Overview
- Brief Narrative
- 2 Reichsmark Buchenwald Kantine coupon given to Bernard Feingold, a US soldier, by a Russian Jewish inmate in exchange for two cigarettes. Feingold inscribed the note with story of its receipt. In early April 1945, as US forces approached Buchenwald concentration camp, the German guards began to evacuate the camp. On April 11, the prisoners revolted and seized control of the camp. Later that day, soldiers from the Sixth Army Armored Division, part of the Third Army, arrived in camp and discovered more than 21,000 starved and ill inmates.
- Date
-
found:
1945 April
- Geography
-
found:
Buchenwald (Concentration camp);
Weimar (Thuringia, Germany)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Bernard Feingold
- Markings
- front, top, black ink : two SS lightning bolts -Standort-Kantine - Buchenwald
front, center, black ink : RM. 2 RM.
front, bottom, black ink : WERTMARKE / 84354 / ✽
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Exchange Media
- Category
-
Money
- Object Type
-
Scrip (aat)
- Physical Description
- Rectangular, light brown paper coupon with a rectangular orange floral background design with scalloped edges with a narrow, blank border printed on the front. German text, the denomination 2, a serial number, and an asterisk are printed in black ink over the floral design. There are 5 lines of handwritten English cursive script on the back.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 2.875 inches (7.303 cm) | Width: 4.125 inches (10.478 cm)
- Materials
- overall : paper, ink, adhesive
- Inscription
- back, handwritten : a Russian Jew who was a prisoner at Buchenwald for over four years gave me this. This is the money the Germans used to pay the prisoners but they had no place to spend it. I gave him 2 cigarettes for this.
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Concentration camp inmates--Germany--Weimar (Thuringia) Jewish soldiers--United States--Biography. Soldiers--United States--Biography. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American. World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation--Germany--Weimar (Thuringia)--Personal narratives, American.
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1989 by Bernard Feingold.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-05-03 14:19:55
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn18324
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The collection consists of artifacts relating to the experiences of Brigadier General Bernard Feingold during World War II.
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