Dachau: The Harrowing of Hell

30. Vacation

30 VACATION An Army dietician arrives on May 28, and I am so overjoyed to be relieved of food planning that I work with her until 9:00 P.M. on menus and large-scale recipes. I see that she is more flexible than I was, and more generous in the use of milk and eggs, but this is only possible because, by this time, the supplies have increased. There are now one million frozen eggs under guard-enough for forty days-and large quantities of frozen peas, asparagus, cauliflower, carrots, and beans. One of my remaining jobs is to make certain that each kitchen receives its fair share of the food. Another is to persuade the people to eat what we give them. The complaints these days are different from those we used to receive: I am told that the meals are monotonous, and that certain items are unpalatable, particularly the spinach. Furthermore, in the OP-operated inner compound hospital, I find that many patients are not receiving an adequate diet because one of their doctors, a Romanian, is opposed to meat and vegetables. I hear that I have hurt his feelings by asking him, "Wo sind die Proteine?" I wonder if I will hear from Bucharest about this. When I talk further with the Romanian, I discover some of his unusual views. He dispenses a large variety of herbs for medicinal purposes, and he diagnoses his patients' disorders solely from a study of their eyes. He divides each eye into four quadrants , and after looking at each segment carefully, he claims that he can tell if the patient has diabetes, pneumonia, or other illness solely on the basis of special configurations. If I had met this doctor in civilian life, I would have recommended that his credentials be investigated, but here no one has credentials. So I give my opinion to higher Army authorities-who are also meat-and-vegetable advocates-and they promise to look into the matter. I 225 On May 30 I visit the hospital again, literally to see what is cooking. Again I find many patients who are not receiving a high-protein diet. Their meals continue to be unbalanced: they receive cereal three times a day, supplemented with black bread and milk. (While I am there, the doctor lodges a complaint with me: his patients have to eat the coarse black bread because someone hijacked the white bread!) Again I consult with the permanent camp officials, and now our dietician thinks she can solve the problem. She goes to work, and the next day her concoction, a soup-like mixture containing all necessary nutrients, is served to the patients and to the residents of the living quarters and is well received. When I make rounds, I notice that the patients seem to look better. In the quarters, people are sitting contentedly in the sun. There is evidence of much industry, with electricians, carpenters , and tailors whistling occasionally as they work. Tempers seem equable. The Russians greet me as Tovarich. Everywhere I have to taste the soup de jour, and it is good. The dominant flavor comes from the thousands of onions that our dietician has cleverly used to conceal the proteins from the Romanian doctor . Garlic is also popular. Our records show that in twenty days we have used about sixty pounds. Some of the people believe it has curative powers. As I wander through the camp I note that the plans previously made to bring in German POWs as camp laborers are operative. They are beginning to replace inmate labor forces. Also, many German doctors, nurses, and orderlies have been arriving to help alleviate the medical manpower shortage. Eventually they will take over all patient care and will also operate a long-term tuberculosis hospital. The daily report for May 30 shows that there are still 1,900 patients with typhus fever in the camp. Patients are still dying, but the death rate is fewer than 20 a day. Stars and Stripes, the Army newspaper that carries on its front page a recommendation: "PAPER IS SCARCE! Pass this S & S On to Another Soldier Up Front," and a slogan: "Everything for the Front," announces that the last western Europeans have been moved out of the camp. But the reporter who wrote this forgot to look in the hospitals. 226 I The Turning Point Recreational facilities at the two American hospitals are open to the Team, and I have seen two movies, one an exciting...