Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 50 pfennig note
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 2.125 inches (5.398 cm) | Width: 3.250 inches (8.255 cm)
Creator(s)
- Der Aelteste der Juden in Litzmannstadt (Issuer)
Archival History
The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990 by Sheldon Green, of the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of The 1990 Jewish Welfare Fund Appeal of Cleveland's Pre-Mission to Poland Group: Sheldon Green, Minda Jaffe, Sandra Lipman, Bonnie Marks, Tim Neustadt, Victoria Neustadt, Elmer Paull, Alan Schonberg, Carole Schonberg, Harry Steiger
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
50 pfennig receipt issued in the Łódź ghetto in Poland in May 1940. Nazi Germany occupied Poland on September 1, 1939; Łódź was renamed Litzmannstadt and annexed to the German Reich. In February, 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 printed on rectangular offwhite paper in green, purple, and black ink. The face has the denomination 50 in the lower left and upper right corners and a Star of David in the upper left and lower right corners. There is a rectangle of interlocked Magen David with a 7 branched menorah in the center over a latticework underprint. There is an overprint of the denomination 50 PFENNIG and German text in the center. The back has the denomination 50 in the top corners with FUNFZIG PFENNIG in the top center. The serial number and German text are in the bottom center. There is a background of interlocked Magen Davids. The scrip is soiled, very worn, and has creases and tears.
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Economic aspects--Poland--Łódź.
- Jewish councils--Economic aspects--Poland--Łódź.
- Jewish ghettos--Money--Poland--Łódź.
- Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945--Economic aspects.
- Litzmannstadt-Getto (Łódź, Poland)--Economic aspects.
- Money--Poland--Łódź--History--20th century.
- World War, 1939-1945--Economic aspects--Poland.
Genre
- Object
- Exchange Media