Saccharin. The most popular chemical for the production of a sweetener. And at the same time - a source of illegal fortunes in pre-war Poland. From a sweetener one could become a millionaire, be in a pack or even die. Thousands of people were willing to take the risk.
The regulations left no room for doubt. Pursuant to the Fiscal Penal Act of August 2, 1926, the sweetener was outlawed. Everything related to it was illegal:"production, sale and use of artificial sweet substances". The reason was simple. The treasury made a fortune on sugar.
There was a reason why the public was told that "Sugar strengthens." The great propaganda campaign created by, among others, Melchior Wańkowicz had no health grounds at all. Sugar was subject to enormous excise duties. Converted into today's money, a kilogram cost up to PLN 15 (read more on this topic). In the last fiscal year, before the outbreak of World War II, the state gained 118 million pre-war zlotys (over a billion today!).
The perfect gift for long winter evenings? A car full of sweetener! (1929 cover illustration of Auto magazine).
A sweetheart Eldorado
Resourceful Poles tried to cope by using substitutes. Smuggling sugar from abroad was inconvenient and impractical. But the sweetener - just the opposite. After all, the equivalent of a kilogram of real sugar was in the palm of your hand.
Saccharin has quickly become one of the most popular commodities among smugglers and one of the biggest concerns of border guards. Sample press release, published in December 1928 by Gazeta Szamotulska read:“The Patrol of the Border Protection Corps came across a few smugglers trying to smuggle larger smuggling of tobacco and saccharine into Poland. At the sight of the patrol, the smugglers escaped, abandoning 117 kg of tobacco and 5 kg of saccharin. "
In turn, the Łódź region of Echo enumerated in January 1933:"The Border Guard officers stopped smuggling worth tens of thousands of zlotys, consisting of 34 kg of spirit, 26 kg of saccharin, 15 kg of vanilla representing the value of one and a half thousand zlotys, 20 kg of oranges, baked herring, tobacco, cigars and other articles."
A sweetening obsession. Sensational headlines of pre-war newspapers.
Similar arrests happened almost daily, but hundreds of smugglers safely reached their destination. Entire gangs were formed that specialized only in the transport of sweetener. A particularly agile gang, led by enterprising Jews from the border town of Będzin, smuggled at least 1,500 kg of saccharin in six months.
Jews and Germans are fattening on saccharin
"Szajka had at his disposal 5 cars, a dozen impudent smugglers and several dozen women who carried small amounts of saccharin across the border every day ”- wrote in Western Poland in January 1934. The largest transports went to Będzin ... in cars equipped with a special sweetener compartment under the engine!
Each liquidated gang made room for another, often even more audacious. The newspaper ABC. Daily Magazine reported in the late spring of the same year about an organization operating from the German Bytom and allegedly "acting on the services of the international saccharine cartel in Germany" . The amount of smuggling? 772 kilograms of saccharin, which is the equivalent of four hundred thousand kilograms of sugar . Journalists explained that:"This action was undertaken by the saccharin syndicate after the Polish authorities had liquidated the organization of the king of saccharin smugglers, Żmigrod and Saper."
Herr Hitler, get your sweetener!
Scandals of this kind caused irritation in national and foreign relations. The Endecja accused the Jews of fattening on the sweetener. And if not Jews - then of course Swabians. The government demanded counteraction from the authorities of Germany and Lithuania. Penalties fell on smugglers:heavy fines, imprisonment. You could even be arrested for a few months for just buying a sweetener. This act was also considered by the authorities as smuggling.
Polish border post. On the other side? Sea of sweetener.
Smugglers also risked their lives as newspapers repeatedly reported on patrols shooting at sweetener smugglers. Moreover, the saccharine makers did not owe them. Gazeta Szamotulska she reported in the winter of 1928:“In the area of Olkieniki, the KOP patrol also encountered smugglers. When the soldiers shouted "halt", the smugglers responded with revolver fire. After a short exchange of shots, they fled, dropping 100 kg of sugar. ”
The job was deadly, but the Poles wanted to sweeten their tea. And until the outbreak of the war, there was no shortage of people willing to make money on it.
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Another version of the above article appeared in the November issue of "Newsweek Historia" (11/2014).