Small rectangular currency on watermarked paper with a face in black, green, and brown ink on a yellow latticework background. Across the center is a rectangular ornament with the denomination 1 Mark in the center and bottom corners. At the top is the serial number in red ink and Eine Mark. On the left center is a red Imperial seal and on the right is a white embossed seal. The back has black, green, and brown ink on a yellow latticework background with 1 MARK repeated in alternating lattice triangles. The denomination 1 Mark is in the top corners. In the center is an intricate ornament with the denomination 1 repeated 3 times and Eine Mark at the bottom. It has a central crease, worn edges, and some discoloration.
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Gerhard (Gerd) Pleiss was born on April 20, 1915, in Remscheid, Germany. He attended gymnasium in Dortmund and then began an apprenticeship with a dentist. He volunteered for the SS in April 1936 and was accepted into the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, 1st SS Company. This unit was Hitler's personal bodyguard, charged with guarding Hitler, his office, and personal residences. Pleiss attended SS-Junker school in Braunschweig and, in April 1939, was promoted to Untersturmfuhrer. He participated in the invasion of France in May 1940 and was awarded the Iron Cross, 1st class. In 1941, the Leibstandarte became part of the Waffen SS, during preparations for Operation Barbarossa, the planned invasion of the Soviet Union. SS-Hauptsturmführer Pleiss was made commander, 1st Company LSSAH, for the campaign in the Balkans. In April 1941, during the Battle of Vevi in northern Greece, Pleiss's unit captured Klidi Pass from British troops, opening the way into Greece. He was wounded, but remained in command. Pleiss was awarded the Knight's Cross, the highest award for bravery and leadership, which was personally presented to him by Hitler on April 21 in Berlin. Operation Barbarossa was launched on June 22, 1941. Pleiss was mortally wounded on November 17, 1941, when he stepped on a land mine during the attack on Rostov-on-Don (Rostov-na-Donu, Russia.) Milton Verne Elliott was born on May 25, 1921, in Thayer, Kansas, to Vern H. and Ann C. Glentzer Elliott. He had a sister Ernestine. In August 1940, Milton enlisted in the United States Army. America entered World War II in December 1941. At some point, Milton was deployed to the European Theater of Operations. He returned to the US after the war ended in May 1945. In 1948, Milton married Gladys Baldwin. The couple had one daughter. Milton, 82, died in October 2003 in Missouri.
The bank note was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Wendie Theus, the daughter of Milton V. Elliott.
overall: Height: 2.375 inches (6.033 cm) | Width: 3.500 inches (8.89 cm)
Imperial Germany Darlehnskassenschein [State Loan Office] emergency 1 [eine] mark note from the album of Hauptsturmfuhrer Gerhard Pleiss, a officer in the Waffen-SS, SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte SS"Adolf Hitler" 1st Company. Notes of this type were first issued as supplemental currency at the beginning of World War I (1914-1918) and remained in circulation until the hyperinflation of 1923. In 1936, the 21 year old Pleiss volunteered for the SS and was accepted into the Leibstandart, Hitler's personal bodyguard. He was awarded for his leadership in the May 1940 invasion of France and the April 1941 Balkans campaign. In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Pleiss was killed by a mine on November 17, 1941, during the offensive on Rostov-on-Don. The note was preserved in Pleiss's photograph album, which was brought back from the war by Milton V. Elliott, an American soldier.
Imperial Germany, Darlehnskassenschein [State Loan Office] 1 mark note from the album of a Waffen-SS officer acquired by an American soldier