Bidspirit auction | Collection of Food and Medicine

Collection of Food and Medicine Ration Coupons and Permits from the Łódź Ghetto - A rare and diverse collection of official coupons and permits from the Łódź Ghetto (Litzmannstadt), 1942–1944, providing bureaucratic testimony to the rationing of food, cigarettes, and medical treatment within the ghetto. Two brown paper coupons issued by the Grocery and Bread Department (Kolonialwaren- und Brotabteilung). Coupon for 3 kg of vegetables (Gemüse), bearing a purple ”MUSTER” (”Specimen”) stamp. Coupon for 5 kg of potatoes (Kartoffeln). Cigarette card dated May 10, 1942, bearing the department heading in Hebrew and German (”Der Älteste der Juden in Litzmannstadt – Karten-Abteilung”). Issued to a resident named Benet Chaim, of Hanseaten 8, and designated ”for smokers only” (nur für Raucher). Printed at the bottom is the name of the head of the Judenrat, Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski. Medical coupon for indigent patients: a voucher (Talon) printed in Polish, ”Talon dla biednych chorych” (”Coupon for Poor Patients”), containing handwritten pencil entries of patients' names, with a purple ink stamp of the Ghetto Health Department (Gesundheitsabteilung) on the right-hand side. Three small coupons issued by the Kitchens Department (Küchen-Abt) for ”one supplementary lunch” (1 Zus.-Mittag), from different series (Serie I/N, Serie II/E, S XVI). A large, light-colored document issued by the Ghetto Meat Center (Fleisch Zentrale), headed ”Begleitschein” (”Accompanying Slip”), with designated spaces for recording the type of supply and bearing a printed date from 1944. A special coupon issued by the Kitchens Department (Series S XIX) for a supplementary meal, bearing a large, prominent red stamp reading ”KOHLRABI”, together with the number 30. A coupon printed on dark paper for one supplementary lunch (Talon für 1 Zusatz-Mittag), issued by the Kitchens Department (Küchen-Abteilung), Series S. IV, bearing the circular stamp of the Der Älteste der Juden. A green-colored coupon issued by the Kitchens Department for ”one soup” (Talon für 1 SUPPE), valid only on the date of issue, Series S. 1. The Łódź Ghetto was the second largest ghetto in Poland and was completely isolated from its surroundings, with no possibility of smuggling food into the ghetto. The head of the Judenrat, Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, administered the ghetto as a ”productive ghetto” of forced-labor workshops (Ressorts), guided by the principle that ”work is our life.” As a result of this complete isolation, every aspect of daily life—and especially the distribution of food, meat, potatoes, vegetables, cigarettes, and medicine—was administered through a strict and meticulous bureaucratic system using these coupons and permits, which represented the daily difference between life, severe hunger, and death. Overall very good condition.