us-005578-irn521553-irn524856
type: RecordSet
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: Lodz ghetto scrip printed on lightweight, rectangular, off-white paper. The face has a brown latticework underprint with a 1.875 inch margin on the left and a large rectangle to the right. The rectangle has a background pattern of brown interlocking Stars of David and an encircled brown Star of David in the rounded, upper left corner. Printed across the center, in black German Fraktur-style font with a brown underprint, is the denomination. The printing information, a signature, and the date are printed across the bottom in black. The numerical denomination is within a black square in the upper right corner, and in black with a brown underprint in the lower left margin. The serial number is in red in the upper left margin. The reverse has a 1.875 inch margin on the right with a large rectangle to the left. The rectangle has a brown background pattern of interlocking Stars of David. Written out in the upper left corner is the denomination in black German text, and in the lower left corner is a 7-branched menorah. To the right of the menorah, there are two lines of small black printed text. In the lower right margin, the numerical denomination is printed in black with a brown underprint. Above the denomination, in the upper right margin and below a thin strip of the Star of David pattern, is a Star of David outline within a black square. There is a small white spot, in the black square, and there are two small tears on the left and top edges. face, upper left corner, stamped, red ink : No 276405
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1940 June-1944 August
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: deu
has record set type: Item
history: Ignacy Gutman (1900- 1972) was born in Łódź, Poland, to Samuel (Szmul, 1862-1925) and Anna (Chana, 1868- 1936) nee Leder. In 1919, Ignacy volunteered to fight for Poland during the Polish–Soviet War. Afterward, he attended the University of Warsaw and graduated from their architecture program in 1927. In 1930, Ignacy married Sabina Stambulska, (1905-1987) a teacher, and the couple had a daughter, Monika (1932-?). Ignacy designed several modernist houses and buildings in Łódź, and was a co-owner of the architectural firm I. Gutman, L. Oli Architects, from 1935 to 1939. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. One week later, the German army occupied Łódź, renamed the city Litzmannstadt, and immediately instigated violence and anti-Semitic policies. Jews were no longer allowed to walk on sidewalks, and were often assaulted when they walked in the streets. They were forced to turn their valuables over to the authorities, and those suspected of not complying were beaten and tortured. On February 8, 1940, the Łódź ghetto was established in the older, poorer part of the city, and Ignacy and his family were forcibly relocated inside. In March and April, the Germans encircled the ghetto with a barbed wire and wood fence. Armed guards and dogs were stationed around the perimeter with orders to shoot Jews that approached the fence. While in the ghetto, Ignacy was a director of the Building Department, and arranged for his daughter to work with him in the department. Ignacy was tasked by his friend, Judenrat Chairman, Chaim Mordechai Rumkowski, to design the paper scrip (currency) that would be used in the ghetto. He completed his designs in early 1940. The scrip was printed in May and issued in the ghetto in June. The Germans ordered the Jews to exchange their remaining valuables for ghetto currency, and used it as a modest payment for their forced labor. In October, the Nazis established workshops where Jews labored 10-14 hours a day in overcrowded and poorly ventilated…
history: The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003 by Joel Forman.
identifier: irn524856
is or was included in: us-005578-irn521553
record resource extent: overall: Height: 3.125 inches (7.938 cm) | Width: 6.250 inches (15.875 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Scrip, valued at 20 marks, distributed in Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto. The Jewish Council was ordered to create a system of Quittungen (receipts) that could be used as currency only in the ghetto. Valuables and currency were forcibly exchanged for the scrip and it was used as modest payment for forced laborers, though it held no value outside the ghetto. Ignacy Gutman designed all the denominations of the paper scrip and they were printed by the Manitius Printing House. The coins were designed by Pinkus Szwarc and minted in the ghetto by inmates. The Łódź ghetto was the only German ghetto or concentration camp that minted coinage. The scrip was issued in the German-controlled ghetto from June of 1940 to its liquidation in the fall of 1944. The scrip, sometimes referred to as rumki or chaimki, after the Elder of the Judenrat, Chaim Mordechai Rumkowski and was issued in denominations of: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 mark notes; 5, 10, and 20 mark coins; and 50 pfennig notes and 10 pfennig coins.
title: Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 20 mark note