THE Warsaw Ghetto was ordered estab-lished by the Germans in early October

1940. The city of Warsaw had the largestJewish community in pre-war Europe andthe Polish Jews living in the city were re-quired to move and take up residence in theJewish quarter or ghetto which was sepa-rated from the rest of the city by a three-metre high wall surrounding the designatedarea. From 1939 Jews throughout Polandhad been prohibited from possessing largeamounts of cash, trading in certain goods,running their own schools, owning tele-phones or radios. Among many other restric-tions, they could not even enter the centralpost office, and a curfew was imposed fromnine pm to five am daily.

Polish paper currencyThe Polish currency of the time consisted

of zloty and subsidiary units called groszy(1 zloty= 100 groszy). There had been bank-notes in groszy in 1924-25; however by thetime the ghetto was established, the Gen-eral Gouvernement, set up by the Germans,had introduced a provisional issue in 1939with an overprint on the 100 zlotych. Thenin 1940 the Bank Emisyjny w Polsce (Bankof Issue in Poland) issued a series of notesin denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100and 500 zlotych. Any older notes were alsostamped by the issuing authority “GeneralGouvernement fur die besetzten poinischenGebiete”. (General Government for the occ-upied Polish territories). Collectors shouldbe aware that these notes are frequentlyfound with a forged overprint. A new issueof notes was made in 1941 similar to thatof 1940 but in the denominations of 1, 2,5, 50,100 and 1000 zlotych.

Currency of the ghettosThe most significant difference between

the Warsaw Ghetto and others in Poland

and Germany in regard to money is thatseveral other ghettos had a distinct curr-ency for use within the community. Lodz, orLitzmannstat, ghetto had a well-printedpaper currency as well as coinage, andTheresienstadt had an authorized papercurrency designed by an inmate. Warsawnever had an internal currency; it usedPolish paper money and coins. This wasvery fortunate for the members of the comm-unity as, when they crept out of the ghettoto buy food and arms, they had Polish curr-ency to pay for it.

Post Office administrationThe post office in the ghetto was run by the

Judenrat (Jewish Council) but the moneyderived from the sale of postal items wassent to the main post office in Warsaw whichwas under German control. There were eightyellow post boxes situated within the bord-ers administered by the Jewish administrat-ion, which was responsible for the collectionof outgoing mail between four and six pm,

then censorship and delivery of the mail tothe German postal authorities the followingmorning. The postal workers in the ghetto were paid

from a surtax that ghetto residents wereforced to pay to receive each item of mail.This ranged from 10 groszy for printedmatter through 20 groszy for inland lettersand packets, 30 groszy for foreign letters,packets and registered mail, to 50 groszy forspecial delivery. All mail that entered theghetto post office was marked with a rec-tangular stamp containing the date in themiddle and R.Z.w.W. that stood for RadaZydwala w Wasziewei (Jewish Council ofWarsaw) on the top and S.P.D.Z. SkladnicaPocztowa Dzielnicy Zydowskiej (Post Officeof Jewish District) on the bottom. There wasthe circular stamp indicating the amountof the surcharge, written in figures at thetop, gr. for groszy in the centre and S.P.D.Zaround the edge at the bottom. The deliv-eryman had to collect the surcharge andhope that he would get a tip. Some sourcesindicate that the postal employees werepaid on a piece rate at 6 groszy a letter,others that they received 10 per cent of thesurcharge.There was a project to organize a secret

Ghetto Post Office in the Underground asthe Jewish resistance grew and the Germanauthorities began rounding up residentsand transporting them to the Treblinka andAuschwitz concentration camps.

Proposed post office currencyAn early mention of a proposed paper

currency for the Warsaw Ghetto is in thefirst edition (1989) of Campbell’s bookPrisoner of War and Concentration CampMoney, with an expanded entry in thesecond edition in 1993. The latter entrymentions a “controversial issue of currency”that was allegedly produced by the Jewish

BANKNOTES OR STAMPS FOR A GHETTO?The Warsaw Ghetto post office unissued paper currency by Tony James

Poland 100 Zlotych SCWPM 75a dated 1934 prewar issue overprinted in 1939

Poland 20 Zlotych SCWPM 95 1940 Bank Emisyjny w Polsce.Valid in the ghetto

underground in the spring of 1941; howeverhe says that survivors of the ghetto do notrecall having seen these notes in circulation.An addendum to the entry states that thenotes are usually found in full sets in aboutuncirculated condition, and that in the1950s a hoard of between 50 and 100 sets(that have since been distributed), was soldto a stamp dealer in Austria by a former SSofficer. The six denominations are listed(Camp 4246- 4251) as 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and50 groszy with pictures of a block of four10 grozy and single illustrations of the 25and 50 denominations.The issue is again mentioned in Zvi Stahl’s

book Jewish Ghettos’ and ConcentrationCamps’ Money 1933-1945. First printed inIsrael in Hebrew in 1990, the English editionappeared in 2002 and illustrates the denom-inations and describes the meaning of theinscriptions. It relies heavily on the opinion

of Dr Henry Fenigstein, a collector of thetime, who lived in the ghetto, and who con-siders that the tokens were issued after thewar to deceive collectors. Stahl notes thatmost books do not mention the Warsawnotes and while it might be regrettable thatcollectors may have spent time and moneyon questionable notes, evidence of theirforgery is inconclusive. The latest mention of these notes is in

