Introduction of special "Jewish currency" whose circulation will be restricted to Jews is now being contemplated by the Nazi authorities in Poland according to reports from Cracow today.
The reports state that under the new plan all Jews will be ordered to submit their cash to the National Bank in exchange for bills which will be marked "Jewish money." Similarly Jews are drawing a limited monthly sum from their blocked accounts in Polish banks will receive these sums in "Jewish currency."
The measure will be introduced first in the city of Lodz, where some 160,000 Jews are herded in a ghetto, the reports state. According to the Nazis, it was necessary "in order that Jews should not be able to smuggle their money out of the country."
Reports reaching here from Germany disclose that the position of the Jewish population in Berlin is becoming more and more precarious. The entire Jewish population dispossessed from their dwellings in the other parts of the city have been crowded into dilapidated buildings on Yorkstrasse and in the slums of the Grossgoerschen-strasse. The density in these slums is so great that special huts must be erected to deal with the problem. Lines of Jews can be seen in front of a municipal lavatory in that section since the dwellings have no toilets. The synagogue on Oranienburger-strasse, which was once considered the largest in Berlin, is now requisitioned and used by the military authorities, one of the reports states.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.