us-005578-irn520904-irn521954
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-ghettos/501
has or had holder: us-005578
is or was included in: us-005578-irn520904
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn520904-irn521954/acquisitions/1
date: 1940 May 15
type: RecordSet
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Łódź ghetto scrip, originally rectangular, torn into three pieces, each of offwhite paper printed in brown and orange ink. The face has an abstract trellis pattern underprint. The denomination 2 is in the lower right corner. There is a 1.25 inch right margin, then a bordered rectangle with a background of interlocked Stars of David with an encircled Star of David in the upper left corner. A smaller Star of David within a brown square and the serial number in orange ink replace the right border. In the center is the denomination Zwei Mark and German text. The back has the denomination 2 in the lower left corner. There is a 1.25 inch left margin, then a bordered rectangle with a background of interlocked Stars of David. In the center is a 7 branched menorah flanked by the denomination 2 within a set of 9 concentric rings overlaid by a banner with the denomination Zwei-Mark.
has or had some members with language: deu
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn521954
biographical history: Edgar (Ed) Gaerber was born on August 28, 1929, in Lvov, Poland (Lʹviv, Ukraine) to Dr. Bernard and Fanka Rosenmann Gaerber. The family lived in Zloczow, about forty miles from Lvov, where Dr. Gaerber practiced medicine. He had met Fanka in Vienna while studying medicine. The Jewish population of the town numbered 6000, a majority of the population. The family was well off and Edgar’s father owned one of only four cars in town. In 1938, Fanka’s mother came to live with the family. On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. In two weeks Lvov was surrounded and, a week later, the Soviet Union invaded from the east. The family left for Zaleszczyki planning to cross the border into Romania. At the crossing they met Jan Kwapinski, a Socialist and former mayor of Łódź, Poland. He convinced them not to flee Poland and that the Soviets would protect them. They returned to Lvov where the Soviets immediately confiscated Dr. Gaerber’s automobile. His medical practice was closed and he had to work at a clinic. Most businesses were nationalized and Jewish organizations were closed. Edgar attended a Russian school. Kwapinski stayed with the Gaerber family for a few months, then was deported to Siberia. In June 1941, Germany retook the region when it invaded the Soviet Union. Edgar and his mother were in nearby Kalusz during the German invasion. They went to Lvov but later made their way back to Zloczow. The German occupation was brutal. Immediately after German troops entered Zloczow, the local Ukrainians organized a pogrom, during which 2000 Jews were murdered. Labor camps were set up and Jews were taken for forced labor. The Gaerber family had to leave their home and moved to an apartment above a drugstore. Edgar’s father prepared a hiding place between the floor of their apartment and the ceiling of the store and the four hid there during a roundup. In the spring 1942, Dr. Gaerber wrote to the daughter of Jan Kwapinski in Warsaw and asked for help. Her husband Jerzy St…
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn520904-irn521954/alternateIDs/1
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
title: Łódź ghetto scrip, 2 mark note, acquired by Polish Jewish survivor
record resource extent: overall: Height: 2.625 inches (6.668 cm) | Width: 4.875 inches (12.383 cm)
archival history: The Lodz scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003 by Ed Gaerber.
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
scope and content: Łódź (Litzmannstadt) Ghetto scrip, receipt value of 2 (zwei) marks acquired by Edgar Gaerber, possibly when his family moved to Łódź in 1945. Ed, age 10, and his parents Dr. Bernard and Fanka Gaerber fled Lvov, Poland (L'viv, Ukraine] during the invasion by Germany in September 1939. The Soviet Union invaded from the east and the invaders divided the country; L'vov was in Soviet territory. In June 1941, Germany retook the region. The German occupation was brutal. Thousands of Jews were murdered in pogroms by local Ukrainians. In late 1941, Ed and his family had to relocate to the ghetto. In March 1942, the Germans began mass deportations to Belzec killing center. Ed's family got false identification papers and went into hiding, moving around to different towns. In July 1944, L'vov was liberated by the Soviet Army. In 1945, Ed and his parents moved to Łódź, Poland. The war ended when Germany surrendered on May 7. The family emigrated to Canada in 1949.