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In this big Christmas issue :
DEAR MEMBER: Details on our updated Souvenir Sheet CD.
A report on the G & C.P.S. AGM in Aylesbury on 6th- 8th October 2017 and the Third Reich Study Group meeting held in London on 4th November 2017 – pages 2 thru 4
STATE of the MEMBERSHIP:
Our growing list of New Members to the Group – page 5
ENQUIRIES: ‘New Enquiries’ and ‘Results of Enquiries’ – page 5
A SECOND GLANCE:
An article about the finding of variants of a souvenir sheet – pages 6 and 7
FELDPOST (POSTDIENST FÜR HILFSWILLIGE): Fieldpost Postal Service for Auxiliary Volunteers, an article by Tony Quinn – page 8
PART 2 OF OUR CONTINUING SERIES ON THE SPECIAL CANCELS FOR
THE HITLER YOUTH: A list of special cancels and serienstempel for the Hitler Youth – pages 9 thru 11
THE ‘KRAFT DURCH FREUDE STADT’, 1936 – 1942:
An article by Steve Clark – pages 12 thru 14
GREAT DEALS ON BOOKS – pages 15 thru 16
A VERY SURPRISING MEMBERSHIP CARD: A membership card for a very unlikely group – page 16
ANOTHER RARE CAMP CARD:
A prisoner of war camp lettersheet from Sachsenhausen by Tony Quinn – page 17
THE NATIONALSOZIALISTISCHE KRIEGSOPFERVERSORGUNG (N.S.K.O.V.): An article all about the K.S.K.O.V., its organisation and membership dues stamps
– pages 18 thru 25
A NEW SOUVENIR SHEET ADDED TO OUR SOUVENIR SHEET CD – page 26
DIARY DATES ! The schedule for regional meetings of the G & C.P.S. and T.R.S.G. – page 28
EPILOGUE:
Upcoming articles planned for the March 2018 issue of the News Sheet – page 28
The Third Reich Study Group
NEWS SHEETGroup Leader:
John Rawlings, 58 Crantock Road, Catford, London SE6 2QP
December 2017No. 171
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017
Dear Member
Unfortunately, some bad news…. It is with great regret that I have to announce an increase in the cost of our ‘printed copy’. After contacting our printer with our order for the September issue, he informed me that when he first quoted the cost of the 20 page March issue at £45 for 25 copies (and June issue), he had made an error and quoted his costs without any profit. He has now quoted me £65 for 25 copies. I paid the difference for the September issue myself. I asked him how much for this December issue with 28 pages and was quoted £80 for the same 25 copies. I always planned to pay any increase in printing costs for the December issue with its extra pages myself, so that was not really an issue.
However, this means that the printed copy of the News Sheet for 2018 will have to be increased from the present £13.20 per year to £16.40 (including postage etc.).
I am very sorry about this increase but I have tried other avenues without success and now must charge the new amount to our members who receive the printed copy.
Those of you who would still like to receive a copy, please note the change of ‘payee’ for your payments at the bottom of this page. Thank you.
….and now for some good news !
Our latest Souvenir Sheet CD is now ready for Christmas. Illustrating and cataloguing the Souvenir Sheets issued during the period from 1926 - 1945 with over 517 illustrations of sheets, 455 in colour! Information on sheet size, sponsors, stamps used, cancels and the events for which the sheets were issued (where known) are given. This is from the original work compiled by John Rawlings and Steve Clark updated with newly discovered sheets and cards. A ‘must have’ for any collector of these items!
These CDs are available in A4 or US Letter format from me (Bob Jones) at £15 each plus p+p. At the time of writing, the total costs for the CD including the p+p are:
U.K. = £16.60 E.U. = £18.80
Rest of World = £20.25
Payment can be made by personal cheque (drawn on a U.K. bank) and made out to me personally (Robert Jones) and sent to my home address at 45, Durham Avenue, Bootle, Merseyside, L30 1RE.
Payment can also be made via PayPal sent to my account at: [email protected]
There are no additional charges for a PayPal payment!
So get your copy now – it makes a great Christmas ‘stocking stuffer’!
With all profits going to the Germany & Colonies Philatelic Society.
Important Notice Starting on 1st December 2017 all personal cheques sent to me for the purchase of CDs or payment for hard copies of the News Sheet should be made out to me personally and sent to my home address:
Robert Jones, 45 Durham Avenue, Bootle, Merseyside, L30 1RE. Thank you.
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 Dear Member (cont.)
The Annual G & C.P.S. AGM Meeting 2017 This year’s Germany & Colonies Philatelic Society’s AGM meeting was held at the Holiday Inn in Aylesbury from the 6th – 8th October. There were 15 displays (not all Third Reich) by various members, in addition to the fair, auction and raffle, plus Literature Awards (for articles in Germania?) and an excursion to Claydon House (National Trust) and, of course, the AGM Dinner and a couple of barrels of Real Ale from the local Chiltern Brewery! Approximately 70+ members and wives/other halves attended.
