Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 1 krone note, issued to a Dutch Jewish inmate
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm) | Width: 4.000 inches (10.16 cm)
Archival History
The Theresienstadt scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2009 by Diana Nikkels, the granddaughter of Abigael de Vries and the daughter of Ingeborg de Vries Nikkels.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Diana Nikkels
Scope and Content
Scrip, valued at 1 krone, that may have been issued to Abigael de Vries in the Theresienstadt (Terezin) ghetto-labor camp in 1943. All currency was confiscated from deportees upon entry and replaced with scrip and ration coupons that could be exchanged only in the camp. Abigael was living in Amsterdam with her two children, 10 year old Hansje and 9 year old Ingeborg, when it was occupied by Germany in May 1940. The family was deported to Westerbork transit camp on May 26, 1943. In September, the children were released and sent to an orphanage in Amsterdam. Abigael was deported the next day to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. On January 25, 1944, she was transferred to Theresienstadt and was there when the camp was liberated by Soviet troops on May 9, 1945. She was able to return to Amsterdam in July 1945. Her children were with her sisters who had taken custody of them from the orphanage in 1943. Hansje was paralyzed from the neck down, having been shot in the neck by a German soldier on April 23, 1945, while foraging for coal with his sister. Amsterdam had experienced severe food and fuel emergencies since the spring of 1945 so Abigael sent Inge to Copenhagen. Hansje died of his injuries on July 11, 1946.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Rectangular paper scrip with a graphic design in black and green ink on a green background. The face depicts Moses holding 2 stone tablets with the 10 Commandments in Hebrew characters within a medallion on the left, with German text on the right. The right side has a wide, off-white border with the denomination 1 in the lower corner and a 6-pointed Star of David above. The reverse has a green geometric background design with German text and a scrollwork line. Below the text is an engraved signature. The denomination 1 is in the upper right corner. The left side has a wide, off-white border with the denomination 1 in the lower corner with a 6-pointed Star of David above. The plate letter and number is in the upper left corner.
Subjects
- Concentration camps--Economic aspects.
- Deportees--Netherlands--Biography.
- Women Concentration camp inmates--Czech Republic--Terezín (Ústecký kraj)--Biography.
- Concentration camp inmates--Czech Republic--Terezín (Ústecký kraj)--Biography.
- Jewish ghettos-Economic aspects.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Netherlands--Amsterdam--Personal narratives.
Genre
- Exchange Media
- Object