Stoppeln - the 'Art' of survival

When WW II came to a close and Germany had been carved up into five zones (surprise, surprise to everyone) the most important issue facing two of the occupiers ( the Russians and the Poles) was how to organise logistics to feed hungry hordes!

How Germany was carved up after WW II

The map on the right shows the five 'occupation' zones. The four western ones are representing what is now the Federal Republic of Germany. The other part on the map has long been accepted as a historical fact and will not change anytime soon.  In war, you gain or lose, BUT mostly everybody loses!

Back to the food problem, specifically as far as we were concerned. The Russians weren't then world champions in organisation and logistics! Thus, severe food shortages were to be endured. In the autumn of 1946 and 1947 the two women I had to live with decided they would join the squillions of others to go out an forage (stoppeln - scratching for remnants the farmers had not bothered to pick up) on the just-harvested fields for both grain (wheat and rye) and potatoes. Luckily there is a small time lag between the harvest of grain and then potatoes.

'Orderly' German train travel anno 1946

Well, off we went! The women dragged me along for jolly nice day-long outings to the countryside. Here was me thinking we were already in the country side!
First off, we had to 'march' the three kilometres to Koenigs Wusterhausen, loaded down with various equipment of dubious use, to catch a train to the backwaters or beyond. Train schedules were, in those years, definitely 'Un-German', i.e. very erratic if and when they happened.
I am not sure whether anybody bought tickets then - when a train arrived it was just a mad scramble to get on it and see where it took you.
Luckily for me, the women had thought of packing a 'cut lunch' -  rye bread slices lightly kissed by imitation margarine and Muckefuck! Muckefuck is a German expression for Ersatz Coffee or roasted grain coffee substitute. It is thought, by some scholars, to have originated from the French 'Mocca faux' - but as usual opinions are divided.

Women to the right - little boys left in the shade

Anyhow, the women would spend most of the day picking over harvested fields for a few bowls of grain or bags of potatoes. Meanwhile, I was parked at the edge of the field under some shady trees AND in charge of the provisions - no imminent hunger there!
Late afternoon, the poor women exhausted, we would make our way back to the rail siding to see if a train was coming along going in the right direction. If we were lucky we would scramble on one in a short time and arrive back home, after another long march from the train station in Koenigs Wusterhausen, in time for 'Abendbrot' (evening bread), which consistet of gluggy rye bread and margarine with some home grown vegetables on top, like tomato or cucumber. Then, off to bed for a well deserved long sleep.
Thus we obtained some supplies for the winter that were otherwise not available. The women managed to make quite wonderful dishes out of these pickings, or so I thought. At least it was food and kept the hunger pains away.
These 'hard' years had a profound effect on me in respect of food. Mum would never force me to eat anything at meal times. She would just say: "If you are not hungry, don't eat it. That's fine, we'll just keep it for the next meal time". I soon learned that it is far preferable to eat your meal when it is freshly cooked than being re-heated several times over! Because mum wouldn't, well couldn't, afford to waste any food. Thus, I would get the stuff for breakfast, lunch or dinner the next day, or the day after and so on.

22 Pfennig per 250 grams - you get what you pay for

In early autumn she often had me out collecting nettles (the stinging variety) to make nettle soup. Nettles taste similar to spinach and every kid knows that only Popeye really likes SPINACH!
The other thing mum specialised in in those days was 'Ersatz Coffee Soup' - the recipe is quite simple. Take some day (or two day) old left-over imitation coffee, tear some stale, half-mouldy, gluggy rye bread into it and sprinkle with a little bit of sugar. When required gently heat over a low flame till desired temperature is reached. Use a spoon to eat right out of the pot, or if you want to be fancy decant into a bowl or onto a soup plate - ENJOY.
The picture on the right shows the packing - NOTE the price: 22 Pfennig in useless East German money - what a bargain! What a crappy brew it made - honestly!
This dire predicament left mum, having gone through the hardships of food shortages after WW I and the Great Depression, with a lifelong fear of further shortages occurring. She would, from then on, always store either preserved fruit and vegetables (she became quite an expert in preserving produce) or canned food in her cupboard. Her saying was: "You never know when the Russians might be coming back!"
Mum kept food well past the 'Use by Date' - always. In the latter years, whenever I took people to visit mum, like a work colleague or my second wife, I would warn them before ascending to her flat NOT to touch the cakes she would offer for afternoon coffee - they were, invariably, slightly mouldy! But according to mum they were absolutely perfect, of course. Ingesting a little mould is nothing less than getting penecillin in it's basic form!
Well, my sister Gisela had a dickens of a time cleaning out mum's food storage once mum departed this earth. There were items of positively indeterminably age - some of those Gisela could have donated to the local museum!