Description

1942 NAZI GERMANY JEWISH GHETTO LITZMANNSTADT

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10 Pfennig coin

VF, typical oxidation for this alloy, but not terrible.

This coin was issued in aluminum and was represented as authentic when we purchased it.

However, I personally doubt that this coin is genuine
considering the plenty of fakes out there in the market und I am not an expert to judge this coin.

Fischer: GT002, Parchimowicz: 13

The Ghetto Litzmannstadt or Lódz Ghetto was the second-largest ghetto (after the Warsaw Ghetto) established for Jews and Roma in German-occupied Poland. Situated in the town of Lódz and originally intended as a temporary gathering point for Jews, the ghetto was transformed into a major industrial centre, providing much needed supplies for Nazi Germany and especially for the German Army. Because of its remarkable productivity, the ghetto managed to survive until August 1944, when the remaining population was transported to Auschwitz. It was the last ghetto in Poland to be liquidated.

The city of Lodz was renamed Litzmannstadt on April 11, 1940 in honor of World War I German general. For the Jews, the Litzmannstadt (Lodz) ghetto became the second largest after Warsaw. Daily life in the ghetto was captured on film by German director Fritz Hippler  for the production of "Der Ewige Jude," ("The Eternal Jew," 1940)  sometimes dubbed the "most anti-Semitic film ever made." As Jews were not allowed to use German currency, Jewish money was issued on May 15,1940, as indicated on the front of the currency. Unlike Theriesenstadt, which depicted the Prophet Moses holding the Ten Commandments with the 6th Commandment ("Thou Shalt Not Commit Murder") obscured, Litzmannstadt money used only symbols. 

Only Litzmannstadt issued coins, a soft-mixed alloy in several denominations. One side of the 10 Mark coin shown depicts a Star of David with the word "Ghetto" imposed over it and the year, 1943. The image appears to be surrounded by a tight knit form of barbed wire. The other side says "Quittung 10 Marks," (receipt or official currency for 10 Marks), while the circular wording around the outside reads: "The Elder of the Jews in Litzmannstadt."

The reverse side was also set against a field of woven stars of David, which metaphorically has the appearance of a barbed-wire fence. Litzmannstadt was the only ghetto to issue coins, which have a Star of David on one side with the denomination, while the reverse repeated the issuing authority in a circular fashion around the coin: "Der Alteste der Juden in Litzmannstadt." The coins, made of aluminum or a magnesium-aluminum alloy, were minted in denominations of 10 Pfennig, 5, 10, and 20 Mark coins. Primo Levi makes mention of one of these coins in his chapter on "The Gray Zone" in "The Drowned and the Saved." Levi describes the irony, and astonishment, of finding a Lodz Ghetto coin after liberation:

"On my return from Auschwitz I found in my pocket a curious coin of light allow, which I have saved to this day. Scratched and corroded, one side of it has the Hebrew Star (the "shield of David"), the date 1943, and the word getto; on the other side is the inscription QUITTUNG UBER 10 MARK and DER ALTEST DER JUDEN IN LITZMANNSTADT, that is, respectively, Receipt for ten marks and The Elder of the Jews in Litzmannstadt. In short, it was a coin for internal ghetto use. For many years, I forgot about its existence, and then, around 1974, I was able to reconstruct its story, which is fascinating and sinister. "

In Levi's writing, the coin itself is the stimulus for memory, which it must be, as one ponders not only the special duties of the Jewish council in the ghetto, but also what the coinage and printed currency meant as a special manifestation of both design and segregation.