The size of our army, the increase in the number of workers in heavy industry as well as those working overtime and nights, the 2.5 million workers from abroad active mostly in German armaments production, the many millions of prisoners who work for us, but who also have to be fed, assistance for occupied regions supporting our military economy, help for our ally Finland in its heroic struggle, the abnormal weather conditions of the last two years that upset our plans and produced only average harvests and the chronic shortage of agricultural labor were together too much for us to maintain the old ration levels. We of course know that the time is not exactly a good one for a reduction in rations. Potatoes are in short supply. The long-lasting frost has made it impossible to get them to market. They will arrive in larger quantities when spring finally arrives, but the long winter still has upset some of our plans that looked good on paper.
Vegetables are in short supply, particularly in big cities.
In short, we would have preferred to postpone this tough measure for a few months. It was not possible. We do not determine our food policies during the war on their popularity, rather according to what is reasonable under the conditions, even if it sometimes requires unpleasant decisions. They may hurt, but we will maintain them until the war ends victoriously. Most importantly, we cannot foresee the size of the coming harvest, and must guarantee sufficient reserves.