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Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 10 mark note

Object | Accession Number: 1987.90.8

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    Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 10 mark note
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    Overview

    Brief Narrative
    10 (zehn) 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, upper left, red ink : No 073476
    face, lower left and upper right corner, black ink : 10
    face, center, black ink : Quittung / über / Zehn Mark / Der Aelteste der Juden / in Litzmannstadt / M. Rumkowski / Litzmannstadt, den 15 Mai 1940 [Receipt for Twenty mark / The Elder of the Jews in Litzmannstadt M Rumkowski / Litzmannstadt May 15 1940]
    back, upper left corner, black ink : Quittung über / Zehn Mark
    back, bottom, 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]
    back, lower right, black ink : 10

    Physical Details

    Language
    German
    Classification
    Exchange Media
    Category
    Money
    Object Type
    Scrip (aat)
    Genre/Form
    Money
    Physical Description
    Łódź ghetto scrip printed on rectangular offwhite paper in black and green ink. The face has a latticework underprint. The serial number is in red in the upper left corner. The denomination 10 is in the lower left corner and in the upper right corner in a black square. There is a 1.5 inch left margin, then a rectangle with a rounded upper left corner with a pattern of interlocked Stars of David and an encircled Star of David in the upper left corner. Across the center is the denomination Zehn Mark and German text. The back has a blank 1.5 inch right margin and a rectangle with a pattern of interlocked Stars of David. In the upper left corner is the denomination Zehn Mark and in the lower left corner is a menorah or 7-branched candelabrum. The denomination 10 is outside the lower right corner of the rectangle; above this, near the upper right corner, is a Star of David outline in a black square. The scrip is worn, with many creases.
    Dimensions
    overall: Height: 2.875 inches (7.302 cm) | Width: 5.750 inches (14.605 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 11:18:40
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn16649

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