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Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 1 mark note

Object | Accession Number: 1987.90.47

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    Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 1 mark note
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    Overview

    Brief Narrative
    1 [eine] mark receipt issued in the Łódź ghetto in Poland beginning in May 1940 until the ghetto was liquidated in summer 1944. Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and occupied Łódź one week later. Łódź was renamed Litzmannstadt and, by February 1940, the Germans forcibly relocated the large Jewish population of 160,000 into a small, sealed ghetto. All residents had to work and many were forced laborers in ghetto factories. Residents were forbidden to have German currency, and the Jewish Council was ordered to create a system of Quittungen [receipts] that could be used only in the ghetto. The scrip, sometimes referred to as rumkis, after the Elder of the Judenrat, Mordechai Rumkowski, was issued in 7 denominations: 50 pfenning, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 marks, as well as coins. It acted as a labor incentive and facilitated the confiscation of money and goods from internees. There was little to exchange it for in the ghetto. Living conditions were horrendous; the severe overcrowding and lack of food made disease and starvation common. In January 1942, mass deportations to Chelmno killing center began; half the residents were murdered by the end of the year. In summer 1944, Łódź, the last ghetto in Poland, was destroyed and the remaining Jews were sent to Chelmno and Auschwitz-Birkenau killing centers.
    Date
    issue:  1940 May 15
    Geography
    issue: Litzmannstadt-Getto (Łódź, Poland); Łódź (Poland)
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. Emanuela Ringelbluma
    Markings
    face, serial number, upper right, red ink : Nº 974940
    face, center, black ink : Quittung / über / Eine Mark / Der Aelteste der Juden / in Litzmannstadt / M. Rumkowski / Litzmannstadt, den 15 Mai 1940 [[Receipt for Two Mark / The Eldest of the Jews in Litzmannstadt M Rumkowski Litzmannstadt, May 15 1940]
    face, lower right corner, black ink : 1
    back, center, black ink : Quittung / über / Eine Mark
    back, left and right center, black ink : 1
    back, lower center, black ink : WER DIESE QUITTUNG VERFÄLSCHT ODER NACH. / MACHT 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]
    back, lower left corner, black ink : 1

    Physical Details

    Language
    German
    Classification
    Exchange Media
    Category
    Money
    Object Type
    Scrip (aat)
    Genre/Form
    Money
    Physical Description
    Lodz ghetto scrip on rectangular, offwhite paper printed in black and green ink. The face has a square trellis pattern underprint. The denomination 1 is in the lower right corner. There is a 1.25 inch right margin, then a bordered rectangle with a background of interlocked Stars of David resembling barbed wire; around this rectangle is a border of barbed wire links alternating with Stars of David. In the upper left corner is a large Star of David in a circle. A smaller Star of David within a brown square and the serial number, sometimes with a letter, in red ink replaces the right border. In the center is the denomination Eine Mark and German text. The back has the denomination 1 in the lower left corner. There is a 1.25 inch left margin, then a bordered rectangle with a background of interlocked Stars of David resembling barbed wire. In the center is a 7 branched menorah flanked by the denomination 1 within a set of 9 concentric rings overlaid by a banner with the denomination Eine Mark. The scrip is worn with creases and tears.
    Dimensions
    overall: Height: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm) | Width: 4.625 inches (11.747 cm)
    Materials
    overall : paper, ink

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    No restrictions on access
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1987 by the Zydowski Instytut Historyczny im. Emanuela Ringelbluma.
    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:
    2024-10-03 11:18:29
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn16614

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