This is how we live! Food transshipment on the Volkhov River.
For the troops, the supply of food was at least as important as the supply of weapons and ammunition. "Ohne Mampf kein Kampf!" (lit. No grub, no fight!) was the soldiers’ rhyming motto. Even though food was shipped from Germany to the front—as seen here with the carton marked "Pasta"—the leadership intended for all divisions stationed in Russia to sustain themselves using local resources. This meant that large quantities of food were taken from the population in one way or another, including by force. A high number of deaths among Soviet citizens due to starvation was factored into the plan.
Gruber likely took this photograph to reassure his family back home as well: Don’t worry—look here, we have plenty of food!
Translated with Google.
