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Jewish Community scrip for one Deggendorf dollar issued to Adolph Blau and his family in the Deggendorf displaced persons camp in Germany from 1945-1948. Adolph, his wife, two children, and mother-in-law had been deported in 1942 by the Germans from Vienna, Austria, to Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp. They lived in the Terezin until the International Red Cross took over administration of the camp from the Germans on May 2, 1945. The family then was transferred to the Deggendorf displaced persons camp in the Bamberg district of Germany in the American zone. They lived there until their immigration to the United States in 1948.
Deggendorf scrip on rectangular white paper. On the front is a printed blue border of tight wavy lines. The numerical denomination 1 is printed within a scythe design in each corner. There is English text in the center and a red, circular stamp with English text and an illegible signature in the lower right corner. The reverse has the denomination 1 in each corner and in English text in the center. lower right corner, within stamp border, stamped, red ink : Jewish Committee lower right corner, in center of stamp, stamped, red ink : D. P. / Camp 7 / Deggendorf
Adolph Blau was born in Vienna, Austria. During World War I (1914-1918), he served in the Austrian-Hungarian Army and was awarded the Iron Cross and the Silver Medal of Bravery. After the war, he received a license from the Austrian Government to sell tobacco, a trade reserved for veterans. In 1924, Adolph married Elsa Rosenthal at the Turkish Temple, a Sephardic synagogue. They were observant Jews and had two children, Gertrude, born March 14, 1925, and Herbert, born July 28, 1931. On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria and annexed the country. Anti-Jewish legislation was soon enacted to exclude Jews from Austrian society. The November 1938 Kristallnacht [Night of Broken Glass] pogrom was particularly brutal in Austria. Thousands of Jews were arrested and deported to concentration camps. Adolph's status as a decorated, disabled war veteran gave the family some preotection and, with the help of friends, he was able to maintain his tobacco trade a while longer. In August 1942, the family, which included his mother-in-law, Fanny Rosenthal, was deported to Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, avoiding Auschwitz possibly because of his veteran's status. The family was separated, as men and women were housed in different barracks. Elsa served as forced labor in a Messerschmitt airplane factory. Some elements of family life were maintained, as Herbert was Bar Mitzahed by Rabbi Leo Baeck in 1944. Soon afterwards, however, Gertrude was deported to Auschwitz. On May 2, 1945, the Germans transferred administration of the camp to the International Red Cross. Gertrude had located and rejoined them around this time. The family was sent to Deggendorf displaced persons camp in Germany, where Adolph served on the Jewish Committee and as a director of the ORT (Organization for Rehabilitation through Training) vocational school. In November 1947, with the assistance of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Adolph and his family were permitted to immigrate to the United States. They eventually settled in Vineland, New Jersey, where Adolph died in 1958.
The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Jeffrey A. Gordon, the son of Gertrude Blau Gordon.
Deggendorf displaced persons camp scrip, 1 Dollar, issued to an Austrian Jewish family
overall: Height: 2.750 inches (6.985 cm) | Width: 6.250 inches (15.875 cm)