Ghetto and Camp Currency, Correspondence and Related Artifacts, 1908-1945 | Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust

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Collection Overview

Title: Ghetto and Camp Currency, Correspondence and Related Artifacts, 1908-1945

Predominant Dates:1939 -- 1945

ID: RG-06/RG-06

Primary Creator: Gutkind, Jurek

Other Creators: Conversion Office for German Foreign Debts, Jonski, Jozef (1912-), Kasimir, Fidor, Medley, Jane, Veronika (Vera) Komlos (née Somogyi), (1901-1944), Jewish female, a resident of Budapest (-- 1944)

Extent: 0.0

Arrangement:

The arrangement scheme for the record group was imposed during processing in the absence of an original order. Materials are arranged by subject/creator, then by the identifier, as assigned by the processor.

Record group is comprised of seven collections: 1. Collection of ghetto and camp money; 2. Numismatic collection; 3. Collection of camp and ghetto correspondence; 4. Eva Beckman collection; 5. Collection of Nazi Germany emigration bonds; 6. Collection of Nazi-counterfeited British bank notes; 7. Collection of Sonderkommando tags.

Subjects: Ghetto-issued monetary scripts, wartime, Lodz ghetto monetary receipts, Monetary signs, receipts, scripts as substitute matters of ghetto money, wartime, Monetary signs and receipts in the Lodz Ghetto, 1940 -- 1944, Monetary surrogates in term of scripts, receipts, ghetto paper money issued in Theresiensdatd ghetto, Paper money and coins, Lodz ghetto, Theresienstadt Ghetto issued banknotes, design and appearance, Theresienstadt ghetto monetary receipts

Forms of Material: A Westerbork camp coupon for 10 cent, 1944, Eine Mark (One Mark) bill, signed by Mordechaj Rumkowski, the Jewish Elder of Lodz Ghetto May 1940, Fifty Kronen bill, issued 1 January 1943, signed by Jacob Eidelstein, Der Alsteste Der Juden, Five Kronen bill, issued 1 January 1943, signed by Jacob Eidelstein, Der Alsteste Der Juden, Monetary surogate scripts issued by the Westerbork internment camp administration, 1944, One hundred Kronen bill, issued 1 January 1943, signed by Jacob Eidelstein, Der Alsteste Der Juden, One Kronen bill, issued 1 January 1943, signed by Jacob Eidelstein, Der Alsteste Der Juden, Ten Kronen bill, issued 1 January 1943, signed by Jacob Eidelstein, Der Alsteste Der Juden, Ten Mark coin, issued in 1943, authorized by Mordechaj Rumkowski, Jewish Elder of the Lodz Ghetto, Twenty Kronen bill, issued 1 January 1943, signed by Jacob Eidelstein, Der Alsteste Der Juden, Two Kronen bill, issued 1 January 1943, signed by Jacob Eidelstein, Der Alsteste Der Juden, Zwanzig Mark (Twenty) bill, signed by Mordechaj Rumkowski, Jewish Elder of the Lodz Ghetto May 1940, Zwei Mark (Two) bill, signed by Mordechaj Rumkowski, Jewish Elder of the Lodz Ghetto May 1940

Languages: German, Dutch;Flemish, Polish

Abstract

This is an authentic collection of ghetto and camp currency, notes and slips that were issued by the ghetto administrations instead of real currency for internal usage in ghettos and camps. The issuance of ghetto money had to be authorized by German authorities. The record group is subdivided into the Lodz Ghetto collection, Theresienstadt Ghetto collection, and the camp collections. This record group also includes the banknotes of several European countries issued in the course of the 19th and 20th centuries. It also contains multiple artifacts related to mundane ghetto and camp life.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The record group includes the banknotes of several European countries issued in the course of the 19th and 20th centuries; bonds issued by the Conversion Office for German Foreign Debts paid to German Jews for confiscated property; multiple artifacts related to ghetto and camp life, such as camp uniform, pottery from the Sobibor concentration camp, and Sonderkommando tags; and ghetto and camp correspondence, including letters and postcards written from the places of incarceration to relatives and friends. The camp correspondence collections includes Józef Jon ski’s correspondence from Dachau concentration camp, Jurek Gutkind’s corresponded with Anna Lipszyc from the Lublin prison and Buchenwald concentration camp, and there is a letter from Kasimir Fidor from Oranienburg concentration camp.

