Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 20 mark note acquired by a Polish Jewish survivor
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 3.125 inches (7.938 cm) | Width: 6.250 inches (15.875 cm)
Creator(s)
- Henry Tovey (Subject)
- Bella J. Tovey (Subject)
Biographical History
Bella Jakubowicz (later Tovey) was born in 1926 in Sosnowiec, Poland. She was the oldest of four children. Her father owned a knitting factory which the Germans confiscated after they invaded Poland in 1939. The family's furniture was given to an ethnic German woman. They were forced to move to the ghetto where Bella was a forced laborer in a factory. At the end of 1942, the family was sent to the ghetto in Będzin, Poland. In 1943, Bella was deported to Gräben a subcamp of Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Germany. In 1944, she was sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She was liberated in April 1945 by British forces. Bella emigrated to the United States in 1946.
Archival History
The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990 by Bella Jakubowicz Tovey, wife of Henry Tovey.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Bella Jakubowicz Tovey
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
Łódź ghetto scrip, 20 (zwanzig) mark note, acquired by Henry Tovey while imprisoned in the Łódź Ghetto. Nazi Germany occupied Poland on September 1, 1939; Łódź was renamed Litzmannstadt and 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 Germans closed the ghetto in the summer of 1944 by deporting the residents to concentration camps or killing centers. Henry later married Bella Jacubowicz, who was from Sosnowiec, Poland. Bella, her parents, and her three younger siblings were forced into the ghetto. At the end of 1942, the family was sent to the ghetto in Bedzin. In 1943, Bella was deported to Graben, a subcamp of Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Germany. In 1944, she was sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She was liberated in April 1945 by British forces. Bella emigrated to the United States in 1946.
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 is soiled, worn, and creased, with a large, oily black stain.
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--United States--Personal narratives.
- Concentration camp inmates--Germany--Biography.
- Slave labor--Germany--Biography.
- Jewish refugees--United States--Biography.
- Jewish ghettos--Poland--Łódź--Biography.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Personal narratives.
- Women concentration camp inmates--Germany--Biography.
Genre
- Exchange Media
- Object