Black Market Operations?

[D.Verfasser]

Can anyone tell me about how black markets in Berlin worked? Since these were illegal, they wouldn't have been in a storefront or out in a square. Where were they held? How did buyers access them?

I know that some rural farmers would come into Berlin on trains carrying suitcases full of meat. This meat would have fetched high prices due to government rationing which diverted so many food products into the army.

I also know that these farmers served middle men who would in turn sell to local customers. What I'm not clear was how the middle men operated.

Any information would be useful.

[trikse]

What I know from my grandparents is that they didn't know anybody coming with meat and other goods into the city. I have heard story when my grandmother had a special coat with hidden pockets where she would hide pieces of fabric, jewelry and she would take a train and then look for big farms or try to find farmers who would take things she brought and give her some meat or butter. Then she would try to bring it back.
She said that sometimes people would look strange at her, but they never would mention that her looks are strange.
This was not in Germany but in Latvia.
I write this because at the end of the war they were in Germany and she would do the same thing there. They weren't in Berlin, because they wanted to be as far as possible from Russians.

[David Thompson]

Year by year exchange rates and wartime black market rates in Nazi-occupied countries.
viewtopic.php?p=565553#565553
Economic War Crimes: Plundering France
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=139115

See also:
viewtopic.php?p=566689#p566689

[D.Verfasser]

Thank you for these links. The information was useful but I'm looking for something more down to earth.

I'm specifically looking for prices within Berlin as opposed to occupied areas. I'm also looking for information regarding the day to day operations of these markets.

I have found some information on the internet.

I know that black markets in Berlin were not limited to retail marketing. There were black market restaurants where anyone with money could buy a meal.

Towards the end of the war, I also know that severe shortages resulted in huge price increases in these black markets. At the start of the war, a loaf of bread at a local bakery cost the equivalent of 8 cents. Shortages drove the black market price of bread up 2,500% to the equivalent of $200.

Prices for milk spiked at 940%.
Butter went up 1,1100%.
Bacon: + 2,600%
Potatoes: + 1,200% for potatoes,
Beef: +1,200% for beef

After the fall of Berlin, black market operators were offering GIs $25.00 for a carton of cigarettes

It should be noted that black market prices were based upon the law of supply and demand. Prices would have been much lower at a local grocery. Unlike local groceries, the black market didn't require ration stamps. Quality would have also been better. A $200 loaf of bread would have been made with flour instead of the Kriegsbrot (war bread) which was stretched with potato meal and even saw dust.

[Annelie]

After the fall of Berlin, black market operators were offering GIs $25.00 for a carton of cigarettes

I have read that with the fall of Berlin there was found stores of food etc cigarettes and alcohol found in military depots?
People being people am sure that there were enterprising individuals that found a way to
line their pockets with money in regards to food or other essentials that were sought after?

Interesting subject though that I wouldn't mind learning more about.

I know in my family in Berlin there was like everyone else a shortage of food and it was only when
they went to family in the country were they able to supplement theire diets. My Mother tells of
the wonderful apples from the house in the country.

Brings to mind Hotel Aldon, they must have had pipeline to all this?

[D.Verfasser]

From what I have read, cigarettes, alcohol, real coffee, butter, chocolate, and cream were among the many luxury goods that were simply not readily available to the public.

Real coffee was replaced by kaffee ersatz, a blend of roasted oats, barley, and chicory mixed with chemical additives from coal tar. The name "kaffee ersatz" even appeared on civilian ration stamps.

Butter was largely replaced with margarine.

Sandwich spreads were made with chopped herbs mixed with red wine vinegar and salt.

Bread makers stretched their flour with potato meal, barley, beans, peas, and buckwheat meal. Some bakers may even have added ground sawdust.

Grease saved by frugal housewives helped make "ersatz meat." Rice boiled into mush was seasoned, formed into patties, and fried in grease. I understand that mutton fat was quite popular.

The wartime shortages created a thriving black market economy. As with anywhere else, people in positions of authority as well as people with money did not suffer from shortages nearly as much as the common people. Despite the use of ration stamps, the pre-war thought of "What will I eat today?" was largely replaced with the question, "What will I be able to find today?"

With average pay ranging between the equivalent of $17.50 and $26.50 per week, the combination of food shortages and rising prices made it difficult for many civilians living in metropolitan areas to purchase food. The allied bombing of cities did not facilitate the production and distribution of civilian rations.

As you have noted, civilians in rural areas fared much better than civilians living in cities. Some farmers even profited through the sale of meat, produce, and dairy products to black market operators.

[D.Verfasser]

Regarding tobacco, here are some interesting trivia facts:

In 1941, taxes on tobacco accounted for 1/12th of all German tax revenue.

In 1942, the Federation of German Women started a campaign against tobacco and alcohol abuse. Restaurants were forbidden to sell cigarettes to women.

1945: As inflation hits the Reichmark, a bartering system evolved based on cigarettes. Each cigarette was valued at 50 cents. In metropolitan areas, a single egg was worth five cigarettes. A piano could be traded for a carton of ciagreetes.

In postwar Berlin, black market operations operated blatantly in public. One of the biggest public markets was located in the British section of Berlin in the Tiergarten District. Allied soldiers could buy cigarettes at the PX for 50 cents and sell them for $100.

