Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Scrip, valued at 10 (zehn) kronen, issued in the Theresienstadt (Terezin) ghetto-labor camp in 1943. All currency was confiscated from deportees upon entry and replaced with scrip and ration coupons that could be exchanged only in the camp. The Theresienstadt camp existed for 3.5 years, from November 24, 1941 to May 9, 1945. It was located in a region of Czechoslovakia occupied by Germany, renamed the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and made part of the Greater German Reich.
- Date
-
issue:
1943 January 01
- Geography
-
issue:
Theresienstadt (Concentration camp);
Terezin (Ustecky kraj, Czech Republic)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ann West
- Markings
- face, center, blue ink : QUITTUNG ÜBER / ZEHN KRONEN / 10 / WER DIESE QUITTUNG VERFÄLSCHT ODER NACHMACHT / ODER GEFÄLSCHTE QUITTUNGEN IN VERKEHR BRINGT. / WIRD STRENGSTENS BESTRAFT [RECEIPT OF / TEN CROWNS / 10 / ANYONE WHO FALSIFIES OR DISTORTS OR FAKES THIS RECEIPT, OR COUNTERFEITS RECEIPT, WILL BE STRICTLY PUNISHED]
face, lower right corner, black ink : 10
reverse, upper left corner, plate letter and number, black ink : A011
reverse, lower left and upper right corner, blue ink : 10
reverse, center, blue ink : Quittung / über / ZEHN KRONEN / THERESIENSTADT, AM 1.JANNER 1943 DER ALTESTE DER JUDEN / IN THERESIENSTADT / Jakob Edelstein [Receipt / of / TEN CROWNS / THERESIENSTADT, ON 1. JANUARY 1943 THE ELDER OF THE JEWS IN THERESIENSTADT Jakob Edelstein] - Contributor
-
Printer:
National Bank of Prague
Designer: Peter Kien
Issuer: Der Alteste der Juden in Theresienstadt
- Biography
-
Franz Peter Kien was born January 1, 1919, in Varnsdorf, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic), to Leonard and Olga Frankl Kien. His father Leonard was born in 1886, in Varnsdorf, and was a member of the German-speaking Jewish population in the, the Sudetenalnd, which bordered Germany. Leonard was a textile manufacturer with his own factory. Peter’s mother Olga was born in 1898, in Bzenec, Austro-Hungary (Czech Republic), to Jewish parents. After 1929, the Kien family moved to Brno. Peter enrolled at the German Gymnasium, where he excelled at drawing, painting, and writing. In 1936, he graduated and moved to Prague to study at the Academy of Fine Arts. He also attended the Officina Pragensis, a private graphic design school run by a well-known Jewish artist, Hugo Steiner-Prag.
On September 29, 1938, Germany annexed the Sudetenland. On March 15, 1939, Germany invaded Prague and annexed the Bohemia and Moravia provinces of Czechoslovakia, ruled by a Reich Protector. Jews were banned from participation in government, businesses, and organization, including schools. Peter had to leave the Academy, but continued to study at the Officina Pragensis. He also taught at Vinohrady Synagogue. In September 1940, Peter married Ilse Stranska, who was born on May 9, 1915, in Pilsen, to Jewish parents.
In late September 1941, Reinhard Heydrich, the SS head of RSHA, Reich Main Security Office, became Reich Protector. Soon there were regular deportations of Jews to concentration camps. At the end of November, Theresienstadt concentration and transit camp near Prague got its first shipment of Jewish prisoners. On December 14, Peter was transported to Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp. He was assigned to the technical department where he worked as a draftsman and designer alongside other artists, including Bedrich Fritta, Leo Haas, and Jiri Lauscher. On July 16, 1942, Peter’s wife Ilse arrived in the camp. On January 30, 1943, Peter’s parents Leonard and Olga were transported from Bzenec to Terezin. Peter was assigned major projects by the Jewish Council that administered the camp for the Germans, such as the scrip receipts used in place of money in the camp. He secretly documented the inmate’s daily life, creating portraits and other drawings, and wrote plays, poems, and an operatic libretto. On October 16, 1944, Peter’s wife Ilse and his parents Leonard and Olga were selected for deportation. Peter volunteered to go with them. Before leaving, Peter and his family were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. Peter survived the selection process, soon fell ill, likely with typhus, and died at age 25 in late October 1944. His wife and parents were killed at Auschwitz. Some of the work that Peter left with other prisoners or hid at Theresienstadt survived and has been exhibited worldwide.
Physical Details
- Language
- German
- Classification
-
Exchange Media
- Category
-
Money
- Object Type
-
Scrip (aat)
- Physical Description
- Theresienstadt scrip printed on rectangular, offwhite paper in black, blue, and purple ink. On the left is a medallion with an image of Moses holding 2 stone tablets with the 10 Commandments in Hebrew characters; to the right is the denomination 10 and German text. The background rectangle has an abstract leaf pattern. On the right side is a wide offwhite border with the denomination 10 in the bottom corner below a 6-pointed Star of David. The reverse has a background rectangle with an interlocked oval pattern with a central streak, German text, an engraved signature, and a scrollwork line. The denomination 10 is in the upper right corner. The left side has a wide, offwhite border with the denomination 10 in the lower corner below a 6-pointed Star of David within a lined circle. The plate letter and number are in the upper left corner. The scrip is creased and discolored with some stains.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm) | Width: 4.875 inches (12.383 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
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The Theresienstadt scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1988 by Ann West.
- 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 18:29:47
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn522361
Download & Licensing
In-Person Research
- By Appointment
- Request 21 Days in Advance of Visit
- Plan a Research Visit
- Request to See This Object
Contact Us
Also in Ann West collection
The collection consists of badges, an armband, a cloth, scrip, a pamphlet, and personal papers related to Ann West's work for a German military laundry near Berlin, her deportation to Auschwitz and liberation, and her mother’s survival in Theresienstadt and status as a victim of fascism.
Date: 1943-1988
Armband worn in Ravensbruck concentration camp
Object
The armband is made of red cloth and inscribed with the letters "L.P." (Lagerpolizei).
Cloth square cut from a blue and gray striped concentration camp inmate uniform
Object
The blue and gray-striped cloth was cut from an inmate's uniform at Auschwitz concentration camp
Ann West papers
Document
The Ann West papers consist of Red Cross correspondence Ann sent to her sister in the United States just before her deportation to Auschwitz and following her liberation, an identification card documenting her mother’s status as a victim of fascism, a photograph of six girls working at a German military laundry, lyrics to concentration camp songs, and a copy of a poem by Johannes R. Becher. The Red Cross correspondence includes Ann’s last communication to her sister Emmy Pomper from the Hachshara at Neuendorf bei Fürstenwalde before her deportation to Auschwitz and her effort to contact Emmy following her liberation from Malchow. Johanna Neumann’s identification card documenting her status as a victim of fascism was issued in Leipzig in 1946. The photograph depicts a group of girls who worked with Ann at a German military laundry during their time at Neuendorf bei Fürstenwalde. They were deported to Auschwitz with Ann and most were killed. The songs and poem include typed lyrics to “Die Moorsoldaten” (mislabeled “Dachau Lied”) and “Buchenwaldlied” and a photocopy of “Kinderschuhe aus Lublin.” “Die Moorsoldaten” was composed by political prisoners in the Börgermoor concentration camp in 1933, “Buchenwaldlied” was composed by Jewish prisoners in Buchenwald in 1938, and “Kinderschuhe aus Lublin” was written by Johannes R. Becher after the war. The lyrics and poem were given to Ann West by camp survivors.
Book
Object