Means of Payment Denomination of 1 Lira for use by Jewish Prisoners in the Cremona Concentration Camp, Italy – Campo Concentramento per Internati Civili – Cremona – “Concentration Camp for Civilian Prisoners, ” Marked with a Star of David and the Official Ink Stamp of the Camp. Rare.
The means of payment was issued to the inmates of Cremona through the conversion of external currency, intended to prevent escape attempts by providing “notes” valid only within the camp. The banknotes were printed in seven denominations: 0.50, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 lire. Today, two versions of the note are known: one printed with a Star of David stamp and one without it. Experts are divided on the authenticity of the Star of David-stamped version; one side argues that the Star of David stamp was issued specifically for Jewish prisoners, while the other believes there was no special Jewish marking. At least one testimony from a survivor of the Cremona camp confirms that Jewish prisoners’ notes were indeed stamped with a Star of David, like the note before us. See Prisoner of War and Concentration Camp Money of the 20th Century by Lance K. Campbell (1993), p. 148. Also see the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum archives, catalog entry no. 2003.413.21, where a 10-lira note is displayed with a Star of David stamp and an identical ink seal to the one on this note.
Following Nazi demands on their Italian ally, Italy enacted anti-Semitic legislation in 1938 and established local concentration camps for both military and civilian detainees. However, the Italian authorities opposed participation in the mass extermination and did not permit the deportation of Jews from Italy. Although the camps were named Campi di Concentramento (Concentration Camps), the conditions and treatment of prisoners were equivalent to those in POW camps for soldiers and civilians. Prisoners, including Jews, were treated far better than their counterparts in German camps. The Cremona concentration camp was a detention and labor camp that held both prisoners of war and Jewish detainees.
14×7 cm. Very good condition.
