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- Notes:
- This is an example of a 50-Pfennig bill used by prisoners in the camp at Merseberg. POWs could make purchases in the camp using this script.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Samples of Lagergeld from four different prison camps in Germany, including Merseberg, Chemnitz, and Oberhausen in the Rhineland. POW's could use these currencies to make purchases within these prison camps, but the money was worthless outside of the camp compound.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- These prison camp bank note images, from "Der Krieg," provides an overview of German prison camp money (Lagergeld). Prison camp authorities issued script for Allied prisoners of war to make purchases inside prison camps. These authorities wanted to reduce the amount of money POW's used to reduce any opportunities of bribery of guards or to support escape attempts. Examples of script on this page are from Oberhausen (fifty Pfennige) and Merseberg (fifty Pfennige) in Germany, Chemnitz (two Marks) in Saxony, and a five Pfennige note.
- Date Created:
- 1916-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- This store room in Merseburg holds two key materials for any prison camp: a large pile of potatoes sits to the right of the room (an important ingredient in prisoners' daily diets) and a large pile of coal is at the left (coat was a critical source of energy). A prison camp consumer huge quantities of potatoes and coal on a daily basis as part of the camp's operations. These supplies were essential to support the prison camp during the long winter months.
- Date Created:
- 1915-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- Russian and French prisoners pull a wagon full of correspondence and parcels from the train station to the prison camp at Merseberg. Horses were in short supply in Germany after the war started, while POW labor was plentiful. Prisoners took over the job of pulling wagons whenever possible.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- French and Russian prisoners work on shoes and boots in the cobbler shop at Merseberg. The men are busy making new shops and boots or repairing worn out footwear. These skilled laborers provided an important service in the prison camps and unskilled prisoners gained the opportunity to learn a new trade during their captivity. German guards stand in the back of the shop.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
- Notes:
- The lazaret (hospital ward) in the prison camp at Merseburg is busy with orderlies and patients. Most of the beds in the hospital ward appear in use by the sick or wounded. The lazaret is well heated and ventilated as demonstrated by the four large wood stoves in the center aisle and the numerous high windows.
- Date Created:
- 1918-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Western Michigan University. Libraries
