By
Guido Kisch
Reprinted from
THE NUMISMATIST
1963
I
Internment Camp Money
The guarantee of humane treatment for prisoners of war is an achievement
of modern international law. This interesting and important legal
problem was discussed at great length at several international
conferences at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the
twentieth century. A kind of ethical and legal code resulted consisting
of a comprehensive body of rules and regulations, both written and
unwritten. The International Red Cross played an important part in the
development and crystallization of those humanitarian ideals as they are
embodied today in the provisions of the international law concerning
prisoners of war. Its rules have been explicitly or tacitly accepted and
to a great extent put into practice by most of the civilized nations of
the world. Their disregard, as in the recently reported case of 115
helpless American military prisoners of war murdered in cold blood by
the Germans near Malmedy, or in the notorious death camps of Oswiecim
and Belsen-Bergen, is a relapse into barbarism, characteristic of the
Hitlerite hordes. As a rule, however, the status of prisoners of war is
universally respected and they receive a fair treatment from all
nations, in accordance with the rules of international law. They may be
employed by their captors for certain labors, but must be accorded fair
living conditions.
Considerations of war economy and corresponding military precautions
created the necessity of issuing special money for the use of prisoners
of war. A shortage in currency is often an unavoidable result of
national war conditions. It would be greatly increased, of course, if
the actual use of national currency would be permitted also to the
rising numbers of captives. The issuance of special currency for the
exclusive use of war prisoners is therefore an act of national defense
in wartime. The use of this special type of money, for which both paper
and metal are employed, is restricted in a twofold way. Its circulation
is limited to war prisoners, and—even more strictly—to definite
internment camps. The prisoners’ specially made money, often easily
distinguishable through a round or square hole in the center, is
excluded from general monetary circulation. The prisoner is not able to
buy articles in the ordinary channels of the national commerce.
Moreover, he is left without means in case of escape.
These are the ideas and motives underlying the issuance of separate
money for prisoners of war.
[Illustration: Austrian War-Prisoner Money Used in the Officers
Prison Camp Mühling
(Courtesy of the American Numismatic Society)]
During the First World War such money was produced by the warring
nations of Europe. In Germany, where 635,000 allied prisoners were
confined at the end of the war, it was called _Gefangenenlagergeld_; in
France, with the greatest number of German war prisoners (400,000), it
was known as _monnaies des camps de prisonniers_. In Germany production
reached tremendous amounts and resulted in almost unbelievable
varieties, far surpassing the needs dictated by war economy and military
policy. Röttinger’s catalogue of German internment camp money lists
about 1360 different places of issue and authorities competent to issue
such money. There were thousands of types and varieties. All kinds of
material were used and all types of style imaginable were represented.
From these facts another motif comes to light which prompted that mass
production of war prisoner money. Apparently this new type of currency
quickly attracted the attention of numismatists, first in the lands of
its origin, then in the adjacent neutral countries, and later in the
entire world. The interest of collectors and students once awakened was
soon exploited by the German government through a mass export of
complete sets of prisoner currency to foreign countries. Thus a means
was provided of obtaining valuable and badly needed foreign exchange for
a worthless kind of currency. In fact it was a practically worthless
kind of money, worthless even from the numismatic point of view. For the
almost innumerable varieties impaired the collector’s interest who could
not entertain any hope ever to obtain a complete collection. While
Germany continued this practice for the duration of the war, in line
with her general inflationary policy, Austria-Hungary seems to have kept
the issuance of her war prisoner money within the limits of the actual
war needs.
The hypothesis of the partly inflationary character of the German
internment camp money during the First World War and of its doubtful
numismatical value, as set forth here, is borne out by several other
observations. There were very few complete or almost complete
collections of “Gefangenenlagergeld” even in Germany, the most important
ones being that of the _Reichswirtschaftsmuseum_ in Leipzig, where one
specimen of each type of _Notgeld_ was officially deposited by the
_Reich_ as issued, and that of a private collector, Doctor Arnold Keller
of Berlin, the publisher of _Dr. Arnold Kellers Notgeldbücher_. In
Holland, there was also a collection outstanding because of its
completeness, namely that of Mr. Paul Daub of Utrecht, a private
collector. The American Numismatic Society, in due recognition of the
given situation, rightfully did not care to acquire complete sets of
this money, either during or after the war, but contented itself with a
few specimens only. There have been a few private collectors in the
United States none of whom seems to have attained great achievements in
this field. None the less, the interest is still kept alive to some
degree in collectors’ circles through the “International Emergency Money
Club” of New York City, the only club of its kind in existence, founded
in 1936 in New York City, with an active membership of thirty in 1942.
