The Dutch famine of 1944–1945, also known as the Hunger Winter (from Dutch Hongerwinter), was a famine in the German-occupied Netherlands during World War II. The famine impacted the people in the densely populated and urbanized western provinces north of the great rivers during and after the harsh winter of 1944–1945. It began after the failure of Operation Market Garden, the Allied military offensive against the German occupiers of the Netherlands in September 1944. It persisted until after the German surrender in May 1945.
A German embargo and a Dutch railway strike resulted in food and fuel shipments from rural areas to the cities being halted or much diminished. The Dutch government rationed food, but the ration decreased to starvation levels in late 1944 and early 1945. Government-run soup kitchens, community organizations, and individual "food trekkers" who journeyed from the cities to the countryside to buy or barter for food relieved some of the hardships. Some 4.3 million people in the urbanized western region of the country were impacted. About 20,000 deaths are attributed to the famine. Most of the victims were elderly, especially men. The worst month for deaths was March 1945.
German intransigence and the Allied reluctance to send aid into the German-controlled Netherlands slowed the provision of foreign aid. Swedish, Swiss, and Red Cross food began to arrive in February 1945 and from 29 April to 8 May 1945 British and American air forces, with concurrence fro
Why this event still matters
Historical incidents shape the rules that protect people today — building codes, evacuation policy, warning systems and inspection regimes almost always trace back to a specific disaster. Studying Hongerwinter alongside current events is how preparedness improves.
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