Care Paket

Distribution of CARE packages in Germany in 1954

West Berlin child with a CARE package in October 1948

CARE packages ( "Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe") are food packages that after the end of World War II as part of American aid programs to Europe were sent. 100 million CARE packages were distributed in Europe. Almost ten million parcels reached West Germany between 1946 and 1960 ; Of these, three million went to West Berlin , especially in 1948/1949 via the Berlin Airlift .

history

When after the Second World War millions of people were without food, clothing and medication, on November 27, 1945, 22 charities in the USA founded the private aid organization CARE (“Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe”) to coordinate relief efforts for Europe. The US Army also participated and made 2.8 million redundant army ration packages available from their depots for the first food deliveries.

The ban on sending aid supplies to Germany ended in December 1945. From June 5, 1946, it was also possible to send CARE parcels to the American occupation zone . From June 21, 1946 on, CARE packages could be sent to the British zone of occupation and from December 1946 to the French zone of occupation .

The first CARE packages for the American zone of occupation arrived in the port of Bremen in August 1946. Most of them were sent to relatives by US citizens.

In March 1947, CARE began sending packages, the contents of which the organization put together itself. They contained more meat, more fat, and more carbohydrates . The nutritional value of one of these packets was around 40,000 kilocalories .

Today CARE is one of the largest private aid organizations in the world. But instead of sending out CARE packages as it used to be, the non-governmental organization is now providing modern emergency aid and development cooperation: In close cooperation with local partner organizations, CARE implements projects in over 90 countries, mostly with local employees. CARE is primarily committed to global poverty reduction and gender equality.

Contents of a CARE package

The contents of a CARE package in West Germany in 1948

From March 1947, a CARE package contained as standard equipment:

1 pound of beef in consommé

1 pound of steaks and kidneys

½ pound of liver

½ pound corned beef

¾ pound " prem " (meat for lunch, similar to today's breakfast meat )

½ pound of bacon

2 pounds of margarine

1 pound lard

2 pounds of sugar

1 pound of honey

1 pound of chocolate

1 pound of raisins

1 pound Apricot - Preserves

½ pound egg powder

2 pounds of whole milk powder

2 pounds of coffee

literature

Volker Ilgen: CARE package & Co. From the gift of love to the western package. Primus, Darmstadt 2008, ISBN 3-89678-344-0 .
Christian Härtel , Petra Kabus (Ed.): The West Package. Gift shipment, no merchandise. Links, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-86153-221-2 .
Eckart Roloff : 'Don't leave them alone!' Package campaigns between human aid and political goals. In: The archive. Communication history magazine. Issue 3/2009, ISSN 1611-0838 , pp. 6-13.
CARE. A package with a future. Iatros, Nierstein / Rhein 2005, ISBN 978-3-937439-01-3 .

Web links

Commons : CARE packages - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ The CARE package www.care.de
↑ The Berlin Airlift www.care.de
↑ Manfred Sack : It began as a "small experiment" , Die Zeit , July 8, 1960.
↑ Food relief shipments to Germany were prohibited by the Allies until December 1945, since "they might tend to negate the policy of restricting the German standard of living to the average of the surrounding European nations". "CARE package shipments to individuals remained prohibited until June 5, 1946". Quoted in Earl F. Ziemke: The US Army In The Occupation of Germany 1944-1946 , fn. 13 to chap. 23: “(1) Memo, European Section Theater Group, OPD, for L & LD, sub: Establishment of Civilian Director of Relief, 8 Dec 45, in OPD, ABC 336 (sec. IV) (cases 155–). (2) OMGUS, Control Office, Hist Br, History of US Military Government in Germany, Public Welfare, 9 Jul 46, in OMGUS 21-3 / 5 ".
↑ The CARE package - help then & now. Retrieved August 22, 2019 .
↑ Contents of the CARE package www.care.de

[1] The CARE package www.care.de

[2] The Berlin Airlift www.care.de

[3] Manfred Sack : It began as a "small experiment" , Die Zeit , July 8, 1960.

[4] Food relief shipments to Germany were prohibited by the Allies until December 1945, since "they might tend to negate the policy of restricting the German standard of living to the average of the surrounding European nations". "CARE package shipments to individuals remained prohibited until June 5, 1946". Quoted in Earl F. Ziemke: The US Army In The Occupation of Germany 1944-1946 , fn. 13 to chap. 23: “(1) Memo, European Section Theater Group, OPD, for L & LD, sub: Establishment of Civilian Director of Relief, 8 Dec 45, in OPD, ABC 336 (sec. IV) (cases 155–). (2) OMGUS, Control Office, Hist Br, History of US Military Government in Germany, Public Welfare, 9 Jul 46, in OMGUS 21-3 / 5 ".

[5] The CARE package - help then & now. Retrieved August 22, 2019 .

[6] Contents of the CARE package www.care.de