[Illustration: Different Types of War Prisoner Money]
Beginning as early as January 1917 the well known firm of J. Schulman of
Amsterdam offered complete sets of such money in a series of consecutive
catalogues on war money, entitled _La Guerre Européenne 1914-1917_. Here
collectors could obtain almost all sets available which were probably
secured from the official authorities of issuance in Germany. The
international reputation of the firm of Schulman in Amsterdam is too
well established to permit reflection on the ethics of its business
transactions. Merely for the sake of clarity it should be stated that
none is implied here.
Obviously, numismatic interest turned quickly to the items of this
previously little known type of war emergency money. In the very
beginning, most probably, everyone thought that it would be a quickly
passing numismatic phenomenon. No one could at that time realize the
dimensions that production of war prisoner money would finally reach.
All this notwithstanding, the literature on this special kind of money
is scarce, incomplete and widely scattered. The appended select
bibliography might therefore be welcome to those interested in this
field of collecting which probably will be revived soon after the return
of peace. It is needless to state that no claim is being made of
completeness in the bibliographical data offered below.
No doubt, in the present war, too, internment camp money has been
issued. Scanty news on such money issued in Great Britain, particularly
in the Isle of Man internment camp for civilian and soldier prisoners of
war, has already been brought to the attention of numismatists. A member
of the Czechoslovak State Council in London, Mr. Ernest Frischer,
recently informed the present writer that internment camp money is in
use in the ill-famed concentration camp of Terezin (Theresienstadt) in
Bohemia, where about 50,000 Jews are being held by their German
“Protectors.” According to information received by the War Department in
Washington, on the other hand, “no special type of money is issued for
the use of prisoners of war held in this country. However, prisoners of
war are issued 'canteen checks,’ a form of script which is given them in
lieu of cash. This script is redeemable for merchandise at prison camp
post exchanges. This script is not uniform, each of the several Service
Commands procuring it and issuing it to camps within its jurisdiction.
No photographs of the canteen checks are available.”
Naturally, more detailed and definite information will be available only
after the termination of hostilities and the restoration of unimpeded
research channels.
II
European War-Prisoner Medals
With regard to war prisoner medals, the numismatic situation is
completely different from that outlined here for internment camp money.
True, there may have been also a “mass production” of such medallic
items in Europe during the war of 1914-1918. But it never could have
paralleled that of the emergency money for internment camps.
Two motives, above all, caused the issuance of war prisoner medals: the
raising of funds for the support of prisoners of war or the amelioration
of their condition; and the creation of the commemorative tokens or
medals for presentation to captives after their liberation. It is
doubtful and highly improbable, that the “mass production” of such
medals ever reached in quantity a volume equal to that of war prisoners
money. The number issued may well run into hundreds, at most a few
thousands, but certainly not many thousands. For, to the best of this
author’s knowledge, no commemorative war medal in the form of an
official decoration to be given to all war prisoners in general was
issued by any of the states participating in the First World War. Nor
did any of the European states that remained neutral and held members of
the belligerents in internment camps, issue commemorative medals for
internees. This suggestion may well deserve the attention of the United
Nations’ military authorities. After the present war a special
commemorative medal of honor should be issued, intended for those who
had to endure the great hardships of captivity for their country, often
suffering undescribable physical and mental restraint. Such a token of
gratitude would show to these heroes that they, too, had not been
forgotten and that their sacrifice is duly appreciated and will
permanently be remembered.
It seems that in the last European war prisoner medals were issued
privately only. The extensive search for such medals carried on by the
author in numismatic literature and dealers’ catalogues as well as
through interviewing of collectors and dealers, yielded only four items.
Three are of German origin, only one is French. None of these medals has
aroused as yet the attention or curiosity of numismatists in general or
of collectors of medals in particular.
[Illustration: German Capture Medal by L. Gies]
Because of its medallic representation a typically German “war medal”
will be mentioned first. No specimen was available to this writer. None
is found in the Museum of the American Numismatic Society in New York
City. It is a unilateral bronze medal, measuring 64 millimeters in
diameter, designed by the German artist. Ludwig Gies, whose initials
L.G. appear on the obverse. It is one of the numerous “war medals”
created by him in the beginning of the First World War. It depicts the
act of capture. A German soldier is shown capturing and taking away a
French, a Russian, an English, Belgian, Serbian, and a colonial native
prisoner of war. A brief description, but no reproduction of this medal,
is found in J. Schulman’s Catalogue LXV, of April 1916, p. 82, No. 809.
It is pictured among the artist’s other war medals in Max Bernhart’s
_Die Muenchener Medaillenkunst der Gegenwart_, Plate 15, No. 102,
wherefrom the reproduction is made.