Collection Historical Note

This record group is comprised of collections--specifically those related to ghetto and camp scripts, a German-introduced surrogate for monetary signs. First, for example, Lodz and Theresienstadt ghettos printed the scripts of their own, while the other ghettos circulated local or German currency. Contrarily, many Nazi-German concentration camps operated with the scripts of their own. This coupon-like currency, printed by the camp administrations, was good only for inter-camp use. Also, in ghettos and camps, cigarettes and food could often serve as a currency-like commodities. (Food rarely had any true monetary value and often emerged on the initiative of the Jewish administration in Lodz and Theresienstadt.)

A monetary sub-collection contains banknotes of Weimar Republic. Once issued in the year of 1923, they illustrate an iniquitousness of hyperinflation, overwhelming the Weimar Republic. The very denominations of one hundred thousand and one hundred million serve as a proof of economic and financial crisis.

Banknotes issued in German-occupied countries and territories also exhibit differences in the status of control and occupation. Comparing the following banknotes--Five Kroner of Denmark of 1942, Five Belgian Francs of 1943, and the Five Ukrainian Karbovantsiv of 1942--one can see that Denmark and Belgian retained a currency of their own, in terms of language and design. However, the Ukrainian banknotes, issued by the German authorities in Ukraine reflects the status of an occupied territory, controlled by German military and civil administration.

Biographical Note

Jurek was a friend of Anna Lipszyc (see Anna Lipszyc Collection, RG-01.08) It is believed that he, a Polish auxiliary policeman, organized and provided all the necessary documents enabling Anna to maintain a false Polish identity. Jurek, being personally attached to Anna (or Anka), corresponded with her while she was in Germany. Jurek was falsely accused of accepting a bribe and imprisoned in Lublin by the German authority, ultimately being sentenced to a term at a concentration camp, Buchenwald. Jurek believed that he was slandered by his fellow Polish policemen. A testimony to his feelings for her, Jurek continued writing letters to Anna from Buchenwald.

Subject/Index Terms

Ghetto-issued monetary scripts, wartime
Lodz ghetto monetary receipts
Monetary signs, receipts, scripts as substitute matters of ghetto money, wartime
Monetary signs and receipts in the Lodz Ghetto, 1940 -- 1944
Monetary surrogates in term of scripts, receipts, ghetto paper money issued in Theresiensdatd ghetto
Paper money and coins, Lodz ghetto
Theresienstadt Ghetto issued banknotes, design and appearance
Theresienstadt ghetto monetary receipts

Administrative Information

Repository: Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust

Access Restrictions: No restrictions

Use Restrictions:

Copyrighted materials, credits to and references to the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust are required

Digital copies might be available upon request

Preferred Citation: RG-06, Ghetto and Camp Currency, Correspondence, and Related Artifacts. Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust Archive.

Processing Information: Materials are primarily described using the local descriptive standards of the LA Museum of the Holocaust.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Sub-Collection:

[Sub-Collection 1: RG-06.01, Ghetto and camp money, 1942 1945],
[Sub-Collection 2: RG-06.02, Numismatic Collection, 1919 -- 1945],
[Sub-Collection 3: RG-06.03, Correspondences of inmate like status, 1941--1945],
[Sub-Collection 4: RG-06.04, Eva Beckman Collection, 1942--1945],
[Sub-Collection 5: RG-06.05, Emigration Bonds, Nazi Germany, 1933],
[Sub-Collection 6: RG-06.06, Nazi counterfeited British bank notes, 1942 -- 1945],
[Sub-Collection 7: RG-06.07, Sonderkommando tags, 1942--1945],
[Sub-Collection 8: RG-06.08, The Last Letter of Veronika (Vera) Komlos (nee Somogyi)],
[All]

Sub-Collection 3: RG-06.03, Correspondences of inmate like status, 1941--1945

This collection contains correspondence from and to ghettos and camps located in Poland, Germany, and Italy.

