The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1989 by Lawrence and Stelly Levy Kirsch.
Franz Peter Kien was born January 1, 1919, in Varnsdorf, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic), to Leonard and Olga Frankl Kien. His father Leonard was born in 1886, in Varnsdorf, and was a member of the German-speaking Jewish population in the, the Sudetenalnd, which bordered Germany. Leonard was a textile manufacturer with his own factory. Peter’s mother Olga was born in 1898, in Bzenec, Austro-Hungary (Czech Republic), to Jewish parents. After 1929, the Kien family moved to Brno. Peter enrolled at the German Gymnasium, where he excelled at drawing, painting, and writing. In 1936, he graduated and moved to Prague to study at the Academy of Fine Arts. He also attended the Officina Pragensis, a private graphic design school run by a well-known Jewish artist, Hugo Steiner-Prag. On September 29, 1938, Germany annexed the Sudetenland. On March 15, 1939, Germany invaded Prague and annexed the Bohemia and Moravia provinces of Czechoslovakia, ruled by a Reich Protector. Jews were banned from participation in government, businesses, and organization, including schools. Peter had to leave the Academy, but continued to study at the Officina Pragensis. He also taught at Vinohrady Synagogue. In September 1940, Peter married Ilse Stranska, who was born on May 9, 1915, in Pilsen, to Jewish parents. In late September 1941, Reinhard Heydrich, the SS head of RSHA, Reich Main Security Office, became Reich Protector. Soon there were regular deportations of Jews to concentration camps. At the end of November, Theresienstadt concentration and transit camp near Prague got its first shipment of Jewish prisoners. On December 14, Peter was transported to Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp. He was assigned to the technical department where he worked as a draftsman and designer alongside other artists, including Bedrich Fritta, Leo Haas, and Jiri Lauscher. On July 16, 1942, Peter’s wife Ilse arrived in the camp. On January 30, 1943, Peter’s parents Leonard and Olga were transported from Bzenec to Terezin. Peter was assigned major projects by the Jewish Council that administered the camp for the Germans, such as the scrip receipts used in place of money in the camp. He secretly documented the inmate’s daily life, creating portraits and other drawings, and wrote plays, poems, and an operatic libretto. On October 16, 1944, Peter’s wife Ilse and his parents Leonard and Olga were selected for deportation. Peter volunteered to go with them. Before leaving, Peter and his family were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. Peter survived the selection process, soon fell ill, likely with typhus, and died at age 25 in late October 1944. His wife and parents were killed at Auschwitz. Some of the work that Peter left with other prisoners or hid at Theresienstadt survived and has been exhibited worldwide.
Theresienstadt scrip printed on rectangular, watermarked, offwhite paper in black and light blue 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 50 and German text. The background rectangle has an abstract repeating pattern. On the right side is a wide offwhite border with 50 in the bottom corner below a Star of David. The reverse has a background rectangle with a blue zigzag pattern with an orange center streak, overprinted with German text, an engraved signature, and a large scrollwork line. The denomination 50 is in the upper right corner. On the left side is a wide offwhite border with 50 in the bottom corner below a Star of David in a lined circle. The serial number is in red in the upper left corner. The series letter in red ink is on the lower right.
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overall: Height: 2.750 inches (6.985 cm) | Width: 5.500 inches (13.97 cm)
Scrip, valued at 50 (funfzig) kronen, of the type distributed in Theresienstadt (Terezin) ghetto-labor camp beginning in May 1943. The ghetto currency was printed by the National Bank in 7 similar, beautifully designed denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100. Currency was confiscated from inmates and replaced with scrip for exchange only in the camp. There was little to obtain in exchange for the scrip, except library books. Located thirty miles northwest of Prague in German occupied Czechoslovakia, the ghetto-labor camp was established by the Germans in November 24, 1941, and ceased operation in early May 1945. In 3.5 years, approximately 140,000 Jewish persons were transferred to Terezin; nearly 90,000 were then deported, likely to their death, further east. About 33,000 died in Theresienstadt.
Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 50 kronen note