Nathan Marcus

The Vienna Black Market, 1943-1948. During and especially following the Second World War, official food rationing in Vienna guaranteed an equal distribution of supplies, but left many hungry and wanting for more. Hungry Viennese men and  women turned to a flourishing black market in order to purchase extra food and other goods unavailable to them. But for the authorities, including the occupying U.S. Army, the black market was a sphere of lawlessness and disorder they wished to control. What steps did American authorities take to suppress the black market, why did they not succeed, and how much were U.S. soldiers involved in illicit trade? This Botstiber Research Grant supports archival work in the U.S. National Archives to
provide answers to these questions and others by looking at the files of the US Allied Commission for Austria (USACA).