us-005578-irn552725-irn561080
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Theresienstadt scrip printed on rectangular, off-white paper in brown ink. On the face is a rectangle with geometric patterning and a wide, off-white margin to the right. On the left, within the rectangle, is a vignette with an image of Moses holding 2 stone tablets inscribed with the 10 Commandments in Hebrew. To his right, is the denomination centered between lines of German text. In the lower right corner is a Star of David with the denomination below. The reverse has a rectangle with geometric patterning and a wide, off-white margin to the left. Within the rectangle is a central orange streak, German text above and below a scrollwork line, the denomination on the upper right, and signature on the lower right. In the lower left corner is the denomination below a Star of David in a striped circle. The plate letter and number are in the upper left corner. The paper is slightly worn with some light brown staining and a heavy vertical crease at the center.
has record set type: Item
archival history: The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by Irene Frank.
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-camps/2793
has or had holder: us-005578
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-terms/819
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn552725-irn561080/acquisitions/1
type: RecordSet
record resource extent: overall: Height: 2.375 inches (6.033 cm) | Width: 4.625 inches (11.748 cm)
biographical history: Henry Frank (1918-2002) was born Heinz Frankenstein in Berlin, Germany to Jakob (1888-1942) and Anna (nee Zydower, 1891-1944) Frankenstein. Heinz had four sisters: Dorothea (later Jastrow, 1914-1977), Irene (later Gratz, 1915-1944), Gerda (later Anschel, 1916-1942), and Inge (1925-1997). Jakob was injured fighting for Germany in World War I. He earned the Iron Cross for his service, but illness combined with his injuries made it difficult for him to work afterwards. As a result, the family was poor, and Anna had to work cleaning graves in a Jewish cemetery. As a child, Heinz was artistic and played the accordion and violin. The family was not very religious, but celebrated the major Jewish holidays. They lived in a mixed-religion neighborhood, and had many Gentile friends. Heinz always identified more strongly as German than Jewish, and never experienced antisemitism until 1933. On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. Anti-Jewish decrees were passed that restricted every aspect of Jewish life. Heinz was forced to leave his public school, and he and his sisters began working to help support the family. He worked carrying coal in his neighborhood and later in a war supplies factory. In September 1939, in accordance with the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact, Germany and Russia invaded Poland. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Heinz’s sister, Dorothea, her husband, and two children had fled for England earlier that summer, but the rest of the family were unable to leave Berlin. In April 1942, Gerda and her family were deported to the Warsaw Ghetto, and then to the Baltic region, where they were killed. Following the assassination attempt on General Reinhard Heydrich in Prague on May 27, 1942, Jakob was among 50 Jewish men who were rounded up in Berlin by the Gestapo. Jakob and the other men were transported to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, lined up against a brick wall, and shot. Within the week, unaware of their father’s…
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-terms/517
date: 1943 January 01, 1943 January 01-1945 May 09
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn552725-irn561080/alternateIDs/1
has or had some members with language: heb
is or was included in: us-005578-irn552725
title: Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp scrip, 5 kronen note, belonging to a German Jewish inmate
identifier: irn561080
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
scope and content: Scrip, valued at 5 kronen, distributed to Heinz Frankenstein (later Henry Frank) in Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp in German-occupied Czechoslovakia between January 1943 and May 1945. At Theresienstadt, currency was confiscated from inmates and replaced with scrip, which could only be used in the camp. The scrip was part of an elaborate illusion to make the camp seem normal and appear as though workers were being paid for their labor, but the money had no real monetary value. Heinz, his mother, and two of his sisters were deported from Berlin to Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp in June 1942. In 1943, Heinz was among 250 young men deported to Wulkow near Berlin for a work detail. After a year, Heinz returned to the ghetto to find that his mother and sisters were gone; all but one of his sisters was deported to and killed at Auschwitz. Heinz was then deported to a camp near the town of Hof in Germany for a month, before being force marched back to Theresienstadt. He reunited with his sister, Inge, and they were liberated by the Soviet army on May 9. Heinz and Inge went to Deggendorf displaced persons (DP) camp in the American-occupied zone of Germany in June 1945. Heinz immigrated to the United States in June 1946, and changed his name to Henry Frank. Henry belonged to a social circle with other Holocaust survivors, including Irene Silberstein, who he married in April 1948. They had two children and regularly gave talks about their experiences during the Holocaust.
has or had some members with language: deu