There were a total of 16 displays by members and they were (in no particular order):
Commercial Zeppelin Mail 1912 - 1939 Geoff Reynolds
Prussian postal stationery 1861 - 1867 Hans Smith
Luftfeldpost 1942 Simon McArthur
Printed matter and exchange control 1918 - 24 Robin Pizer
Hitler Youth 1922 - 1939 Tony Hickey
A modern miscellany Rex Dixon
Woldenberg POW camp 1942 - 1944 Albert Jackson
German Folk stories (post 1945) Mike Dadds
The Rayon Stempel system (inland) 1802 - 1820 Bob Farmer
First series of lettercards 1897 John Barker
WWI censorship Ray Welland
Weimar Republic - postal stationery inflation Martin Ellam
Port Gdansk 1919 - 1938 Giles du Boulay
Cash payments Aug. to Dec. 1923 Robert Mott
German Exhibitions of 1935 John Rawlings
German Horticultural Exhibitions & Garden Shows Michelle Paterson
As can be seen in the list above, the Third Reich era was well represented with 8 of the 16 displays. Maybe some of them could be made into articles for a future News Sheet!
Next year, I believe that the AGM is going to be held in Stoke on Trent (venue as yet unknown) and will, as always, be well worth the trip.
Our thanks go to Steve Clark for his reporting of the event and to Dane Garrod for the use of his photographs. Ed.
Tony Hickey with his Third Reich material. The Saturday ‘search’ for that elusive item.
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 Dear Member (cont.)
The Third Reich Study Group Meeting in London, 4th November 2017
Private Postal Stationery 1933 – 1945
a display by Robert Mott
Seventeen members of our group were given a wonderful display of Private Postal Stationery from the Hitler period, the likes of which most of us had never seen before. Robert explained in detail the Reichspost’s imprinting of the current German stamps on the cards and what quantities and cost that were involved. He then amazed us with the depth to which he has gone to with his collection with some individual cards that we had seen before but not the variants of the same cards. As an example, (shown below), the four cards “German Labour”, “The German Family”, “German Music” and “German Aviation” from the Olympic Postal Exhibition held in Dresden from the 1st – 16th August 1936, were used again in Leipzig in 1940 and 1941, each time with different imprinted stamps.
There were many other rare cards from other philatelic exhibitions, Colonial Shows as well as government inspired propaganda cards. This was a truly magnificent display from a first-class collection. Well done Robert.
Tony Hickey.
Original printed text from
the back of the card for Dresden 1936. Original text obliterarted
and new text applied for Leipzig 1940.
Original text obliterarted and new text applied for
Leipzig 1941.
Robert explains his display (above) and the attendees admiring his efforts (right).
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017
State of the Membership New Members We would like to welcome the following new members to our Study Group. They are: Mike Larner - Plymouth, Devon, PL9 0DY
Tony Torres - Borger, Texas, 79007-2322, U.S.A.
Gary Maloney - Carlton, North Yorkshire, DN14 9PZ
Enquiries New Enquiries Enq. 10/17 First, an enquiry of my own. After seeing the enquiry sent in by our member from India, Sachin
Joshi, about the authenticity of a cover with the ‘Newspaper’ stamps affixed, it came to mind that if these stamps were used for sending newspapers/periodicals etc. abroad, shouldn’t all the envelopes/wrappers franked by these stamps also have ‘censor’ marks? I have only seen one other example and it indeed had a censor mark (see image below).
The images above show the entire cover/wrapper sent from Kempten, Allgäu Germany to an address
in Peoria, Illinois U.S.A (via Siberia and Japan). The close up view shows the two stamps applied and a censor mark in red below the date stamp. This example is from the collection of Ramon Boronda.
If any member has any further information to add about the usage of these stamps, it would be extremely helpful. Ed.
Results of Enquiries
Enq. 3/17 A response to Bill Sells’ enquiry of June this year about the availability of a
dedicated book/catalogue on the subject of Hitler Youth cancels has had a response from our member Tony Torres in Texas. Tony writes: “I was just starting to read your newsletters when I ran across enquiry 3/17. There is/was a book published on HJ philatelic material: ‘Die Hitlerjugend, Eine philatelistisch-zeitgeschichtliche Schrift zum Dritten Reich’, by Alfred Meschenmoser, Phil*Creativ GmbH, Verlag und Agentur, 41366 Schwalmtal, 1999 ISBN 3-932198-33-6, 88 black & white pages, soft bound”. (I should also add that this book is in German. Ed.)
106 Our total membership now stands at:
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017
A Second Glance
by Bob Jones While looking through my collection of souvenir sheets for anything new for the updated Souvenir Sheet CD, I noticed that I did have two copies of the sheet A-51(g) or so I thought. I held them side by side to see which sheet seemed the better of the two for the catalogue illustration. Doing this made me aware that I did not just have a duplicate sheet of A-51(g) but a sheet of a slightly different printing. So I thought there must be two versions of this sheet! They are both sheets designed to mark the 52nd birthday of Adolf Hitler. They both have the Hitler birthday commemorative stamp (Mi.772 / S.G.760) and both have the special cancel used in Vienna on 20th April (Hitler’s birthday) and one sheet also has the special cancel for the event of a show put on by the local KdF collector’s group on the same day from Vienna 56 post office (the illustration presently A-51(g) in the catalogue).
I contacted my friend Steve Clark about my new ‘find’ and he informed me that he also has this sheet and had already disposed of what he thought was a duplicate copy. Then came that ‘eureka’ moment when he tells me that the sheet he still has is yet another variety (Fig.3). WOW! We now have three varieties! Here is where the differences in the sheet printings begin:
(1)
(2)
(3) & (4)
(1) The ‘Ribbons’ in the top frame have been inverted, running from ‘wide’ at the top to narrow at the bottom (Fig.1) to narrow at the top to wide at the bottom (Fig.2 & Fig.3).
(2) The swastika within a diamond shape half way down the right side of the frame runs in the opposite direction in Fig.2.
(3) The ‘Ribbon’ shown at the bottom of the frame runs in the same direction but has the shaded parts of the ‘Ribbon’ reversed in Fig.2.
