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0.50 Reichsmarks Dachau Concentration Camp
| Issuer | Konzentrationslager Dachau (Dachau Concentration Camp) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1944 |
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| Composition | Paper (pink) |
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| Obverse description | Printed entirely in black letterpress on pink paper, the obverse carries the camp designation 'Konzentrationslager Dachau' at the top, separated from the body text by a horizontal rule. The central inscription 'PRÄMIENSCHEIN' appears in large bold type, below which a handwritten prisoner number field is ruled, followed by the denomination 'WERT: RM. —.50' in heavy bold lettering. The lower portion contains the issue date field 'Ausgegeben am:', an expiry notice stating the voucher lapses 14 days after issue, the print reference 'N 1285/V. 100/X. 44', and a serial number in the lower right corner. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Reverse is unprinted, showing the plain pink paper stock with no text, vignette, or any other design element. |
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| Comments |
Camp scrip issued at Dachau was not money in any functional sense — prisoners could not freely spend it, and the canteen goods it nominally purchased were tightly rationed or simply unavailable. The system existed largely to create administrative paperwork that obscured forced labor exploitation from Red Cross inspectors and to give the SS a mechanism for recovering wages paid by private firms using prisoner labor.
The 1944 Dachau series was printed in multiple denominations on distinctively colored paper — pink for the 50 Pfennig — using deliberately crude typography to prevent confusion with Reichsmark currency proper. Surviving examples are disproportionately common relative to the note's grim origin, as many were taken by liberating American troops in April 1945 as evidence or personal keepsakes.