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2 Reichsmark Lagergeld
| Issuer | Oberkommando der Wehrmacht |
|---|---|
| Year | 1939-1944 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Reichsmark (1924-1948) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Kriegsgefangenen=Lagergeld Gutschein über 2 Reichsmark Dieser Gutschein gilt nur als Zahlungsmittel für Kriegsgefangene und darf von ihnen nur innerhalb der Kriegsgefangenenlager oder bei Arbeitskommandos in den ausdrücklich hierfür bezeichneten Verkaufstellen verausgabt und entgegengenommen werden. Der Umtausch dieses Gutscheines in gesetzliche Zahlungsmittel darf nur bei der zuständigen Kasse der Lagerverwaltung erfolgen. Zuwiderhandlungen, Nachahmungen und Fälschungen werden bestraft. Der Chef des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht Im Auftrage: |
| Reverse description | Reverse is unprinted, showing plain paper with a faint bleed-through impression of the red triangle underprint from the obverse. |
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| Comments |
Lagergeld — prisoner-of-war camp money — was issued by the Wehrmacht high command under the terms of the Geneva Convention, which required that POWs receive pay and be given a medium of exchange usable within the camp economy. These notes were deliberately designed to be worthless outside the wire: non-convertible, non-negotiable, and tied to a captive internal market of canteen goods. The 2 Reichsmark denomination sat at the upper end of the Lagergeld scale, theoretically meaningful purchasing power within the camp canteen system.
Allied POWs frequently treated the scrip with contempt — it was widely understood as a fig leaf of compliance with international law rather than genuine remuneration. Many surviving examples were carried home as souvenirs, which partly explains their availability today despite the chaos of 1945 camp liberations.