Subject/Index Terms:: prisoner correspondence, 1933 -- 1945; correspondence to and from concentration camps; Correspondence between occupied and unoccupied territories

Creators:: Jonski, Jozef (1912-); Lipszyc, Anna (1918-); Kasimir, Fidor

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 1: RG-06.03.01, Postcard from Krakow to camp Ferramonti, Italy, 20 December 1941

A postcard sent from the Kracow Ghetto to camp Ferramonto, Italy in December 1941.

Subject/Index Terms:: Cracow (Poland); Cracow (Poland: Ghetto); prisoner correspondence, 1933 -- 1945; Personal correspondence; postcards; Camp Ferramonti, Italy

Creators:: Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Cracow Ghetto (1940 --1941)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 2: RG-06.03.02, Letter from Kasimir Fidor in Oranienburg concentration camp to Stanislawa Fidor in Lublin, 17 August 1941

A letter from Kasimir Fidor in Oranienburg Concentration Camp to Stanislawa Fidor in Lublin written August 17, 1941. The letter is in German.

Subject/Index Terms:: Fidor, Kasimir; Fidor, Stanislawa; Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen, German Concentration Camp; Lublin (Poland); prisoner correspondence, 1933 -- 1945; Personal correspondence

Creators:: Kasimir, Fidor

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 3: RG-06.03.03, Letter from Jozef Jonski in Dachau to Aunt, First letter, Camp life, 18 June 1944

The first letter written by Jozef Jonski from Dachau Concentration Camp to his Aunt, Bronislawa Nowak, in Lodz on June 18, 1944. The letter is written in German and speaks about insignificant details about camp life. Jonski is mostly grateful to Nowak for her letters and news.

Subject/Index Terms:: Jonski, Jozef; Dachau (Germany: Concentration Camp); prisoner correspondence, 1933 -- 1945; Personal correspondence; day-to-day life in Nazi concentration camps

Creators:: Jonski, Jozef (1912-)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 4: RG-06.03.04, Letter from Jozef Jonski in Dachau to Aunto, Thank you, 16 July 1944

The second letter from Jozef Jonski from Dachau Concentration Camp to his aunt, Bronislawa Nowak, in Lodz dated July 16, 1944. The letter is in German. Jonski thanks his aunt profusely for her correspondence and speaks about a woman whom he has lost and greatly misses.

Subject/Index Terms:: Jonski, Jozef; Dachau (Germany: Concentration Camp); prisoner correspondence, 1933 -- 1945; Personal correspondence

Creators:: Jonski, Jozef (1912-)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 5: RG-06.03.05, Letter from Jozef Jonski in Dachau to Aunt, Well wishes, 3 September 1944

Jozef Jonski's third letter from Dachau Concentration Camp to his aunt, Bronislawa Nowak, in Lodz dated September 3, 1944. The letter is written in German and mostly emphasizes that he wishes to keep hearing from his aunt and some other family members. He asks that his aunt be more careful when sending him food packages as the last one was bad when it arrived and to please not write about a woman, Regina, whom he has lost.

Subject/Index Terms:: Jonski, Jozef; Dachau (Germany: Concentration Camp); prisoner correspondence, 1933 -- 1945; Personal correspondence

Creators:: Jonski, Jozef (1912-)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 6: RG-06.03.06, from Jozef Jonski in Dachau to Aunt, Questions, 1 October 1944

Jozef Jonski's fourth letter from Dachau Concentration Camp to his aunt, Bronislawa Nowak, in Lodz dated October 1, 1944. The letter is in German and asks several questions, especially regarding his daughter, Wiesia. He thanks his family profusely for writing him and wishes them well.

Subject/Index Terms:: Jonski, Jozef; Dachau (Germany: Concentration Camp); prisoner correspondence, 1933 -- 1945; Personal correspondence

Creators:: Jonski, Jozef (1912-)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 7: RG-06.03.07, from Jozef Jonski, Post-liberation, 2 May 1945

Jozef Jonski's fifth letter written after the liberation of Dachau Concentration Camp dated May 2, 1945. The letter is in Polish and it is addressed to his aunt, but it is otherwise unclear who the letter is for and where it was sent. Jonski is excited to write his aunt in Polish for the first time and briefly describes the conditions and liberation of Dachau Concentration Camp. He explains that his situation is very chaotic at the moment and that he is still in Dachau and won't be able to come home for at least two or three months.

