An Annotated Bibliography: Holocaust Rations

Michael Tomlin
Ms. Schmidt
Honors English 9
April 4, 2016

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, a Division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
2006. Print.
This book follows Elie Wiesels experiences in the holocaust. Wiesel is deported into a
world where death is very common and food is very rare. Elie is separated from his
mother and sister. He and his father stay together and try to survive any way possible.
Through the hardships Elie begins to question his faith. He wonders how God could let
this happen to his people. At one point in the book Elie only thinks about food. Hes
partaking in heavy work without the proper calorie intake. Exhaustion and hunger
couldve gotten the best of him if he and his father didnt keep each other in the fight. He
and his father struggle through the intense cold and lack of food until Elies father dies.
Elie is saved by liberation.
"Meals and Food in the Concentration Camp." The Holocaust Explained. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
This article details how to prisoners of the concentration camp were fed. Prisoners were
given what was supposed to be coffee or tea after morning roll call. Sometimes they were
given a watery soup. This could have a potato or turnip peal. Their dinner consisted of a
black piece of bread with either a small piece of sausage, marmalade, or cheese. This was
supposed to last them till morning. Prisoners tried to hide it while they were sleeping.
Hunger was a major issue with the small rations meant to just to keep prisoners alive.
There was not enough nutrition to carry out the work and many died from this
malnutrition. The combination of starvation and illnesses brought on by this malnutrition
killed many.
"Nutrition." Auschwitz Alphabet. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.

This article looks at the nutrition of the prisoners. Prisoners were given a daily ration of
350 grams of bread. Theyd receive half a liter of coffee for breakfast and a liter of turnip
and potato soup. Four times a week they were to receive 20 grams of meat but they never
reached the bowls. Prisoners doing the lighter work received 1,300 calories while the
prisoners doing heavier work received 1700 calories. The kapo would give thicker soup
to certain prisoners. The other foods were used to survive. The bread became the
currency of the prisoners. Prisoners who condemned to subsist on the official ration
lost weight. This diminished their survival odds
"Auschwitz Concentration Camp." Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team. Web. 31
Mar. 2016.
This article looks at the broader view of the system known as the Holocaust. There is a
section about the food. Prisoners received three meals a day. The morning they were
given half a liter of coffee or an herbal brew called tea. These were unsweetened. The
midday meal was 350-400 calories. It is of a liter of soup. Meat was in the soup four
times a week. The supper was 300 grams of bread with 25 grams of sausage or a spoonful
of jam or cheese. Prisoners began to develop symptoms of exhaustion. They would try to
eat out of the refuse bins outside the kitchen.