Buchenwald subcamp scrip, 1 Reichsmark note for use in Rottleberode
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 3.125 inches (7.938 cm) | Width: 3.875 inches (9.843 cm)
Archival History
The scrip was donated to the United Sates Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003 by Joel Forman.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Joel Forman
Scope and Content
Scrip, valued at 1 Reichsmark, distributed in Rottleberode, a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. While held at the camp, inmates were compelled to work, and a special currency was issued to incentivize work output, though the money had no real monetary value. Buchenwald operated 134 subcamps, and issued two different types of special currency. The exchange scrip had Außenkommando, outside command, printed across the front, and was issued to inmates working in the Buchenwald subcamps. The canteen scrip, which did not have Außenkommando printed on it, was used in the main camp. Both types of notes were issued in .50, 1, 2, and 3 mark denominations. Rottleberode opened as a subcamp of Buchenwald in March 1944, when prisoners were sent to excavate caves in the area. In October 1944, Mittelbau (Central Construction) concentration camp (also called Dora-Mittelbau and Nordhausen) in Germany, took over administration of Rottleberode. Under both administrations, inmates worked as forced laborers for the Junkers aircraft factory. The subcamp was evacuated in April 1945, as Allied forces approached. The prisoners were sent on forced marches to Niedersachswerfen subcamp and Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany. The majority of them did not survive.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Buchenwald subcamp scrip printed on lightweight, rectangular, cream-colored paper. The face has a large, central rectangle surrounded by a narrow, blank border. Within the rectangle is a pale blue, floral patterned design with scalloped edges formed by narrow vertical lines of varying heights. Printed in the top left corner and diagonally across the center is German text in black ink. An SS camp name is stamped in black ink diagonally right of center. The serial number and denomination are printed in black ink at the bottom. There is heavy staining overall, and the edges are very worn. There are vertical and horizontal center creases with a small hole in the center, and a piece of discolored tape across the majority of the horizontal crease on the back.
face, rectangle, diagonal right center, stamped, black ink : [SS lightning bolts]-Ko. Rottleberode / A5 [SS subcamp Rottleberode]
Corporate Bodies
Subjects
- Concentration camps--Economic aspects.
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Economic aspects.
- Paper money--Germany.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Buchenwald.
- Holocaust--economic aspect.
- Weimar (Thuringia, Germany)
- Rottleberode (Germany)
Genre
- Object
- Money.
- Exchange Media