Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 1 mark note, owned by a Polish Jewish survivor

Identifier
irn906
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1989.185.2
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm) | Width: 4.750 inches (12.065 cm)

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Wanda Neumark (Neimark) was born in Łódź, Poland, in 1919 to Ewa and Salomon Neumark. She had two younger sisters, Hala, (later Helen Fagin) born in 1922, and Teresa, born in 1930. They were raised in Radomsko. In September 1939, Germany invaded and occupied Poland. The Jewish population of Radomsko were confined to a ghetto. Wanda escaped the ghetto with the help of Henryk Wroblewski. She assumed a non-Jewish alias, Natalia Władysława Drozdowska. She was living in Busko-Zdrój when the city was liberated in January 1945 by Soviet forces. The war ended when Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945. She learned that her parents were deported and murdered in Treblinka killing center in September 1942. Wanda and her sisters left for Austria. Wanda worked for United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) in Wels and Badgstein displaced persons camps. In June 1946, Wanda married a Jewish American soldier Jacob Lomazow (1917-2012) and, in October, immigrated to the United States. Wanda, 67, passed away in 1986.

Archival History

The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1989 by Steven Lomazow.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Steven M. Lomazow

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

1 (eine) mark receipt issued in the Łódź ghetto acquired by Wanda Neumark. The Germans used ghettos to segregate and control the Jewish population. All currency and valuables were confiscated and, in Łódź, a system of scrip or Quittungen [receipts] that could be exchanged only in the ghetto was implemented. After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Wanda, 20, her parents Salomon and Ewa, and her younger sisters Hela and Teresa were confined to the Radomsko ghetto. Wanda escaped with the help of Henryk Wroblewski and assumed a non-Jewish identity as Natalia Władysława Drozdowska. Her parents were murdered in Treblinka killing center in September 1942. Wanda was liberated in Busko-Zdroj by Soviet forces in January 1945. The war ended when Germany surrendered that May. Wanda and her sisters left for Austria. In June 1946, Wanda married a Jewish American soldier Jacob Lomazow and immigrated to the United States that October.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Łódź scrip on rectangular, offwhite paper printed in black and green ink. The face has a square trellis pattern underprint. The denomination 1 is in the lower right corner. There is a 1.25 inch right margin, then a bordered rectangle with a background of interlocked Stars of David; around this rectangle is a border of barbed wire links alternating with Stars of David. In the upper left corner is a large Star of David in a circle. A smaller Star of David within a brown square and the serial letter and number in red ink replace the right border. In the center is the denomination Eine Mark and German text. The back has the denomination 1 in the lower left corner. There is a 1.25 inch left margin, then a bordered rectangle with a background of interlocked Stars of David. In the center is a 7 branched menorah flanked by the denomination 1 within a set of 9 concentric rings overlaid by a banner with the denomination Eine Mark. The scrip is in like new condition.

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.