Central Reserve Bank of China, 10 yuan note, acquired by a German Jewish refugee

Object | Accession Number: 1990.114.65

Overview

Brief Narrative: 10 yuan note, occupation currency issued by the Central Reserve Bank of China acquired by Peter Victor when he lived as a refugee in Shanghai, China, from 1938-1947. This was the bank set up by the pupper government installed by the Japanese in Nanjing in 1941, also known as the State Bank of the Republic of China government in Nanjing. This emergency currency was issued to deal with the high inflation rates caused by the war. Peter, 18, left Berlin for Shanghai in 1938 to escape the anti-Jewish policies of the Nazi-led government. His parents, Carl and Elsa, arrived in Shanghai in 1939. Carl died in 1940 and Elsa in 1942. Shanghai was liberated by the United States Army on September 3, 1945. With the aid of the American Joint Distribution Committee, Peter emigrated to America in December 1947.
Date: issue: 1940
received: 1940-1947
Geography: received: Hongkou Qu (Shanghai, China)
Credit Line: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Peter M. Victor, in memory of Carl and Elsa Victor and Berta Neidermann Victor
Markings: face, upper left and right, red ink : V/H246618E
back, corners and sides, on blue ink : 10
back, center, on blue ink : THE CENTRAL RESERVE BANK OF CHINA / TEN YUAN / 1940
back, bottom, left and right, blue ink : T. K. Chien / VICE GOVERNOR / F.H. Chow. / GOVERNOR
Contributor: Subject: Peter M. Victor
Issuer: Central Reserve Bank of China
Biography: Peter Max Victor was born in Munich, Germany, on April 19, 1920, the only child of Carl Nathan and Elsa Alexander Victor. Carl was born in Gusten on May 1, 1879, to Louis (1832-1901) and Henrietta Pels Victor (1850-1940). Carl had a sister, Rebecca (1881-1970) who married a gentile, Gustav Adler (1882-1958), and had two sons. Elsa was born on December 25, 1888. Carl served in the Germany Army during World War I (1914-1918.) Carl was a poet and chemist and owner of a food dye and preservatives factory. Elsa worked with the business. In 1924, the family moved to Berlin. The family was well off and Jewish, but not especially observant. After the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship in Germany in 1933, anti-Jewish legislation and restrictions became increasingly harsh. Carl’s business was not restricted and it converted to produce war rations for the Army. After the Kristallnacht destruction of November 9-10, 1938, the family decided to leave Germany. They bought tickets for Shanghai, China, because it was an open port with no visa requirements.

Peter left Germany on May 15, 1939, and arrived in Shanghai on June 14. Carl sold the family’s furniture and his factory. Jews could take almost no money out of Germany. Carl entrusted the sale proceeds to a friend who said he would transfer it to a bank in Shanghai, but never did. Carl and Elsa arrived in Shanghai in June 1939 on the Conte Rosso. They lived together in a small room, but life was difficult because they were penniless. Peter worked odd jobs in a hospital and community kitchen. Both of his parents contracted tropical diseases. Carl died, 61, of amoebic dysentery on November 29, 1940. Elsa developed diabetes because of the lack of adequate food and, at age, 54, passed away on May 9, 1942. Peter had to move to Hongkew ghetto in 1943 and got a job as a lifeguard at Hongkew Park, a country club for the elite of the Japanese occupation authorities.

The war in Europe ended with Germany's surrender on May 7, 1945. Shanghai was liberated by the United States Army on September 3, 1945. Peter worked as a dispatcher and driver for the US Army Air Force motor pool. In December 1947, the American Joint Distribution Committee assisted Peter in emigrating to America on the USNS Marine Adder. His paternal aunt, Rebecca Adler, survived the war in Berlin; her husband, who was not Jewish, had been able to save her, but both their sons were killed by the Nazis. For two years, he lived in San Francisco. Peter married Berta Neidermann Spiner on April 25, 1951, in Chicago. Berta, born January 20, 1917, had arrived in the US in 1938, a refugee from Nazi ruled Vienna. Her parents, Joseph and Anna Scheier Neidermann, were murdered in Auschwitz. Peter and Berta settled in Washington DC. Peter owned a gift business. After his retirement, he volunteered at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Berta, 71, passed away on May 28, 1988. Peter, 73, died on May 7, 1993.

