Westerbork transit camp voucher, 10 cent note, acquired by a former inmate

Westerbork transit camp voucher, 10 cent note, acquired by a former inmate 

Westerbork transit camp voucher, 10 cent note, acquired by a former inmate 

overall: Height: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm) | Width: 4.125 inches (10.477 cm) 

Westerbork scrip issued in 1944 and acquired by Ruth Franken, who was imprisoned at the transit camp when she was 5 years old from 1942 to 1943. While at the camp, inmates were compelled to work, and a special currency was issued to incentivize work output, but the money had no real monetary value outside the camp. Westerbork was established by the Dutch government in October 1939 for Jewish refugees who had crossed the border illegally following the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 1938. After Germany invaded the Netherlands on May 10, 1940, the German authorities began using Westerbork as a transit camp, holding internees until they were deported to forced labor camps or killing centers in other countries. In 1942, Ruth, her parents, Irma and Max, and grandmother, Roberta, were arrested in Amsterdam and sent to Westerbork. In 1943, they were deported to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, and in 1944, to Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia. Roberta died either in Westerbork or Bergen-Belsen. Max was deported to Auschwitz on September 28, 1944. Theresienstadt was liberated by the Russian Army on May 9, 1945. Ruth and Irma were sent to a convent where Irma was told by a woman that Max was killed escaping Auschwitz. When they returned to the family apartment in Amsterdam, they found Max sitting on the couch. In March 1947, the family emigrated to the United States where Irma had a sister.