Auction #37: Worldwide Stamps, Postal History, Worldwide Coins & Worldwide Banknotes

1941, THE WARSAW GHETTO 'POSTAL NOTE' ESSAYS. [Proposed designs] printed from liinoleum cuts. These 'ESSAYS' were prepared illegally in the ghetto in the Spring of 1941. This apparently was done after the German Military Authority denied several requests by the Judenrat [Council of Jewish Elders] to create its own postage stapms and money vouchers. The denominatins of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 50 Groshen were intended mostly as 'postal money to be used as delivery notes within the confines of the ghetto. The letters RZww SPDZ [Rade Zydowska W Warszawie, Skladnice Pocztowa Dzielnicy Zydowskie] stands for  'the Jewish Council in Warsaw, Postal Service in the Jewish Section'.
The 50 Groshen note is the only token with pictorial information. Several JHews [18 - chai - Stars of Dvid] stasnding behind barbed wire, across from an S.S. emblem in flames, perhaps hinting at the future ghetto revolt.
Some controversy still surrounds the authenticity of these six 'ESSAYS', Some experts consider them bogus, but evidence of their forgery is inconclusive.