Banknote of Poland
a well known expert in the field of Judaic syngraphics provided
an enigmatic Polish Emission Bank note of 100 zIoty-Krakow issue,
I August 1941 (Pick # 103), overprinted boldly and diagonally
on the obverse in the Polish language the cryptic proclamation
"GETTO WALCZY" . . . "The Ghetto Fights"
particular note came out of a very old Polish collection that
had been in storage in Israel for many years.
notes of the Emission Bank of Poland were issued under the authority
of the Nazi overlord of Occupied Poland, the notorious Dr. Hans
Frank. That portion of Poland not directly annexed to Germany,
the Ukraine, or the Baltic States was called the Gouvernement
General and comprised the districts of Warsaw, Lublin, Galicia,
and Radom. It was in this area that these notes circulated.
When we think of a ghetto uprising in Poland, we naturally think
of the heroic Warsaw Ghetto struggle. There were however, other
less well publicized but none the less heroic battles in Lublin,
Bialyostok, Lvov, Czestochowa, and in many other centers. This
note could be from any of the fighting ghettos; but where?
there still be some to whom the concept of a ghetto uprising against
the Hitlerite hordes be unthinkable, I quote verbatim from one
of the still existing documents of the Warsaw Ghetto epic.
THE DEFENDERS OF THE WARSAW GHETTO.
TO THE JEWS WHO REMAIN ALIVE!
The population of Warsaw has been conducting an armed struggle
against the German invaders for the last three days. This is our
struggle too. A year has passed since ive raised the flag of the
famous revolt in the Ghettos and labor camps, since we began the
battle for our lives and our honor, and we again join the entire
Polish nation in the fight for freedom. Hundreds of Jewish youths
and members of the Jewish Fighting Organization stand shoulder
to shoulder with their Polish comrades at the barricades. We send
our greetings to the fighters.
with the rest of the Polish nation we are, today, struggling for
freedom. All of the members of the Jewish Fighting Organization
who have survived and all Jewish youths capable of fighting are
hereby called on to continue the struggle. No one should stay
behind. Join the ranks of the rebels. Through war we shall achieve
victory, and a free sovereign, strong and Just Poland!
Jewish Fighting Organization
(signed) Antek, Commander
why were these notes over- printed? As the war moved towards its
conclusion, the purchasing power of the zioty declined drastically.
This was part of the plan for the economic destruction of Poland.
The high valued 100 zioty note, devalued as it was, still had
some miniscule value. So, if the Jewish Fighting Organization
in one of the ghettos in revolt, wanted to get its message to
circulate outside of the ghetto walls, what better way than to
overprint it on a circulating medium of paper currency?
is certain that if the overprinted money ever got into the banking
system, it would be confiscated. But still, if one found a piece
of paper money with an overprinted message on it, it wouldn't
be discarded, if the basic note was still valid. Propaganda overprinting
of currency had been done in Germany and Russia during and after
World War One. During the terrible German inflationary period
there were numerous political, Nazi, Communist, and anti-Semitic
messages overprinted on paper money.
The Polish underground forces during the Warsaw uprising over-
printed many patriotic messages on these same banknotes, translating
"Long Live the AngJo-American-Pol- ish Brotherhood in Arms'",
"Ger- many Is Losing On All Fronts'," "The First Pay In The September
1944 Uprising?," to name but a few. So, there was a precedent
for the political and military overprinting of paper money.
the Polish underground overprints are listed and recognized in
the standard paper money catalogues of Pick, Kowalski, Terlecki,
Jablonski, Gupieniec, etc., this one lone exampleópossibly unique,
exists from that sad period. Knowledgable syngraphists in Poland,
Germany, Israel, and the USA who have made a lifetime study of
this type of material, when shown this note, express amazement.
Very probably, it came from the Warsaw Ghetto uprising; but, it
could also have originated in Lublin, or any of the other fighting
it could have been a souvenir from a reunion of ghetto fighters.
However, an inquiry to the Ghetto Fighters House Museum in Israel
disclaims all knowledge of the note. Could it have been a concoction
or fantasy made to dupe collectors? Perhaps . . . but it surfaced
years ago when this type of material had little value or interest
to collectors. The very least that can be said about it is that
it was made by a protesting victim.
Today this enigmatic note, with its defiant and poignant message
exists to give the lie to the canard that all Jews went to their
end like lambs to the slaughter.
any readers can shed light on this note or other unusual ghetto,
concentration camp or displaced persons camp paper money I would
be grateful to hear from them.
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