(4) The oak leaf foliage between the ‘Ribbons’ in the bottom of the frame are different in all three varieties (see next page).
Fig.1 Fig.2
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 A Second Glance (cont.)
Steve’s sheet (shown at left as Fig.3) is almost the same as that shown in Fig.1 but with the ‘Ribbon’ in the top of the frame inverted (as in the sheet in Fig.2). The oak leaf foliage between the ‘Ribbons’ in the bottom of the frame is different than the foliage in Figs.1 & 2 but the shaded colours in the Ribbon’ remain the same as in Fig.1. As Fig.1 is the sheet shown in the Souvenir Sheet CD as A-51(g) it must now be designated as A-51(g)i and Fig.2 will be designated the catalogue number A-51(g)ii and Fig.3 will be designated as A-51(g)iii because of their similarity.
Although the sheets are slightly different sizes (Fig.1: 94mm × 115mm, Fig.2: 93mm × 122mm & Fig.3: 95mm × 115mm) I do not believe this is a ‘difference’ as such, just inaccurate trimming of the sheet as the actual printing of the border and text is exactly the same size.
The four differences noted for the varieties are only the most obvious. Careful observations will detect the fact that the foliage frames are all made up of different sections of oak leaves.
For years I have seen this sheet on auction sites and in auction catalogues and never gave it much thought to it maybe being different from the sheet that I had in my own collection. Only when going through my collection did I notice the difference (after years of also owning the second type), so, if any of our members collect these souvenir sheets and cards, always look at them closely as they may offer up some differences that are not always obvious and another souvenir sheet will enter our catalogue. It is my belief that these small sheets would have been printed in larger sheets of maybe four and that there will be a fourth variety out there..... somewhere! So if any of our members have this sheet, please send me scans in jpeg format @ 300 dpi to my email address: [email protected]
Fig.3
Oak leaf foliage from Fig.1. Oak leaf foliage from Fig.2.
Oak leaf foliage from Fig.3.
THINKING ABOUT SENDING IN AN ARTICLE OR ENQUIRY?
Please don’t wait too long! We need your contribution
NOW!
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017
“Feldpost (Postdienst für Hilfswillige)” (Fieldpost Postal Service for Auxiliary Volunteers)
by Tony Quinn
This unusual unused postal stationery card (shown below), printed by the ‘Reichsdruckerie’ June 1943 (imprint on card) in Russian and German script, is a two-part card with attached reply portion (Fig.1 front and Fig.2 back).
This card follows the granting of the “Fieldpost Concession” to those former citizens of the U.S.S.R. who had volunteered their services to the German Wehrmacht as Voluntary Auxiliaries (HIWIs) after the German occupation of Soviet territory in 1943. The majority of these HIWIs were serving in German supply columns and transport depots and also as anti-aircraft troops in both Germany and those areas of the U.S.S.R. under German occupation. I presume this card relates to the issue of the “Ostarbeiter” card of 1943 (Mi P310 in the Ganzsachen-Katalog) which is the more familiar one to collectors (Figs.3 & 4).
Right: fronts of the more common card (Mi P310). Message card on the left (Fig.3) and answer card on the right (Fig.4). This follows a “rethink” of German attitude towards these Russian and Ukrainian citizens in the employ of the German Wehrmacht and economy after the defeat at Stalingrad in January 1943.
Source: The Estate of Peter Rickenbach via Tony Hickey.
Fig.1 Fig.2
Fig.3
Fig.4
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017
The Special Cancels and Serienstempel for the
Hitler Youth Part 2:
After my initial listing of the special cancels that I found in my Bochmann catalogues, shown in the last News Sheet, it has come to light (as I thought would) that there are many more cancels to add to our list that do not have HJ or Hitler Jugend in the catalogue description. Below are the extra cancels to be added to those sought for illustration:
‘Bochmann’ special cancels
Town/City Number(s) Town/City Number(s)Berchtesgaden unlisted Klagenfurt #8
Berlin – Grünewald #226 Königsberg (Pr) #18
Brahmsee über Nortorf #1 Kuhlmühle / über Wittstock #1
Brunau über Rosenburg #1 Luxemburg #3
Diekirch #1 Nideggen (Eifel) #2
Drossen 2 #1, #2 Potsdam
Esch-Alzig #1 Reit i. Winkel #2
Freiburg (Breisgau) #18 Silz (Tirol) #1
Grevenmacher #1 Vomp #1
Hamburg #80, #81 Waldbröl #2
Heidelburg #17 Wien #98
Jugendkammhaus Zell am See #2 More of the cancels found so far:
Bochmann:
Freiburg #18 Bochmann: Grainau #1
Bochmann: Garmisch-Partenkirchen #20
Bochmann: Benneckstein #1
Bochmann: Braunschweig #28
Bochmann: Berlin #226
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 The Special Cancels and Serienstempel for the Hitler Youth, Part 2 (cont.)
Bochmann: Graz #17
Bochmann: Hamburg #80
Bochmann: Grevenmacher #1
Bochmann: Kiel #38
Bochmann: Kiel #41
Bochmann:
Mühlheim #4 Bochmann:
Norderney #6
Bochmann: Murnau #2
Bochmann: Oberjoch #1
Bochmann: Offenburg #4
Bochmann: Oberstdorf #7
Bochmann:
Offenburg #5 Bochmann: Potsdam #7
Bochmann: Potsdam #6
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 The Special Cancels and Serienstempel for the Hitler Youth, Part 2 (cont.)
