RZ-100-wt4-E-flipbook-240702 - Flipbook - Page 35
What is particularly striking in the surviving lists of
seed yields is that while the total harvest in kilos in
1945 is very low, Rijk Zwaan still has many different
varieties of which he sometimes has just a few
dozen grams in stock. Apparently, during that last
difficult winter of the war he managed to hang on
to small quantities of a large number of varieties
for seed production. His seed breeder’s heart
must have triumphed over his empty stomach,
even during this difficult period.
Tobacco
Rijk Zwaan is very concerned about the German
occupation, and as the war drags on, conditions
become increasingly dire. The catalogue
published in January 1944 is printed on paper that
illustrates the scarcity of good paper (it would
take until 1948 before the catalogue regained its
pre-war appearance). At the end of 1943, the seed
harvest is better than in previous years, partly
thanks to the ‘mild’ winter.
However, due to the lack of raw materials, means
of production and energy in the West, there is
soon a shortage of many seed varieties. Rijk Zwaan
complains in January 1944 that he cannot supply
any type of endive or leeks. He can only include
a few varieties of pole and stem runner beans in
his catalogue too, and there are still a number of
seeds he cannot get hold of despite the huge
demand. One good illustration of the hard times
in the final years of occupation is the thickness
of that catalogue. It contains only ten pages for
the 1943-1944 season, while it was still 32 pages
thick in 1940-1941. In the last year of the war, during
which the hunger winter costs many lives in the
west, there is no printed catalogue at all. However,
a typed copy of a few pages has thankfully been
preserved.
1944-1945
Liberation celebrations, may 1945.
1940-1945 | World War II
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