This collection of primary sources for the first time gives a pan-European insight into the experiences of ordinary people living under German occupation during World War II, their everyday life, their search for supplies and their strategies to fight scarcity.

"During the peak of the German expansion in World War II, more than 230 million people from Norway to Greece and from France to various regions inside the former Soviet Union lived under German occupation. This edited collection of primary sources for the first time gives an insight into the experiences of these ordinary people under German occupation, their everyday life and how this quickly became dominated by shortages (especially of food but also of other necessities such as medicine), the search for supplies and different strategies to fight scarcity. In addressing examples from all European countries under German occupation the collected sources give the first pan-European perspective on the history of shortage, malnutrition and hunger resulting from the war, occupation, and aggressive German exploitation policies"--

For a long time agriculture and rural life were dismissed by many contemporaries as irrelevant or old-fashioned. Contrasted with cities as centers of intellectual debate and political decision-making, the countryside seemed to be becoming increasingly irrelevant. Today, politicians in many European countries are starting to understand that the neglect of the countryside has created grave problems. Similarly, historians are remembering that European history in the twentieth century was strongly influenced by problems connected to the production of food, access to natural resources, land rights, and the political representation and activism of rural populations. Hence, the handbook offers an overview of historical knowledge on a variety of topics related to the land. It does so through a distinctly activity-centric and genuinely European perspective. Rather than comparing different national approaches to living with the land, the different chapters focus on particular activities – from measuring to settling the land, from producing and selling food to improving agronomic knowledge, from organizing rural life to challenging political structures in the countryside. Furthermore, the handbook overcomes the traditional division between East and West, North and South, by embracing a transregional approach that allows readers to gain an understanding of similarities and differences across national and ideological borders in twentieth-century Europe.

Rabbi Samuel Hirsch (Thalfang 1815 – Chicago 1889) was instrumental in the development of Reform Judaism in Europe and the USA. This volume is the first lengthy publication devoted to this striking personality whose significance was no less than that of his contemporaries Abraham Geiger and David Einhorn. En route from Thalfang via Dessau and Luxembourg to Philadelphia, Hirsch left his mark on societal, religious, and philosophical developments in manifold ways. By the time he was appointed Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community in Luxembourg in 1843, he had already written many of his most important works on the philosophy of religion. In them he engaged in debate with the Young Hegelians on the importance of Judaism, the religion that, more than any other, enabled the human actualization of freedom so central to Hegel’s philosophy. Over time Hirsch took an increasingly radical stance on issues such as Jewish rituals and mixed marriage. The goal of his reforms was not assimilation. He strove to strengthen Judaism to meet the demands of modernity and enable its survival in the modern era. Hirsch’s story is key to understanding the transnational history of Reform Judaism and the struggle of Jews to secure a place in history and society.

In the first century, endemic food shortages left 25 percent of the population below subsistence level and another 30 percent at risk of slipping below subsistence. In the face of such serious food shortages, the Gospel of Matthew advocates for a society in which all people can have access to sufficient food. Matthew critiques first-century practices and attitudes of both aristocrats and peasants that helped or hindered that goal. It does this by depicting Jesus teaching and performing positive practices that provided the Matthean community with an example to emulate, as well as condemning some negative practices and attitudes. For I Was Hungry and You Gave Me Food provides a pragmatic lens and a new descriptive paradigm of food access in the first century. The perspective and model are useful for analyzing passages concerned with life-and-death issues of the Matthean community--or situations for any other Christian community, past or present. Should not every person have enough food to sustain physical life?

The African Economic Outlook 2009 Country Notes volumes review the recent economic situation and predict the short-term evolution of 47 African countries.

SUMMARY OF WRITINGS All writings herein are resulting from an extensive search of the entire bible to determine if all things being taught about the Christian belief are factual. Along with considering those things being taught I have also considered the Bible is not in good order as far as prophesies are concerned. Many things God gave his writers of the scriptures were not of benefit for them at that time, but were intended for those living in the end times. In order to correctly determine the destination of the inhabitants of the earth as God has planned, I know it to be a fact that every prophesy has a fulfillment, and presented in these writings is what I have found that I believe to be those fulfillments. Many things that are found in the Old Testament are written as if they had already occurred, so this must be considered when reading those scriptures of prophesy. This is just another reason why some prophesies may seem to be out of order. In reading my findings most people of the Christian belief will come to realize they are in difference in their belief with what I have found. The churches claiming to be of the Christian belief have many different ideas about this belief, and by knowing about those different ideas that churches teach, I was determined to prove or disprove what I believe some of which to be misguided ideas. Those churches that maintain the idea that by the Bible being presented as New and Old Testament in dividing it, determining the Old Testament as history only, are making a grave mistake. In truth much of the Old Testament portion of the Bible contains prophesy yet to come about. This includes the very first prophesy of the Bible found at Genesis 3:15 which is only partially fulfilled, and contains Gods promise of eventually removing Satan from power. I have determined that God is allowing the earths population time to come to the realization only He can provide for what man needs to maintain a happy and enjoyable life on the earth. Had He not allowed this time that has passed since the failure of our original parents, those living today would not have had the potential for life. He did not create man to live on this planet without needing His direction. The great thing one must come to realize is the fact that God has plans for the earth to return it to what he intended from the very beginning of his putting man on it. He put man in the Garden of Eden for the purpose of populating the earth with his fleshly beings in which he created in his own image. He did not create the earth for it to then become non existent. Of those that find things that I have put in writing that do not agree, I ask that they at least study the scriptures provided to decide if what they have been taught might be in error. A great amount of mans doctrines have been incorporated many years ago in their teaching that leads those astray that truly want Bible truth. Those that use discernment will know those false teachings are leading them in the wrong direction. There truly are many mysteries contained in the Bible that can easily be misunderstood. Even those chosen by Christ that served with him while he was on the earth to help with his teaching did not totally understand the destination of the earth until they were told in private what to expect. Most of the false teachings that are found in the Christian belief today were initiated in the very first century after the death of those personally taught by Jesus Christ. In order to maintain those false doctrines being taught in the churches today, many scriptures that prove them in error must be omitted from the Bible in order to present those false beliefs. The greatest hindrance of these false teachings is to those that consider the Old Testament as history only. To those that refuse to accept the Old Testament as containing prophesy yet to be fulfilled might as well forget about reading any further. These will never come to a good understanding of the B