MONEY OF THE HOLOCAUST PRESENTATION

Money of the Holocaust: A presentation by Steve and Ray Feller

Sponsored by the Newman Educational Foundation and Olin Library Special Collections Division, Washington University

Per the announcement to invitees: This presentation will explore forms of money used in World War II concentration and internment camps, and will reveal how money was used to control prison populations, as well as its use as a tool of propaganda. The Fellers were introduced by Leonard Augsburger, Project Coordinator for the Newman Numismatic Portal (NNP) project. Addressing an audience of both numismatists and non-numismatists, Ray and Steve held the attention of all for over an hour with a combination of history and stories of the people behind the money. Chits, notes, and a few coins from all theaters of the war were shown in a flying tour of WWII camp numismatics.

 

Left: Steve and Ray Feller receiving Numismatic Ambassador award
Right: Olin Library "Stories from World War II" Exhibit

In attendance were Festers Dave Frank, Joseph and Louise Boling, and Coin World Senior editor [world coins] Jeff Starck, as well as numerous others with an interest in World War Two history, numismatics and financial history, or just good stories. The Fellers' presentation was given in conjunction with an exhibit in the Newman Tower of Collections and Exploration, John Olin Library, Stories from World War II, featuring items from several WWII related personal collections, including material from Joseph Boling and the Fellers.

Prior to the talk, we enjoyed a fascinating and eye-opening tour of the Washington University facility that does all the digitization for the Newman Numismatic Portal, as well as for the university (course catalogues, campus flyers, etc,) as well as a significant amount of other numismatic work. We saw images from the hundred-year archives of a western Pennsylvania coin club that had recently been digitized at this facility. Introducing us to the capabilities of her domain was Kim Dumas, Library Technical Assistant to the NNP project and her staff.

There are three large scanners in routine use. Between them there is the capacity to scan books, magazines, full size newspapers, posters, and maps – pretty much anything a client might want. Following that, we walked over to the offices of the Newman Portal, where we saw what Len called the remnants of the Newman Collection – material ranging from mundane to quite fascinating, and all of it actual, physical objects that had been handled by Eric Newman. Though much of it will be digitized, there is still something to be said for having history in your hand, material coming to you from another human being.

The evening was capped off by a great evening meal of fellowship with the Fellers, Dave Frank, Jeff Starck, Len Augsburger and his wife and parents, as well as the Bolings. Many stories were told, numismatic and otherwise. The evening ended with happy anticipation of Fest and other get-togethers in the future.

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