The remaining cancels still to find from the first list in the last News Sheet are in the table below. A complete list of those cancels still to find will be printed in the next News Sheet.
‘Bochmann’ special cancels
Town/City Number(s) Town/City Number(s) Berchtesgaden #4 Königsdorf #4, #6
Breitenbrunn #1 Landsberg (Lech) #2
Bremen #19 Lenggries #2
Camburg #1 Linz (Donau) #8, #11
Cuxhaven #1 München #70
Duisburg #5 Salzburg #17
Johanngeorgenstadt #3 Scheibenberg #1
Kassel #22, #25
Our thanks go to members Tony Torres, Tony Hickey and Bill Sells for their contributions.
To be continued…..
Bochmann: Saalfeld #11
Bochmann: Schwarzburg #3
Bochmann: Saarbrucken #10
Bochmann: Weimar #13
Bochmann: Wien #44
Bochmann: Weimar #15
Bochmann: Wien #98
Bochmann: Zeuschtsee #1
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017
The ‘Kraft durch Freude Stadt’, 1936 – 1942
by Steve Clark The Kraft durch Freude Stadt i.e. ‘Strength through Joy City’ (Fig.1) was originally built adjacent to the Radio Tower (‘Funkturm’) exhibition centre in Berlin, and consisted of five wooden rustic halls. The construction took only 5 weeks to complete (June/July 1936) by the German Labour Front (DAF). The halls were just 300 metres from a local railway station (S-Bahnhof Heerstrasse), accessed via a covered, wooden walkway. Up to 8000 tourists arrived daily, en route to the 1936 Olympic Games. The main function of the halls was to provide refreshments, relaxation and entertainment for the visitors.
The settlement consisted of four 14 metre high buildings i.e. the Rhineland, Hanseatic, Bavarian and Saar-Palatinate halls, each able to accommodate up to 1000 seated people, and a single 28 metre high ‘Berlin Great Hall’, which could hold 3,500 customers. The photo-postcard at left (Fig.2) shows one of the four smaller halls (Saar-Palatinate Hall). Beneath the decorative figures is a propaganda slogan that reads ‘The Saar is German – German for Evermore’.
In addition to the 5 halls, a medical centre, open-air cinema and local mobile post office were constructed and a special Berlin KdF Stadt hand stamp (Fig.3) used during the Berlin Olympic Games from 1st – 17th August 1936.
Fig.1
KdF Stadt, Berlin
Fig.2 Fig.3
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 The ‘Kraft durch Freude Stadt’, 1936 – 1942 (cont.)
To the right of the entrance of the Great Hall stood a tower adorned with 320 ‘Swastika’ flags, large gold balls, spruce garlands and a DAF flag at the top. Above the entrance to this building hung a Nazi eagle gripping a swastika and circular wreath (Fig.4). At night the whole structure was floodlit.
The interior of each hall was decorated with a variety of wall paintings, peasant figures and scenes, straw sculptures, jewellery and KdF propaganda. For example, the photo-postcard shown at right (Fig.5) features part of the Hanseatic Hall, which was mainly used for catering purposes.
The Berlin KdF Stadt was in fact only a temporary structure, built for the duration of the 1936 Olympic Games. After completion of the Games, the five halls were totally dismantled, and every timber beam, plank, rafter, etc. was transported to the Nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg, where the halls were then re-constructed, as shown in Fig.6 at left.
Fig.4
Fig.5
Fig.6
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 The ‘Kraft durch Freude Stadt’, 1936 – 1942 (cont.) As in Berlin, the five halls provided refreshments, entertainment, held leisure events and promoted KdF functions and achievements. From 1937 – 1938 the KdF Stadt had two temporary ‘post huts’ authorised by Nuremberg 2 head P.O. to cancel their own mail, using official hand stamp(s). Unfortunately, the author is not familiar with the die letter(s) allocated (see Ref.No.1).
The photo-postcard at left (Fig.7) shows queues of visitors waiting to enter the halls in KdF Stadt, Nuremberg. The nearest is the Rhineland Hall, with the slogan above the doors stating ‘Only on the Rhine do I want to live – Only on the Rhine did I want to be born’. The postcard was used on 28th September 1941, two years after the 1939 Reichsparteitage was cancelled due to the impending WW2.
The architect of KdF Stadt in Nuremberg, Julius Schutte-Frohlinde (Fig.8) introduced a number of exterior changes, particularly to the Great Hall. For example, the name of the building (carved figures above the front entrance) became the KdF Stadt ‘Frankenhalle’ and the symbolic Nazi eagle was replaced by a half human/half bird folklore creature! The adjacent flag tower was also replaced by a water tower, as shown in Fig.9. The photo-postcard above was sent from Nuremberg to Prague in occupied Bohemia-Moravia on 13.3.1943, a year after the whole KdF Stadt settlement had been destroyed by fire during a strategic Allied bombing raid in 1942. Today the former site of KdF Stadt Nuremberg is used by 1. FC Nuremberg in the German Bundesliga! References
1. Rawlings J. and Passmore M. ‘The Postal History of the Nuremberg Rallies’ pp.61 – 64. 2. Author’s own collection.
Fig.7
Fig.9
Fig.8 Julius Schutte-Frohlinde
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017
Books from the Poststempelgilde “Rhein-Donau” e.V.