Subject/Index Terms:: Jonski, Jozef; Personal correspondence; Jewish Liberation; Liberation from German concentration camps; Post-Liberation

Creators:: Jonski, Jozef (1912-)

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 8: RG-06.03.08, Anna Lipszyc, Letter from Jurek (Georg Gutkind) in Polish, 29 June 1943

A letter from Jurek (Georg Gutkind) to Anna Lipszyc dated June 29, 1943. The letter is in Polish.

Subject/Index Terms:: Gutkind, Georg; Lipszyc, Anna; Gutkind, Jurek; Lublin (Poland); Lublin Castle Prison; Personal correspondence; prisoner correspondence, 1933 -- 1945

Creators:: Lipszyc, Anna (1918-); Gutkind, Jurek

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 9: RG-06.03.09, Anna Lipszyc, Letter from Jurek (Georg Gutkind) in German, from Lublin prison, 15 November 1943

A letter from Jurek (Georg Gutkind) from Lublin prison to Anna Lipszyc dated November 15, 1943. The letter is in German.

Subject/Index Terms:: Lipszyc, Anna; Gutkind, Georg; Gutkind, Jurek; Lublin (Poland); Lublin Castle Prison; Personal correspondence; prisoner correspondence, 1933 -- 1945

Creators:: Lipszyc, Anna (1918-); Gutkind, Jurek

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 10: RG-06.03.11, Letter from Westerbork Camp to Amsterdam, 31 December 1943

A letter from Meyer Salomon Susan in Westerbork Camp to Mr. M. Polak in Amsterdam dated December 31, 1943. The letter is in Dutch.

Subject/Index Terms:: Meyer Saloman Susan; Westerbork (Transit camp); Amsterdam (Netherlands); Personal correspondence; prisoner correspondence

Creators:: Meyer Salomon Susan

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 11: RG-06.03.12, Postcard from Warsaw to New York, 18 June 1941

A postcard from F. Friedland in the Warsaw Ghetto to L. Wulman, a medical doctor, in New York dated June 18, 1941. There is a Judenrat stamp on the postcard. It is a request on the part of Friedland to reconnect with his brother's wife and female cousins in New York. Friedland writes that without food parcels from the American relatives they will hardly be able to survive in Warsaw. The postcard is in Polish.

Subject/Index Terms:: F. Friedland; L. Wulman; Judenraete (Jewish councils); postcards; food parcels; Warsaw (Poland); Warsaw ghetto

Creators:: F. Friedland

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 12: RG-06.03.13, Postcard from Bochnia to interment camp Ferramonto di Tarcia, Italy, 2 May 1942

Postcard from Bochnia, Poland to the interment camp Ferramonti di Tarcia in Italy dated May 2, 1942. The postcard is in German and is addressed to the writer's children. The postcard lets the children know that the writer is healthy and has recieved their packages and letters and encourages them to write more.

Subject/Index Terms:: Bochnia (Poland); postcards; Camp Ferramonti, Italy; Personal correspondence; prisoner correspondence

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 13: RG-06.03.14, Postcard from the Camp De Les Milles, France, 1941

Postcard from Martin Kahn at the Camp De Les Milles, France to the Committee for Assistance to Jewish Population in Geneva from 1941. The postcard is in German.

Subject/Index Terms:: Camp De Les Milles, France; postcards; Committee for Assistance to Jewish Population; Geneva (Switzerland); Marseilles (France)

Creators:: Kahn, Martin

Document/Artifact of Item-Level 14: RG-06.04.10, Anna Lipszyc, Letter from Jurek (Georg Gutkind) in German from Buchenwald Concentration Camp, 12 June 1944

A letter from Jurek (Georg Gutkind) from Buchenwald Concentration Camp to Anna Lipszyc dated June 12 1944. The letter is in German.

Subject/Index Terms:: Lipszyc, Anna; Gutkind, Georg; Gutkind, Jurek; Personal correspondence; Buchenwald, German-Nazi concentration camp; prisoner correspondence

Creators:: Lipszyc, Anna (1918-); Gutkind, Jurek