Description
Silver Russian ruble (or rouble), 3.3cm diameter. Impressed edge. The obverse features Cyrillic script and a coat of arms. The reverse features two figures and a radiant sun above the inscription '1924r'.
Contextual Description
This 1924 Russian ruble (or rouble) was given to Antonio Horcicka, a political internee, by a Russian soldier who was executed at Dachau concentration camp.
Antonio Horcicka was born in Prague in 1914. As he came of age in the 1930s, he joined the Czechoslovak Army and witnessed the unopposed annexation of his country by German forces in 1938. He fled Czechoslovakia in 1940 with his pregnant wife, hoping to escape to the United States. The couple travelled through Austria to Yugoslavia, where they were befriended by a local official. When the couple divulged their plan to escape Europe, the official revealed himself to be a Gestapo agent. Antonio's wife returned to Prague, while Antonio was prosecuted, found guilty of voicing opposition to Hitler's regime and imprisoned at Dachau. He migrated to Australia in 1950.
Horcicka had this coin in his possession when he escaped Dachau shortly before the German surrender in 1945.
Details
Accession Number
REL/13169
Physical Description
Material: Silver
Measurement
Overall: 33 mm
Gallery location
Main Bld: World War 2 Gallery, Holocaust gallery
Copyright
Copyright not applicable
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