The Poststempelgilde e.V., founded in 1938, is the foremost association of collectors, researchers and experts in the study of German postmarks. They have published many handbooks and monographs. The G & CPS has purchased a small stock of current Poststempelgilde e.V. titles to offer to our members as listed below for which, due to our bulk order, the Poststempelgilde e.V. was generous in giving us a discount which we can pass on to our members. In addition to the list below of titles now in stock please see also see the further listing of titles we may able to order if there is sufficient interest to warrant making up another bulk order for stock.
Titles in stock:
Julius Bochmann: Katalog der deutschen Gelegenheitsstempel. This original catalogue of the special occasional and machine slogan postmarks of Germany 1865-1951 comes in 18 A5-size parts each of about 50 pages arranged alphabetically by town/city of issue, mainly as published in the 1950s. Extensive coverage of the Third Reich period. £50.00 + UK postage £2.90.
Julius Bochmann: Die klassischen Sonderstempel von Beginn an bis 1918. Hardback, 160 pages, published 2016, illustrated in colour. 3rd completely reworked edition by Helmut Oeleker. £18.00 + UK postage £2.14.
Die Postüberwachung im Deutschen Reich durch Postüberwachungsstellen 1914-1918 by Karl-Heinz Riemer. Handbook and catalogue of WW1 censor marks. Soft cover, 304 pages, black and white illustrations. Published 1987. £18.75 + UK postage £1.58.
Die Überwachung des Auslandsbrief-verkehrs während des II. Weltkrieges durch Deutsche Dienststellen by Karl-Heinz Riemer. Handbook and catalogue of WW2 censor marks. Soft cover, 240 pages, black and white illustrations. Reprint in 2004 of book first published in 1977. £14.00 + UK postage £1.58.
Devisenkontrolle im Auslandsbrief- und Paketverkehr im Deutschen Reich 1933 bis 1939 by Karl-Heinz Riemer. Handbook covering the control, opening and resealing of mail under foreign exchange regulations. Soft cover, 48 pages, black and white illustrations. Published 1983. £5.65 + UK postage £0.56.
Überroller-Post 1945-1949 vom ‘Dritten Reich’ in das ‘Nachkriegs-Deutschland’ by Alfred Meschenmoser. Handbook covering end-of-wartime mail from Germany held and delivered after WW2 on which the stamps and Nazi insignia were usually defaced or removed. Soft cover, 160 pages, black and white illustrations. Published 1984. £7.50 + UK postage £1.22. Titles against which advance orders may be taken:
Julius Bochmann: Katalog der deutschen Gelegenheitsstempel: Maschinenserienstempel Deutsches Reich 1918-1945 – sold out. Handbook and catalogue of the machine stamps revised by Paul-Jürgen Hueske. Soft cover 208 pages, mainly black and white illustrations. Published 2013. Currently out of print and to be republished in a different/updated version, but not before 2019. Guide price tba.
Die Maschinen-Serienstempel und ihre Varianten by Dr.-Ing. Günther Depiereux A 3-part handbook covering additions to the Bochmann catalogue. . Soft cover, 172 pages, black and white illustrations. Published 1963-65. Guide price £15.00.
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 Books from the Poststempelgilde “Rhein-Donau” e.V. (cont.) Deutsche Dienstpost 1939-1945 by Dr. Hermann Schultz 8-part handbook covering the Dienstpost in the WW2 occupied territories. Guide price £23.00.
Die Postzensur der Alliierten im besetzen Deutschland nach dem II. Weltkrieg by Karl-Heinz Riemer. Handbook and catalogue, 165 pages. Guide price £10.00. Also see the Poststempelgilde e.V. website at http://www.poststempelgilde.de for details of their many other publications which we may be able to supply subject to making up viable bulk orders. They also supply individual titles direct. All orders to be sent to the G & CPS Publications Manager at:
Giles du Boulay, 8 Malvern Road, AYLESBURY, Bucks., HP20 1QF
Tel: 01296 488703 E-mail: [email protected]
A Very Surprising Membership Card
While searching through auction sites on the internet recently, I came across a membership card for a group of World War I Jewish veterans. I thought I would share this card with the membership as I had never heard of this veterans group before (Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten).
As can be seen above, the membership card is a ‘tri-fold’ card made out to member number 264 – Joseph Behr in Dresden. The membership dues stamps inside the card range from July 1935 to September 1936. If you look closely, the group’s logo on the outside of the card and the logo on all the dues stamps in the card have been obliterated by hand (see right).
I wonder what happened to poor old Joseph?
If anyone can shed some light on this group, please contact me and we will see if an article can be arranged. Ed.
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017
Another Rare Camp Card
by Tony Quinn
Our member Tony Quinn has sent me a letter which contained the following scans. I will let Tony explain:
“As you have probably guessed by now I collect postal history more from the standpoint of a social/historical context rather than the mechanics of the postal system, including mail of the Holocaust, which unfortunately because of its negative subject is all too often ignored by many students and collectors of the Third Reich era. I have included a lettersheet I acquired recently, which will have more interest for yourself, rather than the Study Group but who knows. These lettersheets rarely contain much information for the student and are usually innocuous, as the prisoner was only too well aware of the consequences of imparting information regarding his treatment”.
The lettersheet from “Israel” Paul Schon (the addition of “Israel” to denote a person who was a Jew, as required by the “Jewish Names Law” of 1938 – see News Sheet 142 page 6), Prisoner Nr.86014, Born: 28.5.1908, Block: SCHWH (Schwarzheide) SCHWARZHEIDE.
A Sub-Camp of Sachsenhausen formed 7.5.1944 to service the synthetic fuel production plant of “Braunkohle-Benzin AG” (BRABAG).
