Ghetto Currency, 10 Kronen, Czechoslovakia (German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia)

Ghetto Currency, 10 Kronen, Czechoslovakia (German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia). Used in Theresienstadt Ghetto (Terezin, Czechoslovakia). The Theresienstadt Ghetto notes were printed by the National Bank in Prague.The notes have a central vignette of Moses holding the tablets containing the Ten Commandments. They are dated 1 January 1943 but did not see actual circulation until May, 1943.The notes were worthless except to rent library books and the elaborately engraved style and inscriptions were copied from the Litzmannstadt (Lodz) Ghetto issues of 1940. The note has been folded into half and appears a little worn and creased. There are patches of light dirt on both sides of the note.

This note, issued in Theresienstadt Ghetto, was given to the donor's father when he returned to Czechoslovakia after the Second World War. The Theresienstadt Ghetto, located near Prague, was a creation of SS General Reinhard Heydrich, appointed Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia (Czechoslovakia ) in late 1941. Originally, it was designed as a "model" camp for holding prominent and respected Jews and to impress the international community. It was the only camp the International Red Cross was allowed to visit. A Nazi propaganda film, "The Fuhrer Gives a City to the Jews", was made on the subject . A Council of Elders (Judenrat) was responsible for running the Ghetto and reported to the SS. Ultimately the Theresienstadt Ghetto was used as a transit point to Auschwitz extermination camp.