us-005578-irn90020-irn8279
archival history: The coin was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1993 by Raul Hilberg.
record resource extent: overall: | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm) | Diameter: 1.125 inches (2.858 cm)
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
biographical history: Raul Hilberg was born on June 2, 1926, in Vienna, Austria, the only child of Jewish parents. His father Michael fought and was wounded in the First World War (1914-1918). In Vienna, he had a business selling household goods to people on installment plans. His parents attended synagogue occasionally. Raul was never religious, but he did attend a Zionist school. In March 1938, Nazi Germany annexed Austria and soon passed legislation to strip Jews of their rights as citizens. The family was ordered out of their apartment by gunpoint. His father was arrested during Kristallnacht, September 9-10 1938, but was soon released because he was a World War I veteran. The family left Austria and after stopovers in France and Cuba, reached Brooklyn, NY, on September 1, 1939. Michael worked in a factory and Hilberg attended Lincoln High School. He enrolled in Brooklyn College until enlisting in the Army in 1944. He was deployed to Germany in 1945 with the 45th infantry division. He served with an Oklahoma division that liberated Dachau, but was not with the unit at the time. He was with the first troops that entered Munich. He was later assigned to the Army documentation division, which needed staff fluent in German. The war ended in May 1945. Nearly all the members of Hilberg's family on both his mother's and father's side were murdered during the Holocaust. Postwar, Hilberg assisted in the search for German documents to aid the prosecution at the war crimes trials. His unit was housed in the Nazi Party’s former offices in Munich. Crates containing Hitler’s personal library were stored there and Hilberg was fascinated by the contents. After his discharge, he returned to Brooklyn College and changed his major from chemistry to history and political science, graduating in 1948. He then focused on political science and international law and completed a master’s in public law in 1950 at Columbia University. He taught at Hunter College and then obtained a federal job in the War Docume…
scope and content: 10 mark Łódź Ghetto coin acquired by Raul Hilberg, a renowned scholar, who published the first comprehensive study of the Holocaust and initiated the academic study of the Holocaust. Hilberg and his parents fled Vienna, Austria, after its annexation by Germany in March 1938. Almost all of his family members in Europe were murdered during the Holocaust. Nazi Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. The Germans renamed it Litzmannstadt and confined the Jewish population to a ghetto. The Jewish Council was ordered to create a system of Quittungen [receipts] for use only in the ghetto. It was issued in 7 denominations: 50 pfenning, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 marks, and as coins, but there was little to exchange it for in the ghetto. In January 1942, half the residents were murdered at Chelmno killing center. In summer 1944, Łódź, the last ghetto in Poland, was destroyed and the remaining Jews were sent to Chelmno and Auschwitz-Birkenau killing centers.
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn90020-irn8279/acquisitions/1
title: Łódź (Litzmannstadt) ghetto scrip, 10 mark coin
has or had holder: us-005578
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has record set type: Item
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn90020-irn8279/alternateIDs/1
has or had some members with language: deu
is or was included in: us-005578-irn90020
identifier: irn8279
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Highly corroded, circular, silver colored metal coin, possibly aluminum or magnesium, with a raised, flat rim and smooth edges. Barely discernible on the obverse is an embossed design with a 6 pointed Star of David surrounded by a circular line, and German text. The reverse has an embossed design with the denomination 10 mark in the center crossed by a banner with German text. There is German text embossed in a circle near the rim.
date: 1940 May 15
type: RecordSet