1,000 male Jewish prisoners were transferred from Auschwitz-Birkenau in May 1944 to service the fuel plant. The camp was in existence only until 16.4.1945 when the approach of Soviet Forces in February 1945 meant the forced evacuation of the camp and the surviving prisoners marched towards Terezin (Theresienstadt). There were only 175 known survivors of this “death march”.
This lettersheet from a prisoner is of great rarity. The inside of the lettersheet shown: Handstamp in green: reducing postal facilities.
Source: Kalendarium der Gescchichte des KZ Sachsenhausen (Georg Wolff, Oranienburg, 1987).
Thank you Tony and I hope our membership will find this a very interesting item. Ed.
Outside of the folded lettersheet. Note the “Israel” added to the name of the sender.
Inside the lettersheet.
18
News Sheet No.171 December 2017
The Nationalsozialistische Kriegsopferversorgung (N.S.K.O.V.)
by Bob Jones The Nationalsozialistische Kriegsopferversorgung (N.S.K.O.V.), meaning “National Socialist War Victim’s Care” was a social welfare organization for seriously wounded veterans as well as frontline fighters of World War I. Origin Its origins lie in a Warrior Association established in 1786 by fusiliers of Frederick II of Prussia’s army in Wangerin/Pomerania. The original purpose of the War Veterans’ Associations was to provide their members and former soldiers with proper burial arrangements. Former soldiers felt the need of commemorative tombs that would preserve the dignity of their former comrades-in-arms and honour them even after their death. This type of association received a considerable boost after Prussia’s victorious battles against the Danish (1864), Austrian (1866), and French armies in 1871. A number of these veterans’ associations established the “Deutscher Kriegerbund” by joining efforts for a common cause in 1873. In April 1897 the Deutscher Kriegerbund became the “Preußischer Landeskriegerverband” (Prussian Country’s Warrior League). Its former name “Deutscher Kriegerbund” was kept however, for certain economic and social dealings. In this form it was a forerunner of later German military social welfare provisions, like the NSKOV. Since it was initially dominated by groups of soldiers of the former Prussian army, local veterans’ associations of Bavaria, Saxony, Württemberg, Hessen and Baden preferred to remain out of its circle. The Deutscher Kriegerbund began the efforts to build a memorial that would honor and represent the German warriors in 1888. This monument, located on top of the 473 m high Kyffhäuser mountain was finally inaugurated on the 16th June 1896. The building of the memorial pleased and inspired the other German war veterans’ associations, who had been reluctant to join the Deutscher Kriegerbund. As a result of this change of attitude, the steps to form a wider organization were taken in 1900 and the Kyffhäuserbund was formed. This inclusive organization integrated the formerly scattered German war veterans’ associations, which had been one of the main aims of the Deutscher Kriegerbund. In the militarised society of the Third Reich, the figure of the front soldier assumed a heroic stature. He was ceaselessly presented as a role model for civilians. Military service was transformed into a sacred right and the prerequisite to full citizenship. Disabled veterans were to be honored as the “first citizens of the Reich”. In presenting the Third Reich as the antithesis of the reviled Weimar Republic, Nazi propaganda denigrated the Republic’s treatment of veterans, claiming that it had victimized the heroes of the war, first by robbing them of victory through the “Dolchstoss” (the World War I ‘stab-in-the-back’ myth), and then by treating them as second-class citizens. Under the Republic, the Nazis claimed, the victors of the war had become anti-heroes – a process they promised to reverse when they came to power. Under the N.S.D.A.P. A long-time crony of Adolf Hitler, Hanns Oberlindober, started to organise the many veterans’ associations then operating in Germany into one organisation. Oberlindober created the N.S.K.O.V. as an umbrella organisation into which all member associations would have to belong and after 1933, of course, completely disbanded all communist-led and non-Nazi organisations. By mid-1931, under the direction of Hanns Oberlindober and his deputy, Peter Martin, the N.S.K.O.V. had established a solid framework of counseling centres for veterans.
The Kyffhäuserbund monument atop the Kyffhäuser mountain in Thuringia and Saxony-Anhal.
Hanns Oberlindober.
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 The Nationalsozialistische Kriegsopferversorgung (N.S.K.O.V.) (cont.) The headquarters of the organisation was in Kreuzberg, Berlin (at the time called the SW 68 district), and employed the architect Willy Muehlau to design cheap residential complexes for German war veterans. These complexes emerged some time between the late 1920s and early 1930s, and are protected according to the City of Berlin’s Denkmalliste (monument list). Oberlindober knew that some of the older veterans’ associations would prefer to remain distinct and therefore kept their old association names. The two most notable of these were the “Der Stahlhelm Bund” (The Steel Helmet Association) and the “Deutscher Reichskriegerbund (Kyffhäuserbund)”. Both of these associations kept their original membership cards and dues stamps, however, all monies (and power) were now transferred to Oberlindober and the N.S.K.O.V.
Seven types of the “Der Stahlhelm Bund” membership dues stamps. Notice how the last three designs all now have a swastika and ‘N.S’ at the top of the design.
Four types of membership dues stamps for the “Deutscher
Reichskriegerbund (Kyffhäuserbund)”.
“Deutscher Reichskriegerbund (Kyffhäuserbund)” membership card from 1934.
“Deutscher Reichskriegerbund (Kyffhäuserbund)”
membership books with slightly different designs both
issued in 1936.
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 The Nationalsozialistische Kriegsopferversorgung (N.S.K.O.V.) (cont.) The N.S.K.O.V. Membership Books Starting in 1933 the N.S.K.O.V. started issuing their own membership books. Thirteen newly designed monthly membership dues stamps were issued, bearing the N.S.K.O.V. emblem, for 1933 through to 1945 (shown below).
