Overview
- Brief Narrative
- 1 [eine] 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 Carl Rosner
- Markings
- face, serial number, upper right, red ink : Nº 1617032
face, center, black ink : Quittung / über / Eine Mark / Der Aelteste der Juden / in Litzmannstadt / M. Rumkowski / Litzmannstadt, den 15 Mai 1940 [[Receipt for Two Mark / The Eldest of the Jews in Litzmannstadt M Rumkowski Litzmannstadt, May 15 1940]
face, lower right corner, black ink : 1
back, center, black ink : Quittung / über / Eine Mark
back, left and right center, black ink : 1
back, lower center, 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]
back, lower left corner, black ink : 1
Physical Details
- Language
- German
- Classification
-
Exchange Media
- Category
-
Money
- Object Type
-
Scrip (aat)
- Genre/Form
- Money
- Physical Description
- Łódź ghetto scrip on rectangular, offwhite paper printed in black and green ink. The face has a square trellis pattern underprint. The denomination 1 is in the lower right corner. There is a 1.25 inch right margin, then a bordered rectangle with a background of interlocked Stars of David resembling barbed wire; around this rectangle is a border of barbed wire links alternating with Stars of David. In the upper left corner is a large Star of David in a circle. A smaller Star of David within a brown square and the serial number, sometimes with a letter, in red ink replaces the right border. In the center is the denomination Eine Mark and German text. The back has the denomination 1 in the lower left corner. There is a 1.25 inch left margin, then a bordered rectangle with a background of interlocked Stars of David resembling barbed wire. In the center is a 7 branched menorah flanked by the denomination 1 within a set of 9 concentric rings overlaid by a banner with the denomination Eine Mark. The scrip is worn and creased.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm) | Width: 4.750 inches (12.065 cm)
- Materials
- overall : paper, ink
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The Lodz scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Carl Rosner in 2016.
- Record last modified:
- 2024-01-16 12:09:55
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn548883
Also in Carl Rosner Collection
The collection consists of one Łódź ghetto note, one Buchenwald coupon, a purse, a ribbon, an autograph album, documents, and photographs related to the experience of Carl Rosner in prewar Germany, in Buchenwald concentration camp during the Holocaust, and in Sweden after the war, as well as to the experiences of his wife Frieda Zeidshnur in Łódź, Poland.
Carl Heinz Rosner papers
Document
The collection documents the Holocaust experiences of Carl Heinz Rosner of Hamburg, Germany including his stay at a Jewish orphanage from 1937-1942; the deportation Rosner and his brother Joseph to the Buchenwald concentration camp; and his life as a post-war refugee in Stockholm, Sweden. The collection also includes a small amount of material related to the experiences of his wife Frieda Rosner and her parents Zelman and Judith Zeidshnur of Wilno, Poland (modern day Vilnius, Lithuania). Included are biographical materials such as passports, naturalization certificates, birth certificates, and wedding certificates; wartime correspondence of Jacob Ettlinger, a German Jew living in Stockholm who worked with several aid organizations and assisted Jewish refugees, including Carl and his mother Rachel Rosner; and photographs that depict pre-war lives of the Rosner and Zeidshnur families, Carl and his brother Joseph’s time at the orphanage, and post-war life in Haifa, Israel. Also included is Frieda Rosner’s autograph book from post-war Łódź, Poland. The correspondence of Jacob Ettlinger contains letters sent and received in 1944. The correspondents include family members, refugees, Jews in concentration camps, and aid organizations. There is correspondence with Carl Rosner prior to his deportation to Buchenwald. There is also correspondence with the Seinfeld family regarding Carl and his brother’s deportation to Buchenwald, and whether or not to inform their mother Rachel Rosner because of her mental health at the time. The letters are arranged alphabetically. A: Abel, Isidore; Aktiebolagst Aerotransport; American Legation in Stockholm; Anderson, Ludwig; Anderson, Alfred; Andersson, David; Auerbach, Marta, Auerbach, Philipp. B: Baer, J.F.; Bamberger, Rechy; Berlas, Chaim, Barth, Otto; Benzian, Silvia; Bergman, Dick; Bergstein, T.; Berlinger, E. [Rabbi]; Bindefeld, A.; Bodenheimer, E.L.; Bromma Judiska Försammling; Bulka, Paul; Buren, Irvin; Böyesen, Svein. C: Centrala Hjälpkomittén för Leningrads Barn; Centralpostkontoret; Cohn, Arnold; Cohn, Georg; Cohn, Paula. D: Danska Förläggningen; David, Albert; Diefenbronner, Elsa; Diefenbronner, Erich; Diefenbronner, Hermann. E: Emanuel, Jacob; Emigranternas Siälvhjälp; Ettlinger, Erna; Ettlinger, Helene; Ettlinger, Leo; Ettlinger, Maier. F: Feist, Edwin; Feist, Mrs. Philippe; Fischhoff, Franz; Fleischman, Paul; Fleischman, Rebecka; American Jewish Congress regarding Max Friediger; Fürth, Hildegard. G: Goldberger, Franz; Goldschmidt, Victor; Goldstein, Heimann; Gordon and Tankus; Gorgéns electrical company; Grünberg, A.; Grünstein, Mrs. S.; Grönblom, Berndt. H: Haitkin, Sam; HEROS Handels AB; Hirsch, Bernard; Hirsch, Frank; Hollander, Arthur; Hollander, Fritz; Horovitz, Leo; Hultsfora Sanatorium; Hüttner, Julius. I: Ischenhäuser, Elias; Ischenhäuser, Rachel; Igell, Nissen; International Red Cross. J: Jacobsson, A.J.; Jacobson, Wolf; Jacoby, Käthe; Jaffe, Moses; Josephson, Gunnar.
Black purse
Object
Buchenwald Standort-Kantine concentration camp scrip, 2 Reichsmark
Object
2 Reichsmark coupon issued at Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. Buchenwald opened on July 19, 1937, and issued undated notes in 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 mark denominations. The simply designed notes were printed on coarse paper. There were two types of coupons: canteen scrip and exchange scrip issued to members of outside labor brigades [Aussenkommandos.] 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.
Ribbon
Object