Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 5 kronen note
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm) | Width: 4.625 inches (11.748 cm)
Archival History
The Theresienstadt scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2012 by Martin Shallow III.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Martin Shallow III
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Scrip, valued at 5 [funf] kronen, issued in 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 currency was designed by inmate Peter Kien and printed by the National Bank of Prague. Inmates received the scrip according to a 5-tiered distribution system or as payment for conscript labor arranged by the Jewish Council of Elders who administered the daily life of the ghetto for the Germans. It is unclear what, if anything, could be purchased with the scrip, which was printed in great volume. Theresienstadt camp, located in German occupied Czechoslovakia, existed for 3.5 years, from November 24, 1941 to May 9, 1945. Approximately 140,000 Jews were sent to Theresienstadt; nearly 90,000 were deported to near certain death in the east, and roughly 33,000 died in the camp, most of disease and starvation.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Theresienstadt scrip printed on rectangular, offwhite paper in brown ink. On the face is a vignette of Moses, a bearded man with a wrinkled brow, holding 2 stone tablets with the 10 Commandments in Hebrew. To the right is the denomination 5 and German text. The background rectangle has a wavy, latticework pattern. On the right is a wide margin with the denomination 5 in the bottom corner below a Star of David. The reverse has a diamond latticework background with a pale orange center streak overprinted with the denomination 5 in the upper right corner, and German text, an engraved signature, and a large scrollwork line in the center. The left side has a wide margin with the denomination 5 below a Star of David within a striped circle. The plate letter and number are in the upper left corner. It is uncirculated.
Subjects
- Czechoslovakia--History--1938-1945.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Czechoslovakia--Economic aspects.
- Jewish ghettos--Economic aspects--Czech Republic--Terezin (Ustecky kraj)
- Concentration camps--Economic aspects--Czech Republic--Terezin (Ustecky kraj)
Genre
- Exchange Media
- Object