Did the Nazis force Jews to eat non-Kosher food during the Holocaust?

by RickyT3rd

So stuff like Pork?

Felinomancy

I fail to understand the logic behind this.

Do you mean forcing them to eat pork as a form of food-based shibboleth? Then I don't think so; here's a previous thread on how the Nazis identified the Jews.

If, on the other hand, you meant as a form of torture in the death camps, then it would have been tragically hilarious given the backdrop of actual torture and widespread starvation. The prisoners would be queuing around the block at the prospect of such "torture". "Eat, Juden! Eat this pork!"

lojafan

I believe it's OK for Jewish people to eat non-kosher food in times of dire need (like extreme starvation) and are return to kosher food when the danger has passed or kosher food is available.

commiespaceinvader

If "during the Holocaust" means in the camps, the no, simply for the reason that there was hardly any meat given out there during the war because it was too important to feed the German population.

Usually a concentration camp diet consisted of a thin soup made from spoiled ingredients and Ersatz coffee. Many survivors report that it was preferreable to be at the end of the line so one would get some solid stuff in their meals. (Sources: Primo Levi and Hermann Langbein)

As forcing the Jews to eat pork, there might have been rituals of public humiliation in the 30s, which you would have to look up in Michael Wildt: Volksgemeinschaft als Selbstermächtigung. Gewalt gegen Juden in der deutschen Provinz 1919 bis 1939, Hamburg: Hamburger Edition, 2007.