Feller’s catalogue Silent Witnesses wherethey are given full examination, and variouspoints of view are discussed. The four lowestdenominations all have the initials RZwWand SPDZ, a Star of David and the denom-ination. None of them indicate a unit ofcurrency and it is interesting that the den-ominations are within 5 of the next higherexcept for the highest 50. The notes for thetwo higher denominations are much larger,the 25 denomination has the initials RZwW

and SPDZ spelt out in full, Rada Zydow wWarszwie ( Jewish Postal Authorities) andSkladnica Pocztowa Dzielnicy Zydowskiej(Jewish Council in Warsaw). The 50 denom-ination depicts the same initials as the lowerdenominations, as well as 18 stars, a pictureof a barbed wire fence, and a flame con-taining the symbol of the Nazi SS. The 18stars are a significant number in Judaism;18 in Hebrew letters means “Chai” or “life”and also hope. The wire fence and hated SSsymbol are self explanatory.The printing of the notes is also signifi-

cant in their crudity, appearing to be a linoor wood cut, and the only colour used is blue;a colour long associated with Judaism andalso of the flag of the uprising. The low denominations are important in

that they reflect the need for small changeand are consistent with the amount of thesurcharge for delivery within the ghetto.

Fakes and forgeries of normalPolish paper currencyOne of the difficulties of collecting military

and camp money is its scarcity, due to thepopularity of both the metal and paperitems. This has tempted some to forge andcounterfeit items since they are highly

Warsaw Ghetto unissued token paper currency5,10,15,20 denominations

Warsaw Ghetto unissued proofs, 25 with issuerin full and 50 with significant symbolism

Polish banknotes 1940-1941 with false hand stamps produced to mislead collectors

valued by collectors. This scarcity, partic-ularly of camp and ghetto money, has led tothe production of several types of forgeries,usually in the form of hand stamps of sup-posed authorities of the time. The most glaring examples, as illustrated,

are the stamp with the Star of David indic-ating Litzmannstadt (which actually hadits own paper currency, so why issue over-stamped notes?) and the stamp showing theSS symbol the words Bibliothek Wewelsburg(Library of Wewelsburg), which was whereHimmler started an SS school or academywhere scientists practiced “germanischeZweckforschung” (Germanic applied res-earch) This has no relationship to the papercurrency of Poland as the town of Wewels-burg is in Germany!

Hand-stamped propaganda banknotesThere have been other over-stamped

Polish notes on the denominations of the1940 issues (Pick 91, 93, 94 and 96). Theoverprints say “Braterstwo Broni AngliiAmeryki Polski Niech Zyje” (long live theAnglo-American-Polish brotherhood in

arms) and another on a 5 zlotych P93 witha stamp “A.K.Regula Pierwszy zold pow-stancy, Sierpien 1944” (Warsaw ResistanceFighters of 1944). These are considered tobe genuine propaganda and commemora-tive overprints. Another genuine overprintthat has been recognized and confirmed is

the 100 zlotych with the overprint GETTOWALCZY (The Ghetto Fights). Dr AlanYork,a prominent US collector wrote in1982 in the Shekel magazine (The Jour-nal of the American Israel NumsimaticAssociation) that these could well havebeen a patriotic message to circulate out-side the ghetto and inform other ghettos ofresistance to the German occupation. Amost interesting item that appeared in theSpink sale of the Tom Warburton Collec-tion in October 2010, was a one zloty noteof 1941 bearing a black stamp readingOKREG WARSAWSKI DOW-ODZTWOZGRUP IV (Group IV Command WarsawDistrict) together with the Polish eaglehand-stamped, that was attributed to theWarsaw ghetto uprising. However John ESandrock (The Currency Collector) comm-ents that this was a propaganda overprintby the Polish Home Army which was assist-ing the advancing Soviet forces in August1944. This would align the issue with othersof 1944 mentioned above, rather than theGhetto uprising.

The end of the GhettoOn February 16, 1943, Heinrich Himmler

gave the order for the Warsaw Ghetto to bedestroyed, and on April 19, which happenedto be the Jewish Passover, German troopsled by Colonel Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg marched into the ghetto, inten-ding to complete the liquidation of theJewish district. The members of the JewishFighting Organization opposed them; thefinal battle for the ghetto had begun. TheGerman forces required a month to squashthe last of the opposition and the rebellionended only when the Great Synagogue wasblown up on May 16 1943.

