Lodz (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 10 mark note 2007.45.100 back
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Washington, United States
10 (zehn) mark note receipt created in the Lodz ghetto and recovered from the ghetto by Malwina (Inka) Gerson and her parents, Dora and Gustav. When the Germans transferred Jews to the ghetto, they confiscated all currency in exchange for Quittungen [receipts] that could be spent only inside the ghetto. The scrip was designed by the Judenrat [Jewish Council] and includes traditional Jewish symbols. After the German occupation of Poland in 1939, 11 year old Inka and her family were forced into the Jewish ghetto in Lodz, which was renamed Litzmannstadt by the Germans. All ghetto inhabitants over the age of 10 had to work and Inka worked in a hat-making workshop. The Germans destroyed the ghetto in July 1944 and Inka's family was part of the work detail kept to clean up and salvage materials from the ghetto and to dig mass graves. The Allen family avoided the subsequent deportations to concentration camps and were still living in the ghetto when the city was liberated by the Russian Army in early 1945. The family left Poland for Bolivia in 1945.
10 (zehn) mark note receipt created in the Lodz ghetto and recovered from the ghetto by Malwina (Inka) Gerson and her parents, Dora and Gustav. When the Germans transferred Jews to the ghetto, they confiscated all currency in exchange for Quittungen [receipts] that could be spent only inside the ghetto. The scrip was designed by the Judenrat [Jewish Council] and includes traditional Jewish symbols. After the German occupation of Poland in 1939, 11 year old Inka and her family were forced into the Jewish ghetto in Lodz, which was renamed Litzmannstadt by the Germans. All ghetto inhabitants over the age of 10 had to work and Inka worked in a hat-making workshop. The Germans destroyed the ghetto in July 1944 and Inka's family was part of the work detail kept to clean up and salvage materials from the ghetto and to dig mass graves. The Allen family avoided the subsequent deportations to concentration camps and were still living in the ghetto when the city was liberated by the Russian Army in early 1945. The family left Poland for Bolivia in 1945.
- Title: Lodz (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 10 mark note 2007.45.100 back
- Provenance: The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007 by Malwina "Inka" Gerson Allen., The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007 by Malwina "Inka" Gerson Allen.
- Subject Keywords: Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Economic aspects. Jewish children in the Holocaust--Poland. Jewish families--Poland--Łódź. Jewish ghettos--Economic aspects--Poland--Łódź. Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945., Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Economic aspects. Jewish children in the Holocaust--Poland. Jewish families--Poland--Łódź. Jewish ghettos--Economic aspects--Poland--Łódź. Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945.
- Type: Exchange Media, Exchange Media
- Rights: Permanent Collection, Permanent Collection
- External Link: See the full record at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, See the full record at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Medium: Offwhite rectangular paper scrip with a graphic design in green ink. The face has a watermark with a pattern of ornate linked chains of varying sizes. The serial number in orange ink is in the upper left corner. The denomination 10 is in the lower left corner in bold font and in the upper right in a green square. There is a 1.75 inch left margin, then a rectangle with a curved upper left corner with a background of interlocked Stars of David with a large Jewish star in a circle in the upper left corner. Across the center is the textual denomination and German text. The back has a blank 1.75 inch margin, then a rectangle with a pattern of interlocked Stars of David. There is German text in the upper left corner and below the rectangle and a 7-branched candelabrum within the lower left corner. The denomination 10 in bold font is outside the rectangle at the lower left corner; above this, near the upper right corner, is a Star of David outline in a black square., Offwhite rectangular paper scrip with a graphic design in green ink. The face has a watermark with a pattern of ornate linked chains of varying sizes. The serial number in orange ink is in the upper left corner. The denomination 10 is in the lower left corner in bold font and in the upper right in a green square. There is a 1.75 inch left margin, then a rectangle with a curved upper left corner with a background of interlocked Stars of David with a large Jewish star in a circle in the upper left corner. Across the center is the textual denomination and German text. The back has a blank 1.75 inch margin, then a rectangle with a pattern of interlocked Stars of David. There is German text in the upper left corner and below the rectangle and a 7-branched candelabrum within the lower left corner. The denomination 10 in bold font is outside the rectangle at the lower left corner; above this, near the upper right corner, is a Star of David outline in a black square.
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