Coins; Medals; Money; Numismatics; Prisoners of war
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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