us-005578-irn517373-irn544001
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
biographical history: Hildegard Alexander was born on April 29, 1897, in Berlin, Germany. During World War I (1914-1918), she served as a nurse for the German Red Cross and was awarded a medal for her service. She worked as a lab technician at a pharmacy company from 1919 to 1923. On June 28, 1922, she married Moritz Henschel, who was born on February 17, 1879, in Breslau, Germany. They had two daughters: Marianne, born on September 6, 1923, and Lilly, born on April 5, 1926. In January 1933, Hitler came to power and, by summer, Germany was ruled by a Nazi dictatorship. As living conditions worsened for Jews, Hildegard and Moritz decided to get their daughters out of Germany. In November 1938, they sent Marianne to a Zionist preparatory camp in Rudnitz. On January 31, 1939, Marianne, 15, emigrated to Palestine with a Youth Aliyah group and settled in a kibbutz. Lilly, 13, was sent to England on a Kindertransport in 1939. Moritz served on the board of the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (The Reich Association of Jews in Germany), and became the president of the Berlin Kehillah (Jewish Community) in March 1940. Hildegard worked for the Reichsvereinigung Office of Emigration from 1939 to 1940, then as a secretary for the Jewish Community’s health administration. On September 19, 1941, they were forced to wear Star of David badges. The government began confiscating Jewish property, starting with an old age home. Hospitals and schools were also confiscated. The conditions in Berlin worsened as the government pursued the policy of making Berlin Judenfrei (free of Jews). In October 1941, the Nazi government began large scale deportations of Jews from Berlin. The Reichsvereinigung was forced to assist with the deportations. Moritz believed that cooperation was necessary because they would carry out the deportations more humanely than the Germans. As the deportations increased, the number of Jewish suicides increased. Every case was taken to the hospital where Hildegard worked and she k…
date: 1943 January 01, after 1943 June
archival history: The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003 by Yoel Givol and Michal Lilli Kahani, the grandchildren of Hildegard and Moritz Henschel.
type: RecordSet
title: Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 100 kronen note owned by former inmates
record resource extent: overall: Height: 3.000 inches (7.62 cm) | Width: 5.875 inches (14.923 cm) 1 book,
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn517373-irn544001/alternateIDs/1
has or had some members with language: deu
identifier: irn544001
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn517373-irn544001/acquisitions/1
has record set type: Item
scope and content: Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 100 [hundert] kronen note owned by Hildegard and Moritz Henschel who were interned in Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp in German occupied Czechoslovakia from June 1943-May 1945. Moritz and Hildegard were Berlin residents when Hitler came to power in Germany in January 1933. As persecution of Jews intensified, Moritz and Hildegard sent their daughters Marianne, 15, to Palestine and Lilly, 13, to England in 1939. Moritz was on the board of the Reich Association of Jews in Germany which was forced to assist with deportations. In 1940, Moritz became president of the Berlin Jewish Community. In January 1943, Moritz became president of the Reich Association. When it was shut down on June 10, 1943, Moritz and Hildegard were deported to Theresienstadt. Moritz was elected to the Jewish Council and put in charge of the Freizeitgestaltung, which produced cultural events and materials. On May 9, 1945, the camp was liberated by Soviet forces. Moritz and Hildegard went to Deggendorf displaced persons camp, then emigrated to Palestine in 1946.
has or had holder: us-005578
is or was included in: us-005578-irn517373
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Theresienstadt scrip printed on rectangular, watermarked, offwhite paper in black, orange, and red-brown ink. The face has a vignette of Moses, a bearded man with a wrinkled brow, holding 2 stone tablets with the 10 Commandments in Hebrew. To the right is the denomination 100 and German text. The background rectangle has an abstract, repeating pattern. On the right is a wide offwhite border with 100 in the bottom corner below a Star of David. The reverse has a background rectangle with a zigzig pattern with an underprint flourish, overprinted with German text, an engraved signature, and a scrollwork line. The denomination 100 is in the upper right corner. On the left is a wide offwhite border with 100 in the bottom corner below a Star of David in a lined circle. The serial number in red ink is in the upper left corner. The series letter in red ink is in the lower right. Scrip appears unused.