[David Thompson]

D.Verfasser -- You wrote:

Thank you for these links. The information was useful but I'm looking for something more down to earth.

I'm specifically looking for prices within Berlin as opposed to occupied areas. I'm also looking for information regarding the day to day operations of these markets.

Apparently US NARA's Record Group 226 (Records of the Research and Analysis Branch of the Office for Strategic Services [OSS]) has some information, but I've only seen a 8-page finder's guide to it, at http://www.archives.gov/research/holoca ... 26-3c.html

Here's a sample of the finder's guide entries, taken from the first page:

70203 List of Berlin, Germany black market prices as they stood at the end of March 1944. 1 p. Apr. 1944.

85568 Notes on the food rationing system in Germany and a list of basic foods with legal and black market prices and their availability during March 1944. 3 pp. July 1944

93664 Conditions in Germany, August 2, 1944. Included is information on a variety of subjects including black market prices, lack of clothing, Gestapo and police activities. 1 p. Sept. 1944; see also 94636 Notes on German rations, tobacco shortage, and black market prices. 1 p. September. 1944

90387 Miscellaneous information from Germany regarding moral, prices, black market, morals, air raid results. 2 pp. March 1943

104964 Berlin, Germany, according to a Swedish diplomat is a virtual graveyard, with little city transportation, most of the electric power out of commission, food shortage; people want peace; prices are controlled, but there is a black market. 3 pp. November 1944

[D.Verfasser]

Excellent! Thank you!

It's really amazing at how much we've come to rely on our transportation and distribution networks for food and retail merchandise. As I understand it, rural areas in Germany were fairly well off. Frugal housewives canned or pickled fresh produce. Meat was smoked and cured. Root cellars were filled with potatoes, carrots, onions, and turnips. I suspect there was a bartering system between farmers - dairy farmers trading cow's milk or goat's milk, butter, and cheese for grain and vegetables.

The contrast between the quality of life for German civilians in rural and metropolitan areas was startling.

Not only did Allied bombing and later artillery bombardments play havoc with civilian life in Berlin but the shortage of coal for heating and wood for kitchen stoves led to the destruction of Tiergarten Park, a vast 640 acre park in the Tiergarten District of West Berlin. The park was literally stripped for firewood.

Looting also became such a problem that the Order Police began shooting civilians who were scavenging bombed out buildings for food or valuables that they could trade for food.

I can only imagine what conditions were like in Berlin during 1945. As the Reich collapsed and the Allied forces closed in, the order police were shooting looters. The Gestapo were shooting suspected deserters as well as defeatists. At some point, social services broke down completely. There would have been no gas, electricity, or even running water. There would have been no waste removal or postal deliveries. The lack of a transportation system meant that food in rural ares could not be transported or distributed. Medical care would have been non-existent. The few doctors who stuck by their hospitals or clinics would have had no medical supplies.

[LiKp]

I've also been researching a similar topic and have found that after the war the black market in Berlin was more Berliners trading items of value for US dollars or cigarette which them could be used to purchase food from the Russians or American shops if they had the connections. Cameras, watches, jewellery, etc could be traded and bring good money if you had the language to haggle. The photos I have are all out in the open and it seems that Potsdam Platz was a popular place to gather for this, but there were also other places around Berlin including out the front of the Reichstag. But these were all after the end of the war when the black market was poor, during and before WWII the Berlin black market had a different nature.

A biography which may be of use to you, if not try to gain an interview with the author; Karin Finell's Good-bye to the Mermaids, is in English and details her survival in Berlin during WWII and after until the beginning of 1952. They had belonging and so had to use the black market to survive. The copy I have was published by University of Missouri Press and it says she lives in the US.
Also Hotel Adlon has published a book with its own history detailed. It wasn't what I needed so I haven't read it but anything about its dealings on the black market could be in there. I was in Berlin doing research last year and they were very helpful with information about their history so an email might be productive if you can tell them (broadly) what the information is for.
My last point of reference is a fantastic book on Berlin by Hans Christian Adam Berlin Portrait of a City, published by Taschen. Its a huge heavy book and you have to read the pictures often but its full of first hand references and photos with brief explanations though only 3 or 4 pages refer to the black market (it covers 1861 til 2007).

I know this isn't the information you want but I hope these lead to it.

[D.Verfasser]

I know this isn't the information you want but I hope these lead to it.

Thank you! There is a fair amount of information on post-war operations, but I am specifically interested in wartime operations. I am also specifically interested in German black markets as opposed to the markets in occupied areas. This appears to be a really narrow focus. I haven't found any books relating to this exact topic but have started finding references to them in various autobiographies of civilians who lived through the war.

[LiKp]

The only book I've heard of which might help you with this is called Battleground Berlin, and is a war diary of WWII from someone who was working for the German resistance and so worked in the Berlin black market. I haven't read the book but you can find it on Amazon and I've heard that it is full of good information.

[D.Verfasser]

The only book I've heard of which might help you with this is called Battleground Berlin, and is a war diary of WWII from someone who was working for the German resistance and so worked in the Berlin black market. I haven't read the book but you can find it on Amazon and I've heard that it is full of good information.

Since I live in a rural area, 2 hours from the nearest city, Amazon.com has become my favorite source of books. I will look into this. Thank you!