Physical Details

Language: Chinese English
Classification: Exchange Media
Category: Money
Object Type: Occupation currency (lcsh)
Physical Description: Chinese currency on rectangular offwhite paper with blue ink. The face has a rectangular border with a latticework pattern and corner embellishments with the denomination 10 in Chinese characters. There is a realistic portrait bust of a Chinese male, Sun Yat-sen, in the center, with an embellishment with Chinese text to each side. The serial number in red ink is in the upper left and right with 6 Chinese characters in the center. There are 2 square Chinese seals in red ink in the bottom left and right. The back has a rectangular border with a beehive pattern and corner embellishments with the denomination 10. There is a medallion with the denomination 10 on the left and right sides and TEN YUAN in the bottom center. In the background is an image of a large stone building with a terraced garden and long stepped approach, the Sun Yat-sen mausoleum. The currency is creased, soiled, and has orange stains.
Dimensions: overall: Height: 3.250 inches (8.255 cm) | Width: 6.500 inches (16.51 cm)
Materials: overall : paper, ink

Rights & Restrictions

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

Keywords & Subjects

Topical Term: Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Berlin. Jewish families--Germany--Berlin. Jewish refugees--China--Shanghai. Jews--China--Shanghai--History--20th century. World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--China--Shanghai.
Geographic Name: United States--Emigration and immigration.

Administrative Notes

Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: The currency was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by Arleen Tievsky, the executor of the Estate of Peter Victor.
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:: 2024-06-25 09:49:02
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn531683

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The collection consists of artifacts, currency, documents, photographs, and publications relating to the experiences of Carl, Elsa, and Peter Victor in prewar Berlin, Germany, during World War II in Shanghai, China, where Carl and Elsa Victor passed away, and then to Peter after the war in Shanghai and following his emigration to the United States in 1947.

Date: approximately 1900-approximately 1991

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Central Reserve Bank of China, 10 yuan note, acquired by a German Jewish refugee

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10 yuan note, occupation currency issued by the Central Reserve Bank of China acquired by Peter Victor when he lived as a refugee in Shanghai, China, from 1938-1947. This was the bank set up by the puppet government installed by the Japanese in Nanjing in 1941, and also known as the State Bank of the Republic of China government in Nanjing. This emergency currency was issued to deal with the high inflation rates caused by the war. Peter, 18, left Berlin for Shanghai in 1938 to escape the anti-Jewish policies of the Nazi-led government. His parents, Carl and Elsa, arrived in Shanghai in 1939. Carl died in 1940 and Elsa in 1942. Shanghai was liberated by the United States Army on September 3, 1945. With the aid of the American Joint Distribution Committee, Peter emigrated to America in December 1947.

Central Bank of China, 100 yuan note, acquired by a German Jewish refugee

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100 yuan note issued by the Central Bank of China acquired by Peter Victor when he lived as a refugee in Shanghai, China, from 1938-1947. It features the portrait of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Republic of China, who promoted the establishment of a national banking system. This bank is now known as the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Peter, 18, left Berlin for Shanghai in 1938 to escape the anti-Jewish policies of the Nazi-led government. His parents, Carl and Elsa, arrived in Shanghai in 1939. Carl died in 1940 and Elsa in 1942. Shanghai was liberated by the United States Army on September 3, 1945. With the aid of the American Joint Distribution Committee, Peter emigrated to America in December 1947.

Shanghai Jewish Chronicle clipping

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canceled British postage stamp acquired by a German Jewish refugee

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canceled British 2.5 shilling postage stamp acquired by Peter Victor when he lived as a refugee in Shanghai, China, from 1938-1947. Peter, 18, left Berlin for Shanghai in 1938 to escape the anti-Jewish policies of the Nazi-led government. His parents, Carl and Elsa, arrived in Shanghai in 1939. Carl died in 1940 and Elsa in 1942. Shanghai was liberated by the United States Army on September 3, 1945. With the aid of the American Joint Distribution Committee, Peter emigrated to America in December 1947.

Peter and Berta Victor papers

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The Peter and Berta Victor papers consist of an autograph book, biographical materials, correspondence, printed materials, restitution files, and writings documenting Peter and Berta Victor, their families, and their lives in Berlin, Vienna, Shanghai, and the United States. The autograph book belonged to Peter Victor and contains a handful of entries from friends and family members. Biographical materials consist of family trees; identification papers; birth, marriage, and death certificates; affidavits; employment records; and letters of recommendation documenting Peter and Berta Victor, Peter’s relatives, their pre-war lives in Germany and Austria, Peter’s time in Shanghai, and their immigration to the United States. Correspondence includes postcards and letters between Peter and Berta Victor and their family members and friends in Germany, Shanghai, and America during and after the war. The correspondence documents family news and emigration plans. Photographs depict Peter Victor and his family and friends in Germany, Shanghai, and America. Printed materials include two American Red Cross First Aid textbooks, a book about Japanese prints, a Berlin map and brochure, clippings about the Holocaust, and picture postcards depicting scenes in Hawaii, Sacramento, Paris, and Colorado. Restitution files consist of correspondence, affidavits, and forms documenting Peter Victor’s efforts to receive restitution for his family’s lost property, the interruption of his education, the cost of his passage to Shanghai, and the death of his parents in Shanghai. Writings include poems by Carl and Peter Victor as well as a sales description of a meat processing practice and instructions for serving a Viennese dinner.

Souvenir booklet of 10 stamps for Berlin synagogues destroyed during Kristallnacht

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View All 24 Items in the Collection