us-005578-irn552725-irn561084
type: RecordSet
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-camps/2793
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
title: Deggendorf displaced persons camp scrip, 10-cent note, acquired by a former German Jewish prisoner
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
record resource extent: overall: Height: 2.375 inches (6.033 cm) | Width: 3.500 inches (8.89 cm)
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-terms/819
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-camps/1417
scope and content: Scrip, valued at 10 cents, distributed to Heinz Frankenstein while he lived in the Deggendorf displaced persons (DP) camp after World War II. 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 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 DP camp in the American-occupied zone of Germany in June 1945. On August 23, 1945, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) Team 55 took over management of the poorly run camp. They stabilized the food supply, secured housing facilities, established a community newspaper, and fostered a cultural life with lectures, concerts, and performances. The camp administration introduced currency, set up a banking system, and established a canteen to purchase items. These amenities provided Heinz with a comfortable life until the quota system allowed him to depart Deggendorf for 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.
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…
date: after 1945 November 05, 1945 November 05-1949 June 15
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-camps/0
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Deggendorf scrip printed on rectangular, off-white paper in red ink. On the face is a border of wavy lines, and inside each corner is a square with the denomination. In the center are 4 lines of text and a small red star; in the lower right corner is a handwritten signature in black ink and a hand stamp in purple ink. The stamp consists of a ring with text surrounding a smaller circle with 3 lines of text inside. The reverse has a line of text in the center and the denomination in numerals in each corner. The edges of the upper right corner are worn with some black staining, and the back has faint, brown discoloration throughout. face, lower right corner, stamped, purple ink : Jewish Commit… / D. P. / Camp 7 / Deggendorf face, lower right corner, signed, black ink : [illegible]
has or had some members with language: eng
archival history: The scrip was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by Irene Frank.
identifier: irn561084
has record set type: Item
has or had holder: us-005578
is or was included in: us-005578-irn552725
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-terms/517
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn552725-irn561084/acquisitions/1
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn552725-irn561084/alternateIDs/1