Berlin, Germany, Feb. 17, 1947: A Berliner uses his bicycle to carry home a heavy but precious piece of scavenged firewood as Europe struggles through the coldest winter in many years. Six more people in Berlin reportedly fell victim to the cold the previous day, bringing the city’s winter death toll from the combination of freezing and malnutrition to 170. Officials at the time reported that 15,615 people, most of them elderly, required special assistance.

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