ConclusionAre these items token paper currency?

Or possibly stamps intended for use in theWarsaw ghetto but never put in circulation?Can they be considered paper currency orphilatelic items? The conflicting points ofview point indicate to me that collectorsshould review the facts and opinions anddraw their own conclusions. Dr Fenigstein, as mentioned before, re-

futes the suggestion that these were madeduring WWII and while he was in the ghetto

1 Zloty Pick 105 dated 1944 issued after the liberation.Few Polish Jews were alive to see this currency of freedom.

Letter from Dr Ferdinand Wallner to Alfred Szebel confirming the items genuine.

“did not remember seeing or hearing aboutany of the notes” although he visited thepost office regularly.Dr Ferdinand Wallner of Vienna, another

survivor, also did not believe the inmatesproduced any notes or stamps but hasagreed that there had been some sort ofunderground effort to organize the mailoffice despite control by the German author-ities. Correspondence between Alfred Szebelof Illinois USA and himself regarding thesenotes resulted in a letter certifying thatthese items were considered genuine. Stanley Kronenberg of New Jersey, corr-

esponded with collector Henry Schwab in1971, claims the stamps were postagecoupons intended to circulate mail and pack-ages within the ghetto. Another survivorArnold Shey believed that the notes wereindeed intended as a substitute for smallchange which became scarce in the postoffice.

United StatesHolocaust Memorial MuseumAccording to the United States Holocaust

Memorial Museum website the museumconsiders the items to be stamps issued bythe Warsaw Ghetto Resistance Organiza-tion (Zydowski Zwiazek Wojskowy) and itstranslation of the letters on the items readsJewish Government in Warsaw (RZwW)and Jewish Postal Division (SPDZ). Inter-estingly, the indexing of entries for the sixitems (note denominations) is not consis-tent with description of these initials. Thisis one of the joys and frustrations of foreignlanguages and idiomatic translations thatchange with time, origin and opinion. What-ever the result of the investigations, theitems remind the collector of a dark timein history that must never be forgotten.

ReferencesLance K. Campbell, Prisoner of War and Concen-tration Camp Money of the 20th Century, 1st & 2nd

editions 1989, 1993 BNR Press, Port Clinton, USA,Zvi Stahl, Jewish Ghettos’ and ConcentrationCamps’ Money 1933-1945, Deutsch, London 2002

Schwan & Boling World War II Remembered 1995BNR Press Port Clinton USA

Feller & Feller R & S, Silent Witnesses: CivilianCamp Money of World War II, 2007 BNR PressPort Clinton USA

Trunk Isaiah Judenrat: The Jewish Councils inEastern Europe Under Nazi Occupation,1972Bison Books USA

www.holocaustjourney.com/ghetto-postman-warsaw-ghettowww.thecurrencycollector.com www.collections.ushmm.org/search/catalogue/irn 519010-015

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WHEN YOU MAKE APURCHASE FROM ONEOF OUR ADVERTISERS,PLEASE REMEMBERTO TELL THEM YOU

“Saw it in CAB Magazine”

THE Holy Grail is the latest religiousicon to be recognized numismatic-

ally. Specifically it is the Holy Grail ofValencia Cathedral considered by manyto be that used by Jesus during the LastSupper. Clearly Indiana Jones didn’t havehis facts straight. He needed to go only toSpain.The 2 oz, 50 mm silver proof two dollars

has been struck by the Mennica Polskafor Niue. The reverse depicts the Valenciagrail itself made of agate. It dates frombetween the second century BC and thefirst century AD. It was donated to the

cathedral by King Alfonso V of Aragon in1437. A slice of red agate, similar to thatused for the cup is embedded in the rev-erse. The obverse depicts King Arthur andhis knights departing on their quest tofind the sacred object. Readers wanting a grail of their own can

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Niue Honours Holy Grail In Silver

ImagecourtesyDownies.

TONY JAMES HONOUREDFOR CONTRIBUTIONS

TO NATIONAL HERITAGE

Photo: Alan McRae

RESPECTED numismatist and long-standing contributor to CABmagazine Tony James, ofTony James Noteworld, was honoured recently by the Australian Institute of History and

Arts for his contributions in his field to preserving Australia’s national heritage. Tony wasdeclared a Fellow of the Institute in recognition of his leadership, his knowledge and his under-standing of the historical importance of numismatics, particularly banknotes.His citation read: “By his efforts in this specialized field Tony has succeeded by private initiat-

ive in acquiring a greater knowledge of this subject than could ever be obtained by anyone usingthe normal scholarly channels or established houses of learning. Future generations of Austral-ians will forever be appreciative of this work, which has greatly enriched the archives of ourcountry.”Of his award, Tony said, “it is wonderful to be recognised for what I love doing.”