Mittelbau forced labor camp scrip, .01 Reichsmark note

Identifier
irn524848
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2003.413.18
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm) | Width: 2.375 inches (6.033 cm)

Creator(s)

Archival History

The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003 by Joel Forman.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Joel Forman

Scope and Content

Scrip (also called chits) valued at 0.01 Reichsmark, distributed to slave laborers in Mittelbau (Central Construction) concentration camp. Mittelbau (also called Dora-Mittelbau and Nordhausen), located near the town of Nordhausen, was originally established on August 28, 1943, as a subcamp of Buchenwald, with the codename, Dora. In response to increased Allied bombing, prisoners were forced to dig huge tunnels in the mountains, safe from aerial destruction. Inside the completed tunnels, the prisoners then constructed factories and storage areas for rocket production. Once completed, assembly line production of V-2 rockets began in late December of 1943. Both forced laborers and German civil workers worked on rocket construction. To encourage productivity on the assembly line, authorities paid the prisoners with scrip which could be exchanged for goods in the camp canteen. Nine denominations were issued: 0.01, 0.05, 0.10, 0.25, 0.50, 1, 2, 5, and 10 marks. In 1944, Mittelbau was converted into an independent concentration camp with over 30 subcamps of its own. On April 4, 1945, with the Allied forces approaching, the Nazis began to remove and destroy evidence of their activities. This included the evacuation of prisoners from the camp and the destruction of documentation relating to the production of the scrip. Mittelbau was liberated on April 11, 1945, by elements of the U.S. 3rd Armored and 104th Infantry Divisions.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Mittelbau scrip printed on small, square-shaped, off-white paper in black ink. The paper is watermarked with a geometric pattern and has a centered, square, hatched background with a two-line border. The series letter is printed within a small rectangular, white banner in the upper right corner. In the center are two rectangular, horizontal, off center, white banners joined jaggedly in the middle containing the camp name with three thick lines below. At the bottom is a rectangular white banner with the camp name on the left and an overlaid, bordered circle containing the numeric value on the right. On the back is a block of German text with the serial number below.

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.