Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 20 mark note, acquired by an inmate
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 3.125 inches (7.938 cm) | Width: 6.125 inches (15.557 cm)
Archival History
The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2014 by Margaret Isenstein.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Margaret Isenstein
Scope and Content
Scrip receipt for 20 marks issued to Hanna Poznansa when she was imprisoned in the ghetto in Łódź, Poland. Nazi Germany occupied Poland on September 1, 1939. Łódź was renamed Litzmannstadt and, in February 1940, 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
Łódź ghetto scrip on rectangular, offwhite paper printed in black and brown ink. The face has the denomination 20 in the lower left corner and within a black square in the upper right corner. The serial number is in the upper left corner. The background has a diamond latticework design. There is a 1.25 inch right margin, then a overprint of a rectangle with a background of interlocked Stars of David with a large Star of David in a circle in the upper left corner. Across the center is the denomination Zwanzig Mark with German text above and below and an engraved signature on the lower right. The back has a blank 1.25 inch right margin, then a rectangle with a background of interlocked Jewish stars. The denomination Zwanzig Mark is in the upper left corner and the denomination 20 is outside the lower right corner. In the lower left corner is a menorah or 7-branched candelabrum, with German text along the bottom border. The scrip soiled, torn, very worn, and has pink stains.
Subjects
- Jews--Persecutions--Poland--Biography.
- Holocaust survivors--United States--Biography.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Łódź--Personal narratives, Jewish.
- Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.
- Jewish ghettos--Poland--Łódź.
Genre
- Exchange Media
- Object