registration fees of up to 500 zlotys; other sources of income—survey fees, certifications of photographs, other certificates—up to 300 zlotys per month; assistance in obtaining birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.—up to 1,000 zlotys, [2] in total about 3,000 zlotys per month. This amount would not be enough to provide for such a large family, if not for the primary source of income in the form of surplus (“dead”) ration cards.531 From all the seven buildings, with a total of 2,800 souls, the Naj family currently has 68 ration cards (other than their own), which is 2.4%, or just below 10 cards per building. The marketable value of one coupon is 25 zlotys, although in fact it gives many more benefits. Supernumerary vouchers cover the demand for bread in the family with a surplus (with their own vouchers—152 kg per month), certain particularly valuable products, such as sugar or honey, are partially sold, while others, such as soap, are kept for the future. Some products, like jam, are not bought at all due to their low value.
The system of distribution and control of ration cards during the war was subject to many changes. More or less until the end of 1940, ration cards were distributed by Polish Supply Offices.532 Rations were relatively large then, and prices proportionately low. Registration clerks had generally little interest in dealing with supernumerary cards, so the distribution system was very simple: a clerk submitted a list based on the book of registrations, usually without anyone checking to see if they were compliant, and received the applicable number of ration cards. Around the beginning of 1941, the distribution of ration cards [3] was taken over by the Jewish Supply Offices.533 At the same time, the sealing of the ghetto led to a sharp increase in prices. Under these conditions, the “dead vouchers” began to multiply rapidly and by March–April they were the main source of income for all registration clerks. Consequently, all Supply Offices reinforced control.534 Initially, they started to check the conformity of the tenant list submitted by registration clerks with the residency books. Next, books of registrations were checked for compliance with actual status, which was carried out by the newly estab
