„ХЛЕБ НАСУШНИ”: ДИРЕКЦИЈА ЗА СНАБДЕВАЊЕ СТАНОВНИШТВА ГРАДА БЕОГРАДА (ДИРИС) 1941–1943.
„DAILY BREAD”: DIRECTORATE FOR SUPPLYING THE POPULATION OF BELGRADE (DIRIS) 1941­1943

Summary/Abstract: Directorate for supplying the Population of Belgrade (DIRIS) represented specific institution with the mission to take care of supplying and nutrition of the citizens of Belgrade during the Nazi occupation. Its foundation in the summer of 1941 was preconditioned on one side ­ with the new organizational system of the conducted economy that the occupier insisted on in order to control overall economy and supplying population with the basic food and on the other side ­ with the need to take care of rational and minimal supplying of the biggest Serbian city. Directorate was an independent economic institution, part of the municipality of the city of Belgrade and did not depend on the financial business of the municipality, but was self financing and had a freedom in their own business. It didn't succeed, even though it had frequent structural changes, to build up itself as functional and efficient institution that successfully organizes supplying of the population with the basic food. This was influenced by objective as well as subjective reasons. Objective reasons were that the Directorate, as an institution for distribution of rational food, was not able to control process of its production and collection, then, there are different and difficult conditions of supplying (narrow area of supplying in Belgrade and high increase of its population). Other, subjective reasons are poor organization of the Directorate, corruption and arrogance of officers, conflicts with other institutions, poor distribution system and so on. Supplying the population of Belgrade trough DIRIS completely failed; it was irregular and ”absolutely insufficient”. For example, the statistics shows that Directorate succeeded to distribute to the people, in 1942 only 37,31% of bread, 12,31% of meat, 5% of fat and 6,95% of oil amount that was necessary and expected. The conclusionis that the Directorate has provided only one third of the amount of the total needs of the average citizen of Belgrade in year 1941 and 1942. Therefore, from the early days of the occupation, people have turned to the supplying at the ”black market”. Because of such a fail of Directorate, citizens of Belgrade were not inclined to that institution and felt as if it was working for the benefit of the occupier. In any case, Directorate has not justified the purpose it was founded for, so at the very beginning of the occupation it has already given up the battle for ”daily bread” and left it from its own hands to the hands of the citizens of Belgrade.

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