Imperial Germany, Darlehnskassenschein [State Loan Office] 1 mark note from the album of a Waffen-SS officer acquired by an American soldier 2013.455.2 front

Imperial Germany Darlehnskassenschein [State Loan Office] emergency 1 [eine] mark note from the album of Hauptsturmfuhrer Gerhard Pleiss, a officer in the Waffen-SS, SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler," 1st Company. Notes of this type were first issued as supplemental currency at the beginning of World War I (1914-1918) and remained in circulation until the hyperinflation of 1923. In 1936, the 21 year old Pleiss volunteered for the SS and was accepted into the Leibstandart, Hitler's personal bodyguard. He was awarded for his leadership in the May 1940 invasion of France and the April 1941 Balkans campaign. In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Pleiss was killed by a mine on November 17, 1941, during the offensive on Rostov-on-Don. The note was preserved in Pleiss's photograph album, which was brought back from the war by Milton V. Elliott, an American soldier.

Imperial Germany Darlehnskassenschein [State Loan Office] emergency 1 [eine] mark note from the album of Hauptsturmfuhrer Gerhard Pleiss, a officer in the Waffen-SS, SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler," 1st Company. Notes of this type were first issued as supplemental currency at the beginning of World War I (1914-1918) and remained in circulation until the hyperinflation of 1923. In 1936, the 21 year old Pleiss volunteered for the SS and was accepted into the Leibstandart, Hitler's personal bodyguard. He was awarded for his leadership in the May 1940 invasion of France and the April 1941 Balkans campaign. In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Pleiss was killed by a mine on November 17, 1941, during the offensive on Rostov-on-Don. The note was preserved in Pleiss's photograph album, which was brought back from the war by Milton V. Elliott, an American soldier.