Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 20 mark note, acquired by a ghetto inmate
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 3.125 inches (7.938 cm) | Width: 6.125 inches (15.558 cm)
Creator(s)
- Marian Rokacz (Subject)
Biographical History
Marian Rokacz was born on December 14, 1910, in Poland. He was a resident of the Łódź before the war. Marian married Eva Honigbaum, who was born on August 23, 1916. Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany in September 1939. In February 1940, the German forcibly relocated the Jewish residents to a sealed ghetto. Marian assumed the identity of a Christian Pole and worked for the Germans during the war. After the liberation of the city by Russian troops, they were able to return to the large apartment in which they had lived before the war. The couple immigrated to the United States in March 1953 and had two sons. Marian, age 86, passed away in March 1987. Eva, age 88, died on October 13, 2004.
Archival History
The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by John Rokacz and Joseph Rokacz, the sons of Marian Rokacz.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of John Rokacz and Joseph Rokacz
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
Scrip receipt for 20 marks issued to Marian Rokacz when he was imprisoned in the ghetto in Łódz, 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] which administered the ghetto for the Germans 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. Marian had assumed the identity of a Christian Pole and worked for the Germans during the occupation.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Rectangular, offwhite paper scrip printed in brown ink with German text in black and brown ink. The face has a background latticework pattern. The serial number in orange ink is in the upper left corner. The denomination 20 is in the lower left corner in bold font and in the upper right corner in a black square. There is a 2 inch left margin, then a rectangle with a curved upper left corner with a background of interlocked Stars of David with a large star in a circle on the upper left. Across the center is the textual denomination with text above and below and an engraved signature on the lower right. The back has a blank background with a 2 inch margin, then a rectangle with a pattern of interlocked Jewish stars. There is text in the upper left corner and below the rectangle, and a 7-branched candelabrum within the lower left corner. The denomination 20 in bold font is outside the rectangle at the lower right corner; above this, near the upper right corner, is a Star of David outline in a black square.
Subjects
- Jewish ghettos--Poland--Łódź.
- Holocaust survivors--United States--Biography.
- Jews--Persecutions--Poland--Biography.
- Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Poland--Łódź--Personal narratives, Jewish.
Genre
- Object
- Exchange Media