Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 1 mark note
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm) | Width: 4.625 inches (11.748 cm)
Archival History
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.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Marvin Benn
Scope and Content
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.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
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.
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Economic aspects.
- Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.
- Jewish ghettos--Economic aspects--Poland--Łódź.
Genre
- Exchange Media
- Object