wages of misery

[polly.martmag]

Как это можно перевести?
Вот все предложение:
has reduced the survivors to the wages of misery
речь идет о Превой мировой

[polly.martmag]

Вот, на всякий случай, весь контекст: "Intellectuals of all countries, unite!" wrote Roger Levy (1931:164). "Unite because the war, which decimated you, has reduced the survivors to the wages of misery; unite because, among other workers, your brothers, you [survivors] dare to speak of the material conditions of your miserable lives, which are brightened only by the will to learn or teach."