Tough post-war years and “Harxheim tomatoes
Spring 1945 – Germany had surrendered. After a short occupation by the Americans, Rheinhessen became a French occupation zone. The hard years of war were followed by years of hardship for the people of Harxheim after the war.
According to decisions of the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the victorious power France was granted its own occupation zone as a concession. Its border was established between the Americans and the French on June 22, 1945. The new Rhineland-Palatinate and with it Rheinhessen were again occupied by French military on July 10, 1945, only fifteen years after the withdrawal of the last French garrison from Mainz on June 30, 1930. The supreme command for the new zone was transferred to General Marie-Pierre Koenig on July 23, 1945. He held this office until 1951.
After a three-month intermezzo of the quite open and affable American occupiers, a rougher wind soon blew in Harxheim as well. From that time on, the commune belonged to the French command in Bodenheim. All citizens had to fully comply with the orders published in the Official Gazette of the French High Command in Germany. From July 1945, the Bureau de Garnison, established in Oppenheim, was responsible for settling matters between the civilian population and the occupying forces.
After about five years of occupation, the German occupiers had economically exploited France to the limit, compounded by the devastation caused by bombing and fighting during the German invasion in 1940 and withdrawal beginning in 1944. The French civilian population also suffered numerous atrocities committed by the occupying forces. The French military’s attitude toward the losers was correspondingly harsh. Motor vehicles, if not already confiscated by the Wehrmacht, had to be handed over to the French immediately. Driving bans were imposed for Sundays and holidays. Exceptions were only made for authorities and doctors.
The possession of weapons was strictly prohibited. Shooting equipment and ammunition as well as cameras and binoculars had to be handed in at the commandant’s offices. In addition, there were temporary curfews.
The supply situation of the population from mid-1945 onwards became increasingly worse. Added to this was the shortage of fuel. While gathering firewood, Sophie Sparwasser from Harxheim lost her life in March 1945 when the wooden barracks of the former anti-aircraft searchlight position Auf dem Türkelstein collapsed on her during demolition.
The general situation was further aggravated by the meager food supply for ordinary French soldiers. French army personnel helped themselves where there was still something to get: from the local farmers. The time of wild requisitioning of cattle, pigs and poultry began. In Harxheim, for example, almost the entire cattle and pig herd of the Frieß family was confiscated by the French step by step over a few weeks. The important breeding of farm animals was hardly possible anymore.
Good for the one who could keep his head above water with a small garden, a few barn rabbits or pigeons. For example, Egon Darmstadt reported that the family kept a large pigeon loft in the attic of their bakery. For weeks there were daily stuffed squab cooked in the in-house bread oven for dinner. At that time a real delicacy!
The supply situation of the Rhine-Hessian population reached its low point at the turn of the year 1946/47. The daily number of calories available per inhabitant dropped to less than 1,000 calories. This famine winter was followed by the so-called “steppe summer” with drought-related crop failures. In the middle of the year, the Rhine was almost dry for weeks. The extreme weather conditions and the consequences of forced farming caused agricultural production to drop to an ominously low level.
Driven by hunger, droves of hoarders from the cities flocked to Rheinhessen on foot, by bicycle, or in overcrowded junk trains, trying to get something edible from the farmers in exchange for cigarettes, alcohol, jewelry, or everyday objects. The black market flourished.
The allocation of bombed-out and evacuated persons, who had to cede their homes to the occupying forces, exacerbated the housing shortage in the rural communities as well.
According to a census of January 26, 1946, Harxheim had 678 inhabitants (m. 291, w. 387). While the number of male residents was only slightly higher than the 1933 figure of 282 (there were 47 fallen and missing men), the number of female residents had increased by 133 from 254! The strong increase in women and girls was almost entirely accounted for by bombed-out city dwellers as well as some refugees. The belongings of these people often consisted only of the contents of the air-raid shelter. The new home in Harxheim was often in an attic or a hovel. The rooms were often damp and hardly heatable.
Grape pickers 1950
Image source: Christel Deiß
The forced quartering of these people, who were often perceived as mere boarders, met with little approval from the local village population. Who wanted to share the little that they had themselves and managed sparingly with bombed-out refugees and the French? Tension and anger between people were the order of the day, and compassion was often a foreign word. There was sheer misery.
The work in the fields and in the vineyards was hard and full of privation. Almost all of Harxheim’s farming and winegrowing families had to mourn at least one fallen man, and many men were still in captivity. The work, which was done by foreign workers and prisoners of war until the end of the war, had to be done by the women and girls of the families or by the newcomers from the town after their liberation. The motto for these people was: Field or domestic work in exchange for bread and shelter. Many city dwellers, however, did not like this hard work.
It was not until the currency reform on June 20, 1948 that the economic situation stabilized. With the introduction of the D-Mark, bartering and the black market ended. With the beginning of reconstruction, the first townspeople turned their backs on Harxheim.
Driving license of Anton Fritzsch from 1950, issued by German authorities under French administration
Image source: Anton Fritzsch
On October 2, 1948, the Jerke refugee family arrived in Harxheim. The escape on the cargo ship Ubena across the Baltic Sea was followed by internment for almost three years in Denmark. After a stopover at the former concentration camp Osthofen, which had been converted into a transit camp, the family arrived at the Harxheim train station. His father, Manfred Jerke reported, exclaimed in amazement at the sight of the Harxheim vineyards:
“My dear man, what do the tomato fields have!”
References:
Rick, Josef (1968): Die Rheinfront: Die Weinbaugemeinde Harxheim. Bechtolsheim. S. 129-131
Mahlerwein, Gunter (2016). Rheinhessen 1816- 2016. Mainz. S. 321-322
Light, Hans (undated). Chronicle of the municipality of Harxheim.
Eyewitness interviews from 2016 to 2021
Own research