The N.S.K.O.V. membership book shown above was issued on 1st August 1933 as shown on the cover on the left. The monthly dues stamps inside are appropriately affixed on the first inside page.
1933 1934 1935 1936 1937
1938 1939 1940 1941 1942
1943 1944 1945
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 The Nationalsozialistische Kriegsopferversorgung (N.S.K.O.V.) (cont.) Two of the dues stamps were also overprinted for use in Austria (1938) and the Sudetenland (1939). Both overprints (in black) also devalued the stamp from 0.90RM to 0.60RM. After the use of these stamps in their respective years, normal un-overprinted stamps were used at the original value of 0.90RM.
The membership card below shows the use of two of the Sudetenland overprinted dues stamps affixed to a members card from ‘Gau Sudeten’ for the months of February and March 1939 and then ordinary dues stamps used thereafter.
Other overprints found on these dues stamps, shown below, are for additional insurance and welfare donations for members. They are overprinted on 1940 and 1941 dues stamps, in red and devalued to 0.30RM. After 1941 dedicated 0.30RM stamps for this use were printed from 1942 through 1945 (shown below)
1942 1944 1943 1945
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 The Nationalsozialistische Kriegsopferversorgung (N.S.K.O.V.) (cont.)
The stamp shown at left is a donation stamp with the inscription ‘Helft Wunden heilen’ (Help Heal Wounds).
Another ‘stamp’ often found affixed to membership cards is the one shown at right. It is for a 10Rpf donation to the Reich Labour Conference held in Northeim (Hannover) from 16th to 18th June 1939 and is also often found in multiples. Along with membership of the N.S.K.O.V. and all the services it provided to the veteran came its own periodical “Deutsche Kriegsopferversorgung” (examples below).
Fundraising Raising funds for such an organisation was an ongoing task. The usual methods were employed to achieve a healthy bank balance including the sale of postcards, calendars, ‘tinnies’, lapel pins, even their own matches with special labels were produced. A selection of these are shown here.
December 1933 March 1935 July 1936 January 1937 August 1937
A souvenir postcard for the 2nd Saxony Veterans Day in 1936
sponsored by the N.S.K.O.V. Bezirk Leipzig.
Label from a N.S.K.O.V. matchbox.
Poster promoting the N.S.K.O.V. The caption: “Comrades on the front - comrades for life. Advice and assistance in all areas of need”.
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 The Nationalsozialistische Kriegsopferversorgung (N.S.K.O.V.) (cont.) The N.S.K.O.V. calendar cards. These cards have proved to be very popular with collectors.
A The series of ‘Flags’ cards (above) run from Nos.1 through 25 and the series of military action scenes (below) run from Nos.26 through 50.
These cards are often found with the top edge perforated presumably where they were detached from the ‘calendar’.
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 The Nationalsozialistische Kriegsopferversorgung (N.S.K.O.V.) (cont.) A privately printed postal card was commissioned by the N.S.K.O.V. to commemorate the “Reichstreffen der N.S.K.O.V.” held in Berlin on 1st August 1937. It bore a 3Rpf brown Hindenburg Medallion Head indicia and showed an image of the Brandenburg Gate with N.S.K.O.V. emblem above the Olympic Stadium. This card, shown at right, is catalogued in the Frech Privatpostkarten- Katalog Band I as PP122 C53.
A very rare N.S.K.O.V. sponsored Weihestätte Northeim silk postcard. The stamp used on this
card is a Mi 646 Hitler birthday adhesive with a special cancel noting the N.S.K.O.V.
The Reichspost first issued this Northeim special cancel in 1937 (as shown on the card above) and used this cancel for the years 1938 (shown at right), ’39, ’40, ’41, ’42, ’43 and ’44. One of only two special cancels listed in the Bochmann catalogue for Northeim during the third Reich period. Bochmann lists this cancel as ‘Northeim #2’.
The Reichspost also had a special cancel used one day only for this event. It is shown at right and is listed by Bochmann as ‘Berlin # 232’.
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017 The Nationalsozialistische Kriegsopferversorgung (N.S.K.O.V.) (cont.)
Although thought of as a veterans organisation, the Nazi Party planned for the N.S.K.O.V. to also provide a good stock of reservists – if needed – and of course, they were. The N.S.K.O.V. proved to be a good supply from which to draw personnel for the Volkssturm in the closing stages of the war. These veterans were already familiar with battle and were dedicated to the defence of the ‘Fatherland’. But too little – too late, the writing was on the wall.
Hanns Oberlindober was captured at the end of the war by American forces and sent to a U.S. prison in Poland. He was later transferred to a hospital in Warsaw where he died in 1949.
Epilogue After Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II, the American Military Government issued a special law outlawing the Nazi party and all of its branches. Known as “Law number five”, this ‘Denazification’ decree disbanded the N.S.K.O.V., like all organizations linked to the Nazi Party. The organizations taking care of the welfare for World War I veterans had to be established anew during the postwar reconstruction of both West Germany and the DDR. Acknowledgements: The Internet (background information of the N.S.K.O.V. Oberlindober and magazine images). Jens Monrad (Der Stahlhelm Bund membership dues and card and N.S.K.O.V. membership book). Hanspeter Frech (Privately printed catalogue number). Julis Bochmann (Cancel catalogue numbers). Steve Clark (N.S.K.O.V. ‘calendar’ cards). All N.S.K.O.V. dues stamps are from author’s own collection.
