The Hunger Winter
In September 1944, in retaliation for Dutch support of the Arnhem landings, the Nazis cut off all food supplies to the population of western Holland. Through the following winter, stocks fell until by March 1945 the official ration was down to 500 calories a day. As
4 million people faced death from starvation, the only hope of relief lay in persuading the Germans to negotiate an unprecedented truce. But as Dutch men and women died in the streets, the Allies still had a war to fight and a victory to win. In the end it took courage and nerve in the face of German guns at point-blank range to end the Hunger Winter. Photography JIM PEIRSON Film editor PAUL ASHTON Producer MICHAEL TOSH Series editor ROY DAVIES