Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Łódź ghetto scrip, 20 (zwanzig) mark note, acquired by Henry Tovey while imprisoned in the Łódź Ghetto. Nazi Germany occupied Poland on September 1, 1939; Łódź was renamed Litzmannstadt and the Germans forcibly relocated the large Jewish population into a sealed ghetto. All currency was confiscated in exchange for Quittungen [receipts] that could be exchanged only in the ghetto. The Germans closed the ghetto in the summer of 1944 by deporting the residents to concentration camps or killing centers. Henry later married Bella Jacubowicz, who was from Sosnowiec, Poland. Bella, her parents, and her three younger siblings were forced into the ghetto. At the end of 1942, the family was sent to the ghetto in Bedzin. In 1943, Bella was deported to Graben, a subcamp of Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Germany. In 1944, she was sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She was liberated in April 1945 by British forces. Bella emigrated to the United States in 1946.
- Date
-
issue:
1940 May 15
- Geography
-
issue:
Litzmannstadt-Getto (Łódź, Poland);
Łódź (Poland)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Bella Jakubowicz Tovey
- Markings
- face, serial number, upper left corner, orange ink : Nº 275553
face, top and center, black and brown ink : Quittung / über / Zwanzig Mark [Receipt for Twenty Mark]
face, bottom left and top right corner, black and brown ink : 20
face, lower right, black ink : Der Aelteste der Juden / in Litzmannstadt / M. Rumkowski / Litzmannstadt, den 15 Mai 1940 [The Eldest of the Jews in Litzmannstadt / M. Rumkowski / Litzmannstadt, 15 May 1940]
back, upper left and lower right, black and brown ink : Quittung über / Zwanzig Mark / 20 [Receipt for Twenty Mark]
back, lower center, black ink : WER DIESE QUITTUNG VERFÄLSCHT ODER NACHMACHT ODER GEFÄLSCHTE / QUITTUNGEN IN VERKEHR BRINGT / WIRD STRENGSTENS BESTRAFT [ANYONE WHO FALSIFIES OR COPIES THIS RECEIPT, OR TRAFFICS IN COUNTERFEIT RECEIPTS, WILL BE STRICTLY PUNISHED] - Contributor
-
Subject:
Bella J. Tovey
Subject: Henry Tovey
- Biography
-
Bella Jakubowicz (later Tovey) was born in 1926 in Sosnowiec, Poland. She was the oldest of four children. Her father owned a knitting factory which the Germans confiscated after they invaded Poland in 1939. The family's furniture was given to an ethnic German woman. They were forced to move to the ghetto where Bella was a forced laborer in a factory. At the end of 1942, the family was sent to the ghetto in Będzin, Poland. In 1943, Bella was deported to Gräben a subcamp of Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Germany. In 1944, she was sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She was liberated in April 1945 by British forces. Bella emigrated to the United States in 1946.
Physical Details
- Language
- German
- Classification
-
Exchange Media
- Category
-
Money
- Object Type
-
Scrip (aat)
- Physical Description
- Łódź ghetto scrip on rectangular, offwhite paper printed in black and brown ink. The face has the denomination 20 in the lower left corner and within a black square in the upper right corner. The serial number is in the upper left corner. The background has a diamond latticework design. There is a 1.25 inch right margin, then a overprint of a rectangle with a background of interlocked Stars of David with a large Star of David in a circle in the upper left corner. Across the center is the denomination Zwanzig Mark with German text above and below and an engraved signature on the lower right. The back has a blank 1.25 inch right margin, then a rectangle with a background of interlocked Jewish stars. The denomination Zwanzig Mark is in the upper left corner and the denomination 20 is outside the lower right corner. In the lower left corner is a menorah or 7-branched candelabrum, with German text along the bottom border. The scrip is soiled, worn, and creased, with a large, oily black stain.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 3.125 inches (7.938 cm) | Width: 6.250 inches (15.875 cm)
- Materials
- overall : paper, ink
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Concentration camp inmates--Germany--Biography. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Personal narratives. Jewish ghettos--Poland--Łódź--Biography. Jewish refugees--United States--Biography. Slave labor--Germany--Biography. Women concentration camp inmates--Germany--Biography. World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--United States--Personal narratives.
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990 by Bella Jakubowicz Tovey, wife of Henry Tovey.
- Funding Note
- The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
- Record last modified:
- 2022-07-28 18:29:46
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn522312
Also in Bella and Henry Tovey collection
The collection consists of one Łódź ghetto note, two West German banknotes, a Star of David badge, documents, and photographs relating to the experiences of Bella Jacbubowicz (alter Tovey) and her family and Henry Tovey in Łódź, Poland, and Germany during and after the Holocaust. Some of these materials may be combined into a single collection in the future.
Date: 1941-1948
Weimar Germany Reichsbanknote, 10 Reichsmarks, owned by a Jewish Polish survivor
Object
Weimar Germany 10 mark note acquired by Henry Tovey. After Nazi Germany occupied Poland on September 1, 1939, Henry was confined to the ghetto on Łódź, renamed Litzmannstadt. The Germans closed the ghetto in summer 1944 by deporting the residents to concentration camps or killing centers. Henry later married Bella Jacubowicz, who was from Sosnowiec, Poland. Bella, her parents, and her three younger siblings were forced into the ghetto. At the end of 1942, the family was sent to the ghetto in Bedzin. In 1943, Bella was deported to Graben, a subcamp of Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Germany. In 1944, she was sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She was liberated in April 1945 by British forces. Bella emigrated to the United States in 1946.
Federal Republic of Germany bank note, 5 pfennig, acquired by a Polish Jewish survivor
Object
West German funf (5) pfennig note acquired by Henry Tovey. The currency was issued beginning in 1948 for use in the newly created Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). After Nazi Germany occupied Poland on September 1, 1939, Henry was confined to the ghetto on Łódź, renamed Litzmannstadt. The Germans closed the ghetto in summer 1944 by deporting the residents to concentration camps or killing centers. Henry later married Bella Jacubowicz, who was from Sosnowiec, Poland. Bella, her parents, and her three younger siblings were forced into the ghetto. At the end of 1942, the family was sent to the ghetto in Bedzin. In 1943, Bella was deported to Graben, a subcamp of Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Germany. In 1944, she was sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She was liberated in April 1945 by British forces. Bella emigrated to the United States in 1946.
Star of David badge with word Jude issued to an inmate of Łódź ghetto
Object
The badge was issued to Henry Tovey in the ghetto in Łódź, Poland.
Bella Tovey papers
Document
Mixed collection of black and white photographs, a postcard, an envelope, scrip, and a Star of David badge relating to Bella Tovey and her family during the time period of the Holocaust.
Bella Tovey collection
Document
Consists of four black and white photographs: three images of a wedding of Jewish displaced persons in the Zeilsheim Displaced persons camp on 21 September 1946, and one image of an all girls' class with their teachers, dated 1939.
