Catalog
10 Pfennigs Łódź Ghetto
| Issuer | Der Älteste der Juden in Litzmannstadt (Elder of the Jews in Łódź Ghetto) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
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| Currency | Reichsmark (1939-1944) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | GUT FÜR 10 PF. BEI DER POSTABTEILUNG DES AELTESIEN DER JUDEN in Litzmannstadt-Getto 17. April 1942 (Translation: Good for 10 pfennigs at the Postal Department of the Elder of the Jews in Lodz Ghetto. April 17, 1942.) |
| Reverse description | Plain unprinted cream paper with a horizontal dashed perforation line running across the lower portion, likely serving as a detachment or control mark. No text, vignette, or additional design elements are present. |
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| Comments |
The Łódź Ghetto scrip was issued under direct Nazi administration, with Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski — appointed "Elder of the Jews" by the German authorities — serving as the nominal issuing authority. The currency was deliberately designed to isolate the ghetto economy entirely from the outside world: Jews were forced to exchange all Reichsmarks for this scrip upon entering, with no mechanism for conversion back. It rendered the population economically captive.
Printed within the ghetto itself, the notes bear Rumkowski's name and were derisively nicknamed "Rumkies" or "Chaimki" by residents. The 10 Pfennig denomination was the smallest issued, useful mainly for internal food ration transactions. Łódź was the longest-surviving major ghetto, liquidated only in August 1944.