Cambridge University Press
0521829321 - Famine and Death in Occupied Greece, 1941–1944 - by Violetta Hionidou
Frontmatter/Prelims

Famine and Death in Occupied Greece, 1941–1944

A pioneering study of the impact of the famine that occurred in Greece during its occupation by German, Italian and Bulgarian forces in 1941 and 1942. Violetta Hionidou examines the courses and politics of this food crisis, focusing on the demography of the famine and the effectiveness of the relief operations. Her interdisciplinary approach combines demographic, historical and anthropological methodologies to offer a comprehensive account of the famine. This book is the first to explore the International Red Cross Committee archives relating to this famine which offer new insights into the politics and practice of the relief operations. Dr Hionidou argues that food was used as a propaganda instrument by almost all of those involved, including the British and Greek governments as well as the occupying forces. This important study makes a major contribution to current debates about mortality and its causes during famines.

VIOLETTA HIONIDOU is Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. She has taught at Southampton, Crete and the Ionian Universities. She has published widely on the demographic and social history of modern Greece.

Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time 42

Series Editors

RICHARD SMITH
Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure

JAN DE VRIES
University of California at Berkeley

PAUL JOHNSON
London School of Economics and Political Science

KEITH WRIGHTSON
Yale University

Recent work in social, economic and demographic history has revealed much that was previously obscure about societal stability and change in the past. It has also suggested that crossing the conventional boundaries between these branches of history can be very rewarding.

This series exemplifies the value of interdisciplinary work of this kind, and includes books on topics such as family, kinship and neighbourhood; welfare provision and social control; work and leisure; migration; urban growth; and legal structures and procedures, as well as more familiar matters. It demonstrates that, for example, anthropology and economics have become as close intellectual neighbours to history as have political philosophy or biography.

For a full list of titles in the series, please see end of book.

Famine and Death in Occupied Greece, 1941–1944

Violetta Hionidou
University of Newcastle upon Tyne

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Cambridge University Press
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Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press,
New York

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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521829328

This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2006

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN-13 978-0-521-82932-8 hardback

ISBN-10 0-521-82932-1 hardback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for
the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or
third-party internet websites referred to in this book,
and does not guarantee that any content on such
websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

To my cheeky monkey Ilia and my little pumpkin Yuri

List of illustrations		page viii
List of figures		ix
List of tables		xi
Acknowledgements		xiii
List of abbreviations		xvi
	Prologue	1
1	Contexts	8
2	The chronology and geography of the food crisis, 1941–1944	32
3	Central government and administration	49
4	Requisitioning of foodstuffs	57
5	Agricultural production	68
6	Economy and markets in occupied Greece	82
7	Welfare and relief	109
8	Population movement during the occupation	148
9	Short-term effects on mortality and fertility	158
10	Causes of famine mortality	190
11	Death and survival by occupation	220
	Epilogue	235
Bibliography		240
Index		257

Illustrations

1	Soldier, dead from starvation. Reproduced by kind permission of the ICRC	page 12
2	Malnourished child dressed in rags, 1941. Reproduced by kind permission of the Photographic Archive of Benaki Museum	15
3	Mass grave, winter 1941–1942. Reproduced by kind permission of the ICRC	28
4	Moving a dying person, winter 1941–1942. Reproduced by kind permission of the ICRC	29
5	Woman searching for food in the garbage. Reproduced by kind permission of the ICRC	35
6	Soup kitchen, 1940. Reproduced by kind permission of the Photographic Archive of Benaki Museum	112
7	Soup kitchen, 1943. Reproduced by kind permission of the Photographic Archive of Benaki Museum	123
8	Couple leaving the Red Cross premises to be hospitalised urgently. Reproduced by kind permission of the ICRC	194
9	Undernourished people, Hios hospital, Hios, 27 June 1942. Reproduced by kind permission of the ICRC	195
10	Children begging for food. Reproduced by kind permission of the ICRC	195
11	Famished woman, winter 1941–1942. Reproduced by kind permission of the ICRC	197
12	Mortuary, winter 1941–1942. Reproduced by kind permission of the ICRC	198
13	Corpses, winter 1941–1942. Reproduced by kind permission of the ICRC	198
14	People searching for food in the garbage. Reproduced by kind permission of the ICRC	218

Figures

1.1	Map of Greece	page 22
2.1	Deaths and births in urban communities, 1940–1944	36
6.1	Indices of cost of living, currency circulation and price of sovereign, Athens 1941–1944	93
9.1a	Monthly number of deaths on Syros, in the Hios towns and on Mykonos, 1939–1945	161
9.1b	Monthly number of deaths on Syros and in Thessalonike, Athens/Piraeus and 27 major towns, 1939–1945	162
9.2	Monthly percentage of male deaths on Syros, in the Hios towns and on Mykonos	167
9.3a	Ratio of male to female deaths by age group, Hios towns	168
9.3b	Ratio of male to female deaths by age group, Syros	168
9.3c	Ratio of male to female deaths by age group, Mykonos	169
9.4a	Age-specific ratio of annualised famine deaths (October 1941 to January 1943) to the average number of deaths in 1936–1939, Hios towns	171
9.4b	Age-specific ratio of annualised famine deaths (August 1941 to December 1942) to the average number of deaths in 1936–1939, Syros	171
9.4c	Age-specific ratio of annualised famine deaths (December 1941 to May 1942) to the average number of deaths in 1936–1939, Mykonos	172
9.5a	Monthly number of deaths and births in the two towns of Hios, 1939–1945	180
9.5b	Monthly number of deaths and births on Syros, 1939–1945	180
9.5c	Monthly number of deaths and births on Mykonos, 1939–1945	181
9.5d	Monthly number of deaths and births in Athens and Piraeus, 1940–1944	181
9.5e	Monthly number of deaths and births in Thessalonike, 1940–1944	182
9.5f	Monthly number of deaths and births in 27 major towns (excluding Athens/Piraeus and Thessalonike), 1940–1944	182
9.6a	Monthly number of deaths and two-month moving average of conceptions in two Towns of Hios, 1939–1945	183
9.6b	Monthly number of deaths and two-month moving average of conceptions on Syros, 1939–1945	184
9.6c	Monthly number of deaths and two-month moving average of conceptions on Mykonos, 1939–1945	184
10.1	A model of the interaction between famine and mortality increase	191
10.2	Key elements determining the course of a famine	213
10.3	A model of the interaction between food scarcity and epidemic outbreaks in historical and less developed populations	216