Auction 26 /
Lot115

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266

115

A complete series of Theresienstadt ghetto banknotes - all in very good condition

Opening price: $250

Commission: 23%

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07.02.2024 07:00pm

A complete series of all seven Theresienstadt ghetto banknotes in denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 KRONEN - all seven banknotes are in mint condition!

The first camp in which the Nazis issued banknotes for internal use by the Jews was Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen, which was located close to Berlin. Each camp prisoner, and then each ghetto resident, was required to exchange his money and some of his property for banknotes for the camp or ghetto in which he was confined. Owners of the banknotes were not allowed to acquire anything with the local money outside of the ghetto boundaries, as it was valid only within the ghetto. The Nazi's purpose in this was to prevent an event in which prisoners would succeed in escaping from the camps, so that they would have no means with which to buy food or clothing. This made plans to escape significantly more difficult.

On the Theresienstadt ghetto banknotes, a star of David was printed, and picture of an illustration of Moshe and the Ten Commandments. The reason the banknotes were valued in krone [the Czech currency] and not in German marks was due to Theresienstadt's geographic location in Czechoslovakia (which was mostly occupied by the Nazis before WWII), with the value of the Czech currency. In general, the banknotes of higher values were not used, as buying expensive items was out of the question in the ghetto. The Nazis just issued banknotes of high values to give the "Jewish economy" the appearance of a regular, flourishing economy, by giving the impression of the "normalcy" of regular, orderly daily life, which the Nazis made an effort to present to the representatives of the Red Cross who visited the ghetto.

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115. A complete series of Theresienstadt ghetto banknotes - all in very good condition