20121017 - news - Israel used 'calorie count' to limit Gaza food during blockade, critics claim (with comment)

The Nazis used a deliberate "calorie scheme" to systematically starve millions of people in concentration camps, ghettos, and occupied territories. This policy was a calculated component of their genocide and forced-labor programs, in stark contrast to the scientifically designed, high-calorie rations provided to German soldiers.

The Nazi "Hunger Plan"

The "Hunger Plan" was an orchestrated policy, primarily in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, to seize food supplies and redirect them to the German army and population, leading to an engineered famine. The plan's architects estimated that 20 to 30 million people in the "surplus population" of the Soviet Union would die as a result.

Calorie Rations

The caloric intake for victims was drastically low, intentionally designed to cause slow death by starvation and disease:

Ghettos: In the Warsaw Ghetto, the official food ration for Jews was set at just 181 calories per day. In other areas, rations could be as low as 420 calories per day.

Concentration/Labor Camps: Prisoners in labor camps were given between 600 and 1,125 calories a day, an amount insufficient for long-term survival, especially given the intense forced labor they endured. The goal was to extract the maximum amount of work before the prisoners succumbed to emaciation and death.

Soviet POWs: Rations for Soviet prisoners of war could be as low as 700 calories per day, leading to mass deaths within weeks.

Contrast with German Soldiers

In contrast, the average German soldier was entitled to a minimum of approximately 4,500 calories per day through a system of carefully planned rations, ensuring they had the necessary energy and nutrition to fight effectively.

The use of a deliberate calorie-deprivation scheme was a critical, systematic method of mass murder and a key element of Nazi ideology and wartime policy.