Evening star., 1939-07-16
Germany Exists on
Variety Of Substitutes
By Frederic J. HasEin.

NeutlVe genius ndQ prOQuCeQ IN The way
Of substitutes for what had been re-
garded as essentials, but which no longer
were obtainable. They were also amazed
at ths Spartan willingness Of the Ger
man people in putting up with these
substitutes. The national slogan had
become an imperative Accept Substi-
tutes"l
Today, after only two decades, history
in Germany has come full circle again
and Germany is subsisting to an aston
ishing degree on substitutes. In the bit
terly distressful days of the First Reich,
following the armistice, the whole sys-
tenn Of substitutes was known as ersatz,
and ersatz is the order of the day again
So tremendous has been the drain on
the German economic organization to
meet the immense cost of rearmament,
and of the sort of aggression which has
taken over Austria and Czecho- -Slovakia
and threatens much more, that the Ger
man people themselves are living
shadoWy sort of life, life of eternal sub
stltutes. To accept them willingly and
with at least an outward aspect Of glad
ness has become point of patriotism.
This is making the best of bad situa-
ton, because, as matter Of fact, Ger
many lacks the resources to obtain gen.
uine things and will suffer that lack so
long as she pours her strength into the
. materiel of war and all the facets of
NaA-lsm. Nazi-ism and normal, even
meager, comforts cannot exist side by side
in Germany today
In one sense this may be regarded as
a happy augury for peace in Europe.
When Germany started the World War
In 1914 she was not only we'll stocked
with the necessary munitions of war,
and with gold and credit, but her food
supplies were adequate. Her people had
their pork sausage, they had their but
ter, they had white bread and as varied
a diet as they desired. At that time peo-
pie OF relatively poor circumstances en-
joyed diet which even the rich can
scarcely command today. So if, today,
which some observers look upon as the
eve of another European conflict. Ger
many is in such bad shape SO far as food
and other living supplies are concerned.
no war cOuId last very long.
X X
- Today the countries which would natu-
rally be expected to oppose Germany are
ten times better prepared for war than
they were in 1914. There is difference of
opinion as to whether Germany is better
prepared today than she was then At
least she is no better prepared from the
military point of view, in relation to the
preparation of the democracies. So the
outstanding difference in the two situa-
tions is that today Germanys home sit
uation is almost the same as it was at
the end of the World War Hitler's
sole chance, therefore, would be a vic
tory of lightning Swiftness.
The struggles Which the Germans are
making to get along on ersatz are worthy
of the highest admiration. Marvels have
been accomplished with propaganda. 1t
was shown, for example, that the dust
bins of Berlin would load a train
stretching from Berlin to Prague and
that these dust bins contained hidden
treasure. The result was combing over
of the bins daily. almost hourly. Enough
bread was found to feed 420 men for
year. No more bread, not even crumbs,
gets into dust bins today. 1t was found
that there was sufficient material thrown
away to roof, after fabrication, $4,000
houses. Garbage was reclaimed sufi-
cient to feed $4,000 pigs.
In the dark days of the Civil War
Southern families knew what it was to
drink chicory as a substitute for coffee.
Germany does not have chicory, but she
has acorns and, just as all Germany was
drinking acorn coffee at the time of the
armistice, and for long time after
ward, so is she drinking acorn coffee
today
Pork has long been the favorite meat
of Germany, and sausage the favorite
form of pork, but only the very rich can
afford hot dogs in Germany today. There
are sausages, to be sure. but they are
made of fish and the German people
have never had a taste for fish. Yet fish
they eat because it is a patriotic duty
and also, alas, because they can get
nothing else. There is no butter at all,
not even for people quite well off.
Fish by-products are used for a great
variety of purposes. Foods of many sorts
are concocted from fish, from the staple
sausages to the fluff atop blanc mango
pudding, which looks like white of egg,
and, in earlier times, would have been.
The blanc mango itself is made of by
product of coal tar. Much ingenuity has
been shown in fashioning various dishes
out of potato peelings. 1t is the next
thing to treason to throw peelings away
indeed, to throw anything away.
The range Of substitutes is almost un-
believable No rubber is produced in
Germany, and Germany is not in a
financial position to buy rubber abroad,
as the United States and other countries
are. So rubber substitute called buna
has been made chiefly from by-products
Of coal tar. It works we'll
Germany has no petroleum, but has
developed a product called leuna, which
is by-product of coal. 1t is mixed with
alcohol, which, Of course, can be dis
titled from a vast variety Of waste prod
ucts.
Maj. Albrecht Czir.. atis, an engineer,
has been placed at the head of special
department, which is charged with the
duty of developing substitutes. He re-
ports solely to Goering. the minister OF
economics and No. Nal leader. He
and skillful corps of scientists have
wOrked rparvoIc in ersatZ The SllPar