After the beginning of the Nazi occupation, the Lebensmittelkarte,
food ration cards, were introduced for the civilian population of Lviv. There
was a clear segregation: for Germans and Volksdeutsche ("ethnic Germans"
living outside the Third Reich), there were separate shops and restaurants; for
Ukrainians and Poles, there were "Aryan" shops and sharp restrictions
on food supplies; Jews were doomed to starvation. As of 1942, the daily caloric
content of the "card" products for the "Aryan" population
was 378-634 kCal for adults and 259-578 kCal for children. For Jews, these
norms were much lower. It is estimated that Ukrainians and Poles received 50%
of German rations, while Jews received only 10%. Communication with the countryside
was also broken: the police controlled the city's markets and confiscated foodstuffs
from villagers who came to Lviv to trade. In a slightly better situation were
the inhabitants of the suburbs, who had the opportunity to keep their own vegetable
gardens and livestock. In the spring of 1942, there were 9 weekly markets in
Lviv, where only fruits and vegetables were allowed to be sold, except for
potatoes, sauerkraut, tomatoes and dried fruits. Jews were allowed to use only
the market at Zamarstyniv. Officially, there was a maximum allowable price for
food, but in practice black market prices for the non-German population were exorbitantly
high.
In conditions of severe shortage of food and basic necessities
(clothing, footwear, firewood, hygiene products, etc.), barter and illegal
trade became the resource for survival (the so-called "pasek", from
the Polish word meaning "belt"). The Krakidaly commercial area (where
the Dobrobut market is located today) often is mentioned in memoirs as a place
of illegal transactions during the war. Soldiers of various contingents
(German, Hungarian, Italian, etc.) were also involved in the shadow economy as
the townspeople exchanged money, valuables and local "moonshine" for
army rations and smuggled goods.
At the same time, after the creation of the ghetto, opportunities
for contact with non-Jews and the access of the Jewish population to the black
market were very limited. Nazi propaganda accused the Jews of spreading illegal
trade and brutally persecuted them. Under threat of execution, they were barred
from visiting "Aryan" shops and grocery markets. Due to the travel
ban, Jews could not go to the countryside to buy food there. Officially, they
were allowed to use only special shops and bakeries subordinated to the Judenrat.
Historian Filip Friedman, a Holocaust survivor in Lviv, notes that Jews in the
ghetto received meager rations: 50-100 grams of bread a day, 100 grams of sugar
a month, and 200-400 grams of the worst flour (so-called Judenmehl)
every 3-4 months. The leading idea of most memories about life in the Lviv
ghetto is the constant feeling of terrible hunger and mortality caused by it.
The Judenrat tried to solve this problem with the help of charitable canteens,
but there was a catastrophic shortage of food. Weakened by hunger and hard
work, Jews lost their ability to work, which increased the risk of death during
the bloody "actions."
The hopeless situation of the Jews was often used by black marketeers.
The black market was a place where property looted or confiscated from Jews was
sold. Food prices for Jews were significantly inflated, even by the standards
of illegal trade. Non-Jews often bought clothes, shoes, and household goods,
which were in short supply during the occupation, for nothing in the ghetto. Janina
Masłowska recalls that in August 1942 they managed to exchange an expensive
tablecloth for a plate of potato soup, which became a dinner for five people.
Nelly Toll, a survivor of the Lviv ghetto, writes in her memoirs about Jewish
men and women who worked outside the ghetto and, risking terrible punishments,
tried to exchange expensive jewelry or huge sums of money for meat, butter, or
cheese. Thus, wealthier Jews, who had savings to be spent on bribes, payments
for hiding, buying food, medicine, etc., had a better chance of survival. At
the same time, material resources were quickly depleted by looting,
confiscation of property and high contributions. In addition, contacts with black
marketeers were very risky; for example, Barabaszowa, a doctor, was arrested by
the Gestapo for trying to buy a few kilograms of "illegal" potatoes
from a ghetto guard.
As the situation worsened, the help of non-Jewish acquaintances
became increasingly important. Despite food shortages, they often brought or
transferred food to the ghetto or acted as intermediaries in black market
operations, for a fee or free of charge. Thus, a pre-war neighbour of the
Allerhand family, Władysław Głowik, kept their family values and relics,
exchanging some items for money and food for Leszek and his mother if
necessary. The issue of keeping and feeding those Jews who could not leave
their hiding places on the "Aryan" side and were completely dependent
on their rescuers was especially acute. Transactions on the black market often
aroused suspicion: even an extra bag of potatoes bought to feed more people
could attract the attention of informers and blackmailers.
Thus, food shortages, poverty and hunger became additional
challenges and factors of social demoralization during the Nazi occupation. The
black market was partly a lifeline for wealthier Jews, while remaining an
instrument for the exploitation of their tragic situation.