The medal reproduced here as No. 1, another German war prisoner medal,
is a silver medal, of 37.67 grams, measuring forty-one millimeters in
diameter. The obverse depicts the full figure of a German prisoner of
war, dressed in his uniform, on which a sign PG (French: _prisonnier de
guerre_) is visible. Standing on the shore of a river, being of course
the Rhine, he holds his hands stretched out to express his fervent
longing for his home country. Not only the mountains of the latter are
visible on the opposite shore but also the home village with its little
church in the foreground. The inscription in the left upper space of the
medal, before the soldier’s eyes, reads: SEHNSUCHT (longing). The
reverse bears the following inscription in a quadrangular space
surrounded by ornaments: VOLKSBUND/ZUM SCHUTZE/DER DEUTSCHEN/KRIEGS u.
ZIVIL/GEFANGENEN, meaning, “National Society for the Protection of
German Military and Civil Prisoners of War.” On the rim of the medal
name and place of the producing firm are visible: C. Poellat,
Schrobenhausen. The designer’s name does not appear on the medal. No
year is given. In accordance with the aims of the issuing society the
medal was probably destined to promote interest in and support of the
German prisoners of war in enemy land. No records or accounts of the
activities of this society were available in this country. Nevertheless
it is safe to assume the following. Sending of food parcels from Germany
was possible only in the first years of war. But even later, in the
period of grave food shortage, funds were still needed and actually
raised for clothing, and particularly for books, which were continuously
sent to prisoner camps in great quantities. A specimen of this medal is
in the collection of Dr. Bruno Kisch, New York City.
[Illustration: No. 1
German Volksbund for Prisoners Medal]
There is a French counterpart to this medal. A small medal, 26
millimeters in diameter, similar to No. 1 in its motives, but apparently
more artistically designed, is known to have been struck in France. No
specimen is available in this country. According to the brief
description in J. Schulman’s Catalogue LXXIII it was designed by O.
Yencesse and executed in a silvery white metal. The obverse shows a
French soldier seated in an attitude of despondency. The inscription
reads: POUR NOS—PRISONNIERS. that is: “For Our Prisoners.” On the
reverse a dove is visible bearing in its bill an olive branch. Below is
the date 1916. The motive of the issuance of this medal was patently
fund raising.
No. 2 is a medal made of hard white metal, and struck for the German
prisoners of war interned at Douglas, Isle of Man, to commemorate their
detention there. Its diameter measures 46 millimeters. On the top there
is a rectangular vertical loophole. The obverse shows the Douglas prison
camp, in the foreground its barracks and huts, also an unfolded banner
is visible; in the background a fortress at the left of the beholder,
and a lighthouse at the right. Between the fortress and the lighthouse
is the Manx triskelion or triquerta, occupying a prominent place in the
upper center. The entire picture on the obverse is enclosed by a
surrounding wreath of barbed wire. The reverse has a wreath of leaves
with a panel in the middle. The inscription reads, in the upper segment:
WELTKRIEG 1914-1915 (“World War 1914-1915”); in the lower: DOUGLAS ISLE
OF MAN; in the middle: ERINNERUNG AN DIE KRIEGSHAFT (“In commemoration
of war detention”). No artist’s name is given. Specimens of this medal
are found in the museum of the American Numismatic Society, New York
City, and in this writer’s collection. The first mentioned specimen is
in an (original) plain wooden case with no ornament. Other wooden cases
are known, on the cover of which an inlaid design is visible
representing an open-jawed snake as the symbol of war. The words
_Weltkrieg 1914/15_ are added on the case. This medal was pictured and
briefly, though not exactly, described in _The New York Times_ of August
26, 1916. In The Numismatist of March 1916, a reproduction with a few
explanatory lines was also published, the medal having been exhibited at
the January meeting of the New York Numismatic Club.
[Illustration: No. 2
German Camp Douglas Medal]
Douglas, Peel and Knockaloe had been chosen as sites for the detention
camps on the Isle of Man. Here many an alien who for years had followed
some profession or trade in Great Britain was interned in 1914 for the
duration of the war. The English and German Relief Committees with the
active cooperation of the American Young Men’s Christian Association
succeeded in performing what seemed to the _New York Times_
correspondent at that time to have been an unheard-of feat under the
existing conditions: the establishment of an art school for prisoners of
war at Camp Douglas. Beside wooden boxes done in chip carving and in
wood intaglio, the commemorative medals for German war prisoners were
certainly the most artistic objects produced there. Through a strange
irony of fate, they were strictly “made in England.” “Some day they will
be of historic value,” said the _New York Times_ correspondent in
concluding his article. The art school was established in 1915. From the
inscription on the medals “1914-1915” it is clear that they must have
been designed and executed in the latter year, three years before the
war came to an end.
No other war prisoners medals dating back to the First World War have
come to the attention of the present author. Yet, there may be some that
eluded him. He therefore would appreciate any additional information
that readers should be kind enough to send him (address: 415 West 115th
Street, New York 25, N. Y.)
III
American War-Prison Tokens and Medals