Bread and strikes
In the war-time Lviv almost everybody felt lack of foodstuffs. The prices of foodstuffs of first necessity were rapidly growing, however, even those who could afford to buy foodstuffs often faced empty shelves. Hoping to regulate the situation, the city authorities, following the example of other cities, introduced the card system. In order to get the due norm of foodstuffs, Lvivites had to come to shops in the evening and wait till morning in a queue. Foodstuffs they managed to get were normally of poor quality. People complained that it was impossible to eat that bread since bakeries did not comply with sanitation norms and quite often needles, wires, nails and insects could be found in their products.
“A slice of stale bread for us and our families”, — that was what the teachers of industrial schools demanded in Lviv in September 1918. At the time when a kilo of bread in the city cost 16 crowns, a kilo of potato — 2 crowns, a litre of milk — 3 crowns, and one egg — 1 crown, the teachers got pre-war salaries in the amount of 2-3 crowns per hour. On not coming to an agreement with the administration concerning salary rise, the teachers announces a hunger strike. Earlier that very year railroaders and printers went on strike, that reflecting the overall tendency on the home fronts of the countries at war — exhausted people came to the streets and approximated the end of the war with their protests.
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Lining up for bread. A scene which can be observed outside a local store down Łyczakowska Street is a proof of remarkable endurance of the urban poor. Women, children and elderly people start to line up as early as 11 p.m. to be among the first to nab a loaf of bread for themselves and their family. They fall asleep right on the sidewalk until the morning comes.