Ration Card for Bread. Lodz Ghetto, 1942

Ration Card for Bread. Lodz Ghetto, 1942

Der Ael Teste Der Juden In Litzmannstadt. Ticket #166600 with a chart of numbers bestowing the right to receive a daily bread ration in the Lodz Ghetto for sixty days. The ticket belonged to a Jewish resident of the ghetto named Rauch. The details were added on the date: 3/6/1942. It was used only six times.

Underneath the lines with the ticket holder's name, there are German instructions regarding the way to receive the bread along with the punishment meted out to people who did not follow these regulations. The ticket is stamped with a large "KR." According to the testimony of the owners of this ticket, this stamp certified that the ticket holder had passed away. It was stamped by the Nazi government so that nobody else would be able to use the ticket.

In contrast to other ghettos where food and basic goods were smuggled in from outside the ghetto; in Lodz, the German authorities were so strict that it was virtually impossible to smuggle anything in. The Jews were completely dependent on the German authorities and Judenrat for food, medicine and any other vital goods. Hunger and disease were rampant. About 164,000 people were forced to live together in 4 square kilometers, of which only 2.4 kilometers were appropriate for residential use. The ghetto was liquidated by the Nazis in 1944. This ticket was used in 1942, considered the most difficult period in the Lodz ghetto, as this was when the Nazi authorities further limited the food rations of the unemployed population.

Size: 14x17 cm. Fine condition.