Bad Boys? Juvenile Delinquency during the First World War in Wilhelmine Germany

Abstract

In the city of Ulm in the southwest of the German Empire on 12 March 1917 two boys, aged 16 and 17 years old, went into a house and broke into the basement of a local widow. They stole 20 bottles of sparkling wine, 150 eggs and a bucket full of soft soap. At that time, the impact of the First World War had reached its climax on the German “home front”. Though food had been rationed since 1914, by 1917 the situation had deteriorated to the point that in the district of Blaubeuren, people were allotted a ration of 30 eggs for a whole year.¹ The winter of 1916. 1917 had brought massive supply shortfalls. The only available food for large parts of the population gave that winter its infamous name: Swede winter. Swedes were considered as food for animals in times of peace. Many people suffered from hunger and the rationing of everyday items had deeply affected almost the entire population (with the exception of the upper class). As the father of one of the boys said to his son: “There, you can see how people are still living in the third year of the war, you should take it from them.” And actually, his son did on several occasions.²