Bengal Famine of 1943

The Bengal famine of 1943 was a famine during World War II in the Bengal Province and Orissa Province of British India. An estimated 800,000 to 3.8 million people died in the Bengal region from starvation, malaria and other diseases made worse by malnutrition, population displacement, unsanitary conditions, poor British wartime policy and lack of health care. Millions were impoverished as the crisis overwhelmed large parts of the economy and disrupted the social fabric. Families broke apart as men sold their small farms and left home to find work or join the British Indian Army, while women and children became homeless migrants who often travelled to Calcutta or other large cities in search of organised relief.