far from quenching the thirst, and the Germans are destined to experience a period of unbearable time. </h1>
The German economy was on the verge of collapse due to the devastation of the war.
Thus, at the end of 1946, the German people ushered in the coldest winter in modern history.
Hundreds of thousands of Germans have left the cold world because of hunger and cold, and Germany has little future and signs of destruction.
After the war, Germany's gross national product was less than one-fifth of what it was before the war, and germany was littered with ruins, rubble and ruins piled up in hundreds of millions of cubic meters.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > germans face only one primary problem for the rest of their lives, and that is survival. </h1>
Women must use their weak shoulders to pick up the burden of cleaning up the rubble and living, as millions of men died on the battlefield and the surviving Germans were held in prisoner-of-war camps.
Thousands of German women joined the army of "cleaning up the rubble" in order to survive.
Because as long as you go to clear the rubble, you can get paid, and you can get a higher food quota.
During that time, they worked every day, resting only for a quarter of an hour for breakfast, and a half-hour break on their lunch break.
Their hands were bloodied, and their hearts ached, but they could not retreat, so they would have to endure hunger.
At the same time, the influx of refugees made the situation of germans more difficult, and the living environment deteriorated greatly.
The streets of Berlin are full of refugees from Eastern Europe.
After the war, Poland, Hungary and other Eastern European countries scrambled to expel Germans from their territories, and millions of Germans were expelled.
Edelman, the hero of the Warsaw Jewish Uprising, told British journalists: "The Germans paid a price for their policies, especially for Hitler's support, one of which was their expulsion. ”
Due to the delay in the resumption of transportation, the food supply has been strained, and the authorities have had to implement food rations for the public.
Food rations in places like the Ruhr industrial zone start at less than 1,000 calories per person per day, and many refugees get only 800 calories a day, while the minimum amount necessary for normal people to survive is 2,000 calories.
Schmidt, who later became chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, recalled, "We lived on 896 calories a day."
The region of eastern Germany, known as the "bread basket" of Germany, was under Soviet occupation.
Due to their different ideologies, they naturally stopped exporting grain to western Germany occupied by the United States, Britain and France, which exacerbated the tension in the food supply in West Germany.
The deadliest is the shortage of coal, which is extremely short of coal for heating in Germany.
According to statistics, in January 1947, Industrial Production in Germany decreased by 80%. The supply of coal has all but stopped.
In this situation, many enterprises, factories, and schools have been forced to close their doors.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > faced with the harsh reality, the Cardinal of Cologne even declared that wherever there was coal, everyone could steal coal, and this act was no longer a sin. </h1>
The Hamburg writer Northsack writes: "There is simply not enough fuel for heating, and there are people with swollen hands and feet, missing arms and legs, exposed wounds, wandering aimlessly." ”
In contrast, German babies born this winter are the most unfortunate, with ninety-five percent malnourished babies and one in six not surviving for three months.
From the reports of the Western media at that time, we may wish to recall the tragic situation in Germany at that time:
"The maximum indoor temperature is also minus five degrees, and people don't have any coal! Electricity is only available for up to 2 hours a day, and people are starving to death. ”
"A food truck passed by their location, and a group of people rushed straight up and climbed into the car to grab food, sometimes begging the driver to give them some food."
A U.S. military reporter reported to the New York headquarters.
According to statistics, during the long winter of four months, the death toll in Germany was at least 100,000 (this did not include prisoners killed in prisoner-of-war camps), frostbite, puffiness, hypochondriasis, tuberculosis and countless people.
Germany was like a plague, and the trolleys carrying corpses would transport people who starved, died of illness, and froze to death every day outside the city.
In his report to Washington, U.S. official William Clayton said, "It is enough for Germans to drink soup three times a day, and millions of people are slowly starving to death." ”
In this case, it is perfectly normal for countless German women, in order to survive, to put aside their self-esteem and pride and do what they despise.
The Associated Press reported: "People who can't afford cigarettes follow foreign soldiers and foreigners to pick up cigarette butts they throw away, while some German girls commit themselves to Allied soldiers in exchange for chocolates and nylon socks or dry food kits from the U.S. military to supplement their families." ”
It can be seen that when people reach a desperate situation, the moral bottom line will decline.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > but two cigarettes became hard currency, and the idea that they could be exchanged for grain was simply unreliable. </h1>
Because rich people don't lack food at all, let alone cigarettes, who cares about your two or two boxes of cigarettes?
People who have no money can't fill their stomachs, struggle on the line of death, and their lives hang on the line; where there is food to change for cigarettes, who still has the strength and mood to smoke.
In fact, not only the defeated countries, but also Britain and France, life is not much better.
Churchill described the situation in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and other countries in May 1947: "What is Europe doing now?" It was a pile of rubble, a shelter for bones, a breeding ground for plague and hatred. ”
In this context, Washington was worried about the situation in Germany, fearing that Germany and even Western Europe would collapse completely and fall to Stalin.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > so the "Marshall Plan" was born. </h1>
The Marshall Plan was officially launched in July 1947 and lasted for four fiscal years.
During this period, Germany and other Western European countries received a total of $13 billion in U.S. aid in various forms, including finance, technology, and equipment, through their participation in the OECD.
The launch of the Marshall Plan brought Germany out of its predicament, German women regained their pride and self-esteem, and the days of hunger and cold were gone.