With each subsequent day of the Warsaw Uprising, it was harder and harder to find food in the capital, and hunger was staring into the eyes of many people. Those who wanted to survive had to overcome their resistance and eat even recent pets. The commander of the Home Army himself was also convinced.
The insurgents ate cows and horses that had died from bullets, as well as rabbits, poultry and the few pigeons that had survived in the city so far. Finally, when there was no other option, they began to greedily also look at "man's best friends".
Kitty's dinner?
However strange and disgusting it would sound from today's perspective, in the last weeks of fighting, eating typical couch animals did not shock anyone anymore. No cat or dog could feel completely safe when the city was dying around. Years later, many fighting people recalled eating someone else's pets as a kind of anecdote. However, it should not be forgotten that every solid meal was worth its weight in gold and gave the strength needed to carry a rifle.
General Bór-Komorowski second from the left, during the briefing with his subordinates in Wola
Even the commander of the uprising, Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, ate a cat at least once. He himself never admitted it, but his companions' accounts have survived. Janusz Paszyński, an insurgent awarded twice with the Cross of Valor, heard this story from his colleagues who served the commander themselves. Without revealing the origin of the meat, of course.
Bór-Komorowski showed up at the insurgents' fighting position to decorate one of them with the Virtuti Militari order for his activities from the time of the underground.
This announced visit of the general was quite an event for ordinary soldiers. Therefore, they decided to make him worthy by preparing a special treat. It was decided that the commander would be served a real treat:rabbit in cream.
The female art of survival in Aleksandra Zaprutko-Janicka's book "Occupation from the kitchen". Click and buy with a discount on empik.com .
Rabbit in cream without rabbit and cream?
In the conditions of constant struggle, choosing such a dish was like taking a hoe to the sun. After all, the necessary ingredients are not only rabbit meat, but also cream, butter, some vegetables and the right spices. They are all delicacies, but the biggest problem was getting the meat.
The hosts quickly realized that the surrounding rabbits had been slaughtered to the leg. Nevertheless, they did not lose heart and decided to prepare the dish in an occupational manner. So there will be a rabbit, but… made of just available erzacs.
"Rabbit in cream"
The long-eared fur was replaced by a hastily framed cat, shot somewhere in the ruins. It was worse with the rest of the ingredients. In the drugstore, the boys found suntan oil and, due to the lack of better ideas, they fried meat on it. Apparently, the "rabbit in cream" liked the general very much - although of course we will not ask the commander himself about it.
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The article was based on materials collected during the writing of the book "Occupation from the kitchen". Click and buy your discounted copy on empik.com with a discount.
"Okupacja od Kuchni" is a moving story about the times when illegal pig slaughtering could lead to Auschwitz, vegetables were grown in the courtyards of tenement houses, and used coffee grounds were traded on the black market. It is also an amazing cookbook:full of original recipes and practical tips from 1939-1945. We recommend!
Source:
- Archive of Oral History of the Warsaw Rising Museum, testimony by Janusz Paszyński [access:01/08/2015].
- Zaprutko-Janicka Aleksandra, Occupation from the kitchen , Znak Horyzont, Krakow, September 2015.
Do you want to know what the insurgent menu looked like? Buy the book!