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Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 1 mark note

Object | Accession Number: 2005.353.2
2005.353.2 front Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 1 mark note Click to enlarge 2005.353.2 back Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 1 mark note Click to enlarge

1 (eine) mark receipt issued in the Łódź ghetto in Poland in May 1940. Nazi Germany occupied Poland on September 1, 1939; Łódź was renamed Litzmannstadt and annexed to the German Reich. In February, 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 scrip was designed by the Judenrat [Jewish Council] and includes traditional Jewish symbols. The Germans closed the ghetto in the summer of 1944 by deporting the residents to concentration camps or killing centers.

Date
issue:  1940 May 15
Geography
issue: Litzmannstadt-Getto (Łódź, Poland); Łódź (Poland)
Language
German
Classification
Exchange Media
Category
Money
Object Type
Scrip (aat)
Credit Line
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Marvin Benn

About This Object

Physical Description
Offwhite paper scrip printed in green ink with black text. The face has a background latticework pattern. The denomination 1 is in the lower right corner in bold font. There is a 1 inch right margin, then a rectangle with a border of barbed wire interspersed with Stars of David. The inside has a background of interlocked Jewish stars with a large star in a circle in the upper left corner and a smaller one in the center of the right side border. Across the center is the denomination and other German text. The serial number in red ink replaces the upper right border. The back has a blank background with the denomination 1 in bold font in the lower left corner. There is a 1 inch left margin, then a rectangle with a border of barbed wire interspersed with Stars of David. The inside has 2 sets of 8 concentric rings with the numerical denomination in the center. A banner with the textual denomination connects the rings. The banner crosses over a 7-branched candelabrum in the center, with German text above and below.
Dimensions
overall: Height: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm) | Width: 4.625 inches (11.748 cm)
Materials
overall : paper, ink
Markings
face, serial number, red ink : 264647
face, upper right, black ink : Quittung / über [Receipt for about]
face, center, bold font, black ink : Eine Mark [One Mark]
face, bottom, black ink : Der Aelteste der Juden / in Litzmannstadt / M. Rumkowski / Litzmannstadt , den 15 Mai 1940 [The Eldest of the Jews / M. Rumkowski / on May 15, 1940]
back, black ink : Quittung / über / Eine Mark [Receipt for about one mark]
back, bottom, 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]

Keywords and Subjects

Administrative History

Legal Status
Permanent Collection
Provenance
The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Marvin Benn. Benn acquired the scrip in 1980 from a private Jewish museum in Warsaw, Poland, during a guided tour with Jan Rochwerger.

Rights and Restrictions

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

 
Record last modified: 2022-07-28 18:28:53
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn517367

Also in Marvin Benn collection

The collection consists of artifacts and documents relating to Jewish life in Poland before and during the Holocaust.

Date: 1920-1943

Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 1 mark note

Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 1 mark note

Object

1 (eine) mark receipt issued in the Łódź ghetto in Poland in May 1940. Nazi Germany occupied Poland on September 1, 1939; Łódź was renamed Litzmannstadt and annexed to the German Reich. In February, 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 scrip was designed by the Judenrat [Jewish Council] and includes traditional Jewish symbols. The Germans closed the ghetto in the summer of 1944 by deporting the residents to concentration camps or killing centers.

Marvin Benn papers

Document

The papers consist of identification cards that belonged to Jewish families in Poland during the Holocaust.

View All 3 Items in the Collection