Hanns Oberlindober meeting with disabled veterans.
The last throw of the dice.
Oberlindober having tea with the mother of a veteran.
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017
One of the new Souvenir Sheets for our updated Souvenir Sheet CD
This souvenir sheet was new to me and will be added to the latest updated Souvenir Sheet CD. It is entitled “Wohlfahrtsmarken des 2. Kriegs-Winterhilfswerkes” (Welfare stamps of the 2nd World War Winter Relief Work), with the “Day of the Stamp 12th January 1941” in brackets beneath. It was sponsored by the Association of Nuremberg Philatelists. This sheet has been designated as sheet ‘C-51’ in the new souvenir sheet CD.
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017
Cumulative Index for 2017 News Sheet Issues
Index to News Sheets 168 – 171 News Sheet No./Page No.(s)
Anschluss, The German Annexation of Austria 1938 NS170 p18
Anne Frank, 1929 - 1945 NS169 p7
Bisected stamps on cover NS169 p6
Bohemia & Moravia souvenir sheet NS169 p17
Books from the Poststempelgilde “Rhein-Donau” e.V. NS171 pp15/16
Correction on a Saar Rally card NS168 p11
“Der Sieg im Westen” Exhibition card NS170 p8
Einst und Jetzt - Once Upon a Time and Now NS168 pp7/10
Erntedanktag 1933-1938 NS169 pp11/16; NS170 pp9/13
Feldpost (Postdienst für Hilfswillige) NS171 p8
G & C.P.S. AGM 2017 meeting in Aylesbury NS171 p3
Gestapo parcel card NS169 p19
Hints and tips on writing an article NS168 p12
Hitler Youth special cancels and serienstempel NS170 pp14/17; NS171 pp9/11
John Rawlings News Sheets CD NS169 p2
KdF book of cartoons NS168 pp7/10
Kraft durch Freude Stadt, 1936 - 1942 NS171 pp12/14
Luftfeldpost cover (enquiry) NS168 p4
Nationalsozialistische Kriegsopferversorgung (N.S.K.O.V.) NS171 pp18/25
News Paper stamps cover (enquiry) NS170 p7; NS171 p5
News Sheet in hard copy NS170 p2
Policing the Saar Plebiscite NS168 pp13/19
Rare Camp Lettersheet NS171 p17
Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten (Jewish Frontline Soldiers membership card)
NS171 p16
Russian Propaganda cards from the Eastern Front 1941/42 NS169 pp8/10; NS170 p8
Souvenir Sheet (new) NS171 p26
Souvenir Sheet CD (2017 edition) NS171 p2
Souvenir sheet variants NS171 pp6/7
Stamp advertising poster NS170 p19
Sudetenland Camp covers (enquiry) NS168 pp4/5
Sudetenland covers (enquiry) NS170 p6
V2 Dora Complex card (enquiry) NS169 p5; NS170 p7
WHW Lottery card from abroad NS169 p18
This ‘cumulative index’ will appear in every December issue of the News Sheet to help members find articles etc. from earlier News Sheets published that year.
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News Sheet No.171 December 2017
Diary Dates for Regional Meetings The following dates have been arranged for G & C.P.S. regional meetings with intended displays for the coming weeks in 2018. Please show your support and try to attend your local meeting. South East Group 6th Jan. Members’ displays.
South West Group 13th Jan. “Sudetenland” a display by Mike Dadds.
South Central Group 20th Jan. Members’ displays.
North West Group 3rd Feb. AGM, bourse and members’ displays.
Scottish Group 10th Feb. “Modern Germany” a display by David Haig.
London Group 3rd Mar. “Propaganda in Germany 1919 – 33”, a display by Tony Hickey.
Midlands Group 10th Mar. Members’ displays.
Tyne-Tees Group 17th Mar. “WW 2 On the Eastern Front” a display by Gary Eden.
T.R.S.G. (London) 24th Mar. Members’ displays.
G & C.P.S. - AGM Meeting 2018 will be in Stoke-on-Trent (dates to be announced).
Our member John Barker is trying to resurrect the Midlands Group after several years of inactivity. The Midlands Group meet at Solihull Cricket and Tennis Club, Marsh Lane, Solihull B91 2PF on Saturdays at 1:30 pm.
Further details from John Barker, 35, Portia Avenue, Shirley, Solihull B90 2NW. Tel: (0121) 744 2580. email: [email protected]
Dates, times, venues and speakers correct at the time of going to press (17th November 2017).
However, please contact the regional organiser(s) for confirmation of the above details.
EPILOGUE Well my first year as editor has come and almost gone! It seems, by the compliments received, that the membership finds the News Sheet still interesting and informative as it has been in the past under John Rawlings’ editorship which I find as a compliment indeed! I do hope that I can keep providing you all with much of the same with articles and interesting items in 2018. There is, of course, one thing that I must ask for – please send in any articles that you may have written or enquiries about items you may have in your collections or maybe recently purchased. Even ideas about subjects that you may want to see in the News Sheet. 2018 will see the end of such articles as “The Special Cancels and Serienstempel for the Hitler Youth” and that will have to be replaced! The articles so far have been sent in by the same half-dozen or so members so please add to these members your contribution to our News Sheet. Not all articles have to be “in-depth”. Half page stuff is needed just as much as the longer stuff. I have asked ‘Santa’ for some items for the News Sheet and I hope he is listening.
Cheers, Editor
Happy Holidays
We wish all our members a very Merry Christmas
and a Happy & Prosperous New Year
from your News Sheet team…..
