us-005578-irn526646-irn526649
type: RecordSet
archival history: The Theresienstadt scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Gerhard Maschkowski.
biographical history: Gerhard Maschkowski was born on May 19, 1925 in Elbing, Germany, (now Elbląg, Poland) to Jewish parents, Arthur and Herta Imber Maschkowski. Arthur was born on January 5, 1895, in Gross-Statsin. He served in the German military during World War I (1914-1918), and was injured and lost both eyes. Herta was born on August 16, 1896, in Thorn, Germany. Arthur, and sometimes Herta, worked as a typist for a copy service. Gerhard had an older brother, Siegfried, born on August 23, 1922, in Danzig.. In 1933, the Nazi dictatorship took control of Germany. Policies to persecute the Jewish population were implemented across Germany. On November 9-10, 1938, Kristallnacht, Gerhard saw Jewish stores looted and burned. He was beaten up in school for being Jewish and then no longer allowed to attend. In 1939, Siegfried left for Palestine. Gerhard’s parents sent him to an agricultural school in Ahlem, supposedly to learn skills to emigrate. But soon after he arrived, Gerhard and the other students were taken to Jessen-Mühle labor camp near Sommerfeld (Lubsko, Poland) to do agricultural and civic forced labor. The farm work was hard but they were well fed. In May 1941, they were transferred to Neuendorf labor camp near Berlin where they dug ditches and graves and did road construction for the city. On April 8, 1943, Gerhard was taken by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz concentration camp, arriving there on April 20, 1943. He was shaved, tattooed, and given five items: prisoner uniform cap, jacket, pants, a bowl, and a spoon. Gerhard was selected for forced labor and sent to Auschwitz III - Monowitz (Buna) concentration camp. He was assigned to a work detail for an IG Farben factory, first digging ditches and laying cement. With assistance from kapos, who helped fellow Zionists like Gerhard, he got into the electrician detail, laying cable. He learned to ignore the atrocities such as hangings that were normal parts of camp life. Speaking German was an advantage, which helped keep him…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Theresienstadt scrip printed on rectangular, offwhite paper in black and brown ink. On the face is 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 5 and German text. The background rectangle has a wavy latticework pattern. On the right is a wide offwhite border with 5 in the bottom corner below a Star of David. The reverse has a background rectangle of interlocked diamonds with an orange center streak, overprinted with German text, engraved signature, and a scrollwork line. The denomination 5 is in the upper right corner. On the left side is a wide offwhite border with 5 in the lower corner below a Star of David within a lined circle. The plate letter and number are in the upper left corner. The scrip is very worn, with tape remnants, dark stains and creased edges.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1943 January 01
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: deu
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn526649
is or was included in: us-005578-irn526646
record resource extent: overall: Height: 2.375 inches (6.032 cm) | Width: 4.625 inches (11.747 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Theresienstadt scrip, valued at 5 [funf] kronen, belonging to Gerhard Maschkowski. Gerhard was not interned in the ghetto-labor camp in German occupied Czechoslovakia, but his wife Ursula Naumann and his parents were there several years. Inmates were not allowed to have currency and the SS ordered the Jewish Council to design scrip for use only in the camp. Produced in 7 denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, it was issued to create a false appearance of normalcy in the camp. There was nothing to obtain with the scrip. Gerhard lived with his parents Arthur and Herta, and brother Siegfried in Elbing, Germany. From 1933, the country was governed by a Nazi dictatorship that persecuted Jews. Siegfried left for Palestine in 1939 and Gerhard was sent to agricultural school. Soon after arrival, Gerhard and the others were sent to Jessenmühle labor camp. In 1941, they were transferred to Neuendorf labor camp. In April 1943, he was deported to Auschwitz, and then to Auschwitz III, Buna-Monowitz. In January 1945, the camp was evacuated. The prisoners spent several months on a death march through Czechoslovakia and Germany. In late April 1945, he was liberated by the Red Army near Breslau, weighing only seventy pounds. He was hospitalized and, after recovering, learned that his parents had survived Theresienstadt. They were reunited in Deggendorf displaced persons camp in Germany.
title: Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 5 kronen note, owned by a German Jewish survivor