Hard bread, normalized margarine and powdered milk were the basis for not weak in Berlin WestThe field instead Digna DietIt was pure calorie accounting: between 1800 and 2000 kilocalories per dayNot one. There was no place for hunger, but not for satiety. The menu had dry legumes, potatoes, heavy sugar and banks when there was luck. Food was not a choice, it was survival.
Permanent logistics task: how the air bridge supplied two million Berliners
In winter, even calories were supposed to plan. Every flight This happened from the west, delivering the right thing to support two million Berliners who were trapped between the deficit and isolation. There was no other option: the train did not enter, the roads were cut out and blocked rivers.
In return, the air became a pantry. Since the end of June 1948, British and American aircraft They began to take off from nine different airfields for one purpose: Supply a cityField
The cast was not arbitrary. Each citizen had his own Ration mapand persons responsible for Air bridge They carefully calculated the energy value of each batch. Profit products packed in accordance with their nutritional utility and space, which they occupied in loading warehouses.
Pan, made in a city with imported flour, was the most common food. Milk, always in dust, was mainly reserved for children. The fats were in the form of small portions of Margarine, more durable than oil. Lentils, peas and beans completed packages.
Planning left no place for improvisation. American general William H. Tanner He adopted logistics control since July, when it was not yet clear whether the efforts would be stable. At first it was believed that 4,500 tons would be required. This figure grew over time, and in the fall 5000 were exceeded. Among food, the total weight was distributed quite constantly: Approximately 2000 tons They were food. The rest is mainly coalField
The cold did not give a truce, and the media were limited. It was only there Three air corridorsEach of 30 kilometers is wide. If the plane was detained or the shipment failed, the full balance can be stunned. Therefore, when it was possible to load a cargo plane in less than six minutes, the responsible scored it as a victory. It was a system that depended on the accuracy and morning of each operator.
The city resisted, but not without costs. He lighting In the western zone of Berlin, it was reduced to two night hours. And although Soviet They offered the residents of West Berlin the opportunity Go east In exchange for a new diet card, only 20,000 people did. Otherwise, the continuation of the receipt of cans of meat, flour and cocoa from the air was the only way out.
The air bridge not only brought food: it also supported morality. A Chocolate The parachute launched by some pilots was a gesture with hardly any nutritional value, but it mattered for many children.
Extreme norming: how Berlin resisted, despite all
With the arrival of spring, the operation was viable. On February 18, 1949, the British plane wrote a million tons transported in the fact that they carried in the mission. In the same month, daily diet A little adjusted upward: From 1600 to 1880 calories per person.
Although several times conversations per day from 1800 to 2000 calories, some sources indicate that during The difficult months of winter, real numbers were below this threshold. They even registered rations just 900 calories Day in some concrete regions of the city, according to the United Kingdom. So this light rise was still far from comfort, but this was enough to withstand a little more.
The block ended on May 12 of that year, but The flights continued until the end of SeptemberIf the fence was repeated. The menu did not change too much, but it was no longer just survived: he earned a battle to stand without giving up. Without tanks or soldiers on the street, but with bread, potatoes and margarine in the stomach.
