Original scientific paper
The nourishment of the population in the Great County of Dubrava between June 1941 and December 1942
Franko Mirošević
; Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
The Great County of Dubrava was one of the twenty-two counties in the Independent State of Croatia. It spread in the south-eastern part of the country, and encompassed the following districts: Dubrovnik, Trebinje, Bileća, Gacko, Stolac, Čapljina and Ravno. The Great County of Dubrava was a multi-national county, which included the Croats, the Serbs and the Muslims. The population of the Great County of Dubrava started to feel food shortage soon after its establishment; the shortage continuously increased. Due to food shortage, rationed distribution of most of the basic products (wheat, corn, flour, oil, fat, sugar, meat, potatoes, beans, etc.) was introduced, whereby the price of every individual product was maximised. Municipal approvisation committees carried out the distribution. In addition to having been sold by approvisation, food was also sold over the counter, at much higher prices. Here the smugglers played the leading role. Since the area of the Great County of Dubrava was not a grain region, bread grains and most other agricultural products had to be acquired from the northern parts of the country. Due to armed conflicts led in the area of the Great County of Dubrava, the food was arriving late, whilst to some areas where armed conflicts were led, the food was arriving with a two-, even four-month delay. Insurgents were demolishing railways and bridges, putting up roadblocks, etc. Reporters from particular districts, gendarmerie stations and gendarmerie headquarters presented the state regarding nourishment as chaotic, desperate, critical, and miserable. In the reports, it was emphasised that people were so utterly exhausted and sick that they resembled saints rather than mortals. People were dying of famine and of infectious diseases, such as typhus. The prices of food in the over-the-counter sale were astronomically high in comparison with the low wages employees were receiving. Life was difficult both in rural and in urban environments. In the country, people were dying not only of famine, but also as a result of persecution and robberies committed by participants in armed conflicts. In addition, they could not cultivate their own fields; consequently, the needed food could not have been produced. All armies were involved in stealing cattle. Hence, people left the country and moved to fortified towns, where famine awaited them again. People there lived of employee’s wages, which however did not correspond with the increase in the prices of food. Refugees, whose position was the worst, represented a major burden to the towns regarding nourishment. The leadership of the Independent State of Croatia did not succeed in ensuring sufficient nourishment for the population in the first two years of war; nourishment-related problems continued in 1943 and 1944 as well, after the Partisan Army had in October 1942 invaded the area of the Great County of Dubrava.
Keywords
Great County of Dubrava; districts; Trebinje; Dubrovnik; Gacko; Stolac; Bileća; Čapljina; Ravno; nourishment of population; approvisation; prices
Hrčak ID:
112422
URI
Publication date:
17.12.2013.
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