Guido Kisch

“ Their disregard, as in the recently reported case of 115 helpless American military prisoners of war murdered in cold blood by the Germans near Malmedy, or in the notorious death camps of Oswiecim and Belsen-Bergen, is a relapse into barbarism, characteristic of the Hitlerite hordes. As a rule, however, the status of prisoners of war is universally respected and they receive a fair treatment from all nations, in accordance with the rules of international law. They may be employed by their captors for certain labors, but must be accorded fair living conditions. ”

“ Here many an alien who for years had followed some profession or trade in Great Britain was interned in 1914 for the duration of the war. The English and German Relief Committees with the active cooperation of the American Young Men’s Christian Association succeeded in performing what seemed to the New York Times correspondent at that time to have been an unheard-of feat under the existing conditions: the establishment of an art school for prisoners of war at Camp Douglas. ”

“ With regard to war prisoner medals, the numismatic situation is completely different from that outlined here for internment camp money. True, there may have been also a “mass production” of such medallic items in Europe during the war of 1914-1918. But it never could have paralleled that of the emergency money for internment camps.
Two motives, above all, caused the issuance of war prisoner medals: the raising of funds for the support of prisoners of war or the amelioration of their condition ”

“ Internment Camp Money
The guarantee of humane treatment for prisoners of war is an achievement of modern international law. This interesting and important legal problem was discussed at great length at several international conferences at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. ”

“ Its circulation is limited to war prisoners, and—even more strictly—to definite internment camps. The prisoners’ specially made money, often easily distinguishable through a round or square hole in the center, is excluded from general monetary circulation. The prisoner is not able to buy articles in the ordinary channels of the national commerce. ”

“ As is well known, 13 prison-ships were old vessels-of-war which had been condemned as unseaworthy, and unfit for store or hospital ships, and converted to this, the last use to which they could be applied. One of them has gained medallic interest, the “Old Jersey Prison Ship,” which was included as No. 5 in A. B. Sage’s series of “Historical Tokens.” It is No. 4 in the present essay.
No. 4
The Old Jersey Prison Ship
On the obverse the center of the medallic space is occupied by a representation of the Jersey as it is found on contemporary engravings. ”

“ No records or accounts of the activities of this society were available in this country. Nevertheless it is safe to assume the following. Sending of food parcels from Germany was possible only in the first years of war. But even later, in the period of grave food shortage, funds were still needed and actually raised for clothing, and particularly for books, which were continuously sent to prisoner camps in great quantities. A specimen of this medal is in the collection of Dr. Bruno Kisch, New York City.
No. 1
German Volksbund for Prisoners Medal
There is a French counterpart to this medal. ”

“ In Germany production reached tremendous amounts and resulted in almost unbelievable varieties, far surpassing the needs dictated by war economy and military policy. Röttinger’s catalogue of German internment camp money lists about 1360 different places of issue and authorities competent to issue such money. ”

“ No specimen was available to this writer. None is found in the Museum of the American Numismatic Society in New York City. It is a unilateral bronze medal, measuring 64 millimeters in diameter, designed by the German artist. Ludwig Gies, whose initials L.G. appear on the obverse. It is one of the numerous “war medals” created by him in the beginning of the First World War. It depicts the act of capture. A German soldier is shown capturing and taking away a French, a Russian, an English, Belgian, Serbian, and a colonial native prisoner of war. ”

“ No doubt, in the present war, too, internment camp money has been issued. Scanty news on such money issued in Great Britain, particularly in the Isle of Man internment camp for civilian and soldier prisoners of war, has already been brought to the attention of numismatists. ”

“ The entire picture on the obverse is enclosed by a surrounding wreath of barbed wire. The reverse has a wreath of 9 leaves with a panel in the middle. The inscription reads, in the upper segment: WELTKRIEG 1914-1915 (“World War 1914-1915”) ; in the lower: DOUGLAS ISLE OF MAN; in the middle: ERINNERUNG AN DIE KRIEGSHAFT (“In commemoration of war detention”) . No artist’s name is given. Specimens of this medal are found in the museum of the American Numismatic Society, New York City, and in this writer’s collection. ”

“ Obviously, numismatic interest turned quickly to the items of this previously little known type of war emergency money. In the very beginning, most probably, everyone thought that it would be a quickly passing numismatic phenomenon. ”

“ He “was always a gentleman,” as one of the former prisoners wrote in his memoirs.
In view of the fact that the medal is dedicated to the Libby Prison War Museum in Chicago, the history of the removal of the building from Richmond may be of interest. The following quotation is an excerpt from the pertinent introductory chapter in the now rare Catalogue and Program of the Libby Prison War Museum, first published probably in 1889 and later reprinted in the early eighteen-nineties:
“The removal of Libby Prison from Richmond, Va. ”

“ Both types of the token, 3 A as well as 3 B, have on the obverse below the left corner of the fence, the initial L, representing the name of the engraver, George H. Lovett, who is listed in the New York City Directory of 1859 as die-sinker at 131 Fulton Street. He executed all the Sage tokens and several very pretty Washington medals. ”

“ The medal reproduced here as No. 1, another German war prisoner medal, is a silver medal, of 37.67 grams, measuring forty-one millimeters in diameter. The obverse depicts the full figure of a German prisoner of war, dressed in his uniform, on which a sign PG (French: prisonnier de guerre) is visible. ”

“ II. European War-Prisoner Medals German Capture Medal by Ludwig Gies J. Schulman, La Guerre Européenne 1914-1916. Catalogue LXV, April 1916, p. 82, no. 809.
The description reads:
Prisonniers de guerre.
Médaille uniface coulée en bronze par L. G (ies) . Un soldat allemand amène un soldat français, un russe, un anglais, un belge, un serbe et un indigène. Br. mm. 64. Médaille très intéressante. fl. 18.
22 Max Bernhart, Die Münchener Medaillenkunst der Gegenwart. Munich-Berlin: R. Oldenbourg, 1917.
A photographic reproduction, 60 millimeters in diameter, is found on Plate 15, no. 102. ”

“ ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Prisoners of War in General William E. S. Flory, Prisoners of War: A Study in the Development of International Law. Washington, D. C.: American Council on Public Affairs, 1942.
A good survey of all legal aspects of the subject, with a selected bibliography. ”