1 Rouble Beresovka; PoW Camp

Beresovka (Berezovka) held Austro-Hungarian prisoners during and after the First World War, located in the Transbaikal region of eastern Siberia — remote enough that supply lines were chronically unreliable and orthodox currency rarely reached the camp in sufficient quantity. Internal camp scrip of this type was a practical solution to that logistical problem, not an administrative formality.

The handstamp as the sole security feature tells you something about the conditions of production. Whoever printed these had access to a press but not much else. The date range spanning into 1920 reflects the chaos of repatriation delays — many Austro-Hungarian prisoners were not returned home until well after the Armistice, stranded by the Russian Civil War unfolding around them.