Paper Token from the Auschwitz Extermination Camp – With the Signature of K. Tzetnik

Paper Token from the Auschwitz Extermination Camp – With the Signature of K. Tzetnik
Paper token in the value of 1 Mark (Reichsmark), from the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Issued in August 1944. Signed in handwriting on the reverse: "K. Tzetnik 135633".
Printed on the front of the token is the inscription "Prämienschein über 1 RM / Konzentrationslager Auschwitz". Such paper tokens were issued in the Auschwitz extermination camp as "bonuses" or work incentives. Zvi Stahl writes in his book "Jewish Ghettos and Concentration Camps' Money" that "these means of payment, in denominations of 1/2 and 1 mark, were given only to chosen inmates of Auschwitz and generally to non-Jewish prisoners, although there is evidence that Jewish prisoners were privileged to benefit from these 'valuable' paper tokens as well. […] During conversations with Auschwitz survivors, to my surprise, I discovered that most inmates never laid their eyes on such tokens. They were surprised to hear that such means of payment even existed". Stahl also mentions that in his book "Man's Search for Meaning", Viktor Frankl tells of a 1 mark token that he received in the Auschwitz Extermination Camp and notes that such a token could be exchanged for a dozen cigarettes and the dozen cigarettes could be exchanged for a dozen portions of soup. Such tokens are very rare. [See: Zvi Stahl, Jewish Ghettos and Concentration Camps' Money (1933-1945), London, Holon 1990, pp. 52-56].
This token was given to the author K. Tzetnik during his imprisonment at Auschwitz and he saved it throughout the war years. On the reverse side of the token he signed his pen name "K. Tzetnik" with the number 135633 – the prisoner number he received in the camp.
K. Tzetnik is the pen name of Yechiel De-Nur (former Feiner, 1917-2001), a native of Poland, and survivor of the Auschwitz Extermination Camp, where he lost his entire family. De-Nur Arrived to Eretz Israel via Italy and dedicated his life to writing about his imprisonment in Auschwitz. While writing his books, De-Nur would return to the "Auschwitz planet" close himself in his room, wear his prisoner garb and not shower, sleep or eat for days. He wrote his books, characterized by chilling descriptions, while protecting his complete anonymity and using the pen name K. Tzetnik. His identity was exposed at the Eichmann trials, when he took the witness stand.
Length: 5 cm, width: 7.3 cm. Creases, folding marks and stains.
The originality of the signature was approved by his daughter, Daniella De-Nur.