Bidspirit auction | Daily food ration card. Łódź

Daily food ration card. Łódź Ghetto, 1942 - Food ration card (Nahrungsmittel-Karte) from the Łódź Ghetto (Litzmannstadt Getto) belonging to a Jewish woman who died in the ghetto. Issued by the Judenrat in the ghetto under the signature of the “Elder of the Jews” (Der Aelteste der Juden), Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski. Serial number: 063048. Łódź Ghetto, 1942 Card for the distribution of basic food rations in the ghetto, belonging to Fryde Henoch, who lived at 10 Rauch Street, apartment 24. The card was used at Distribution Point No. 8 (Verteilungsstelle Nr. 8). It was partially used, and several coupons remained for use over the following weeks. In the center of the card appears a prominent purple stamp in German: GESTORMEN - 2 MRZ. 1942 (Deceased - 2 March 1942). Above the stamp is marked a large X canceling the card to prevent any further use. In the harsh reality of the ghetto, the food card meant life itself; once a person died, the card was immediately canceled to prevent the family from continuing to use the deceased’s meager food ration. The German text in the center states that the card was intended for one person only, that the coupons must not be removed in advance, and that any trade in the cards or forgery thereof would be severely punished. At the bottom appears the printed signature of Rumkowski (M. Rumkowski). March 1942, appearing in the death stamp, was a period of severe hunger and mass mortality in the ghetto, shortly before the major deportations to the Chełmno extermination camp. In the registry of Jews originating from Pinsk appears the name of Fryde Henoch; see the Yad Vashem Names Archive, record no. 8167997. 17x14 cm. Stains. Good condition.