The Third Reich Study Group NEWS SHEET - German … report on the Third Reich Study Group meeting...

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In this issue :

DEAR MEMBER: Details on a new ‘hard copy’ News Sheet is now available.

A report on the Third Reich Study Group meeting held in London on 22nd July 2017, and of the members’ displays – 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’ – pages 5 thru 7

INTERESTING ITEMS FROM OUR MEMBERS:

A card from the “Der Sieg im Westen” Exhibition held in Linz in July 1941 – page 8

MORE ON THOSE RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA CARDS FROM 1941/42 An update by Bob Jones – page 8

“ERNTEDANKTAG” 1933 – 1938

The Postal History of the German National Harvest Festival Celebrations During the Third Reich (Part 2) by John Rawlings – pages 9 thru 13

OUR NEW SERIES ON THE SPECIAL CANCELS FOR THE HITLER YOUTH A list of special cancels and serienstempel for the Hitler Youth – page 14 thru 17

ANSCHLUSS – THE GERMAN ANNEXATION OF AUSTRIA 1938

An article on the introduction of German postage stamps by Tony Hickey – page 18

STAMP ADVERTISING POSTER FROM THE REICHSPOST

– page 19

DIARY DATES ! The schedule for upcoming local meetings of the G & C.P.S. around the regions and the

Third Reich Study Group – page 20

EPILOGUE A brief note from the editor with upcoming articles planned for the December issue

of the News Sheet – page 20

The Third Reich Study Group

NEWS SHEETGroup Leader:

John Rawlings, 58 Crantock Road, Catford, London SE6 2QP

September 2017No. 170

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News Sheet No.170 September 2017

Dear Member

The News Sheet is now also available in ‘hard copy’. Those of you that have received printed copies of the Group News Sheet in years past can only imagine the disappointment for some of our members that cannot receive the new on-line version. It maybe that they have no access to a computer or other reasons but I would like to cater for all.

It is with this in mind that I have received quotes from printing shops here in Liverpool and have found what I consider a good deal. I can get each 20 page News Sheet printed in full colour on A3 paper (twice the size of A4 paper) folded into A4 size and stapled in a booklet format for a very reasonable price. I can also get a good deal on A4 cardboard backed ‘Please do not bend’ manila envelopes for posting. The cost of a professionally printed News Sheet plus a cardboard backed envelope is £2 per copy. The postage for sending anywhere in the U.K. is £1.30 (first class 112g ‘Large letter’). This means that the ‘hard copy’ News Sheet can be sent to your door for £3.30 each.

Just think…… no more having to send S.A.S.E.s to receive your News Sheet !!!

So if any of you out there would like to take up this offer, please contact me at [email protected] to register yourself for a delivery. If any of our overseas members would like to take advantage of this offer, please contact me for a quote on postage charges.

Payment by personal cheque drawn on a U.K. bank and made out to the Germany & Colonies Philatelic Society, in the amount of £13.20 (for a full year) and send to Bob Jones, 45, Durham Avenue, Bootle, Merseyside, L30 1RE. Payment via Paypal is also available.

To help those with access to a computer at their local library etc., I will be sending a copy of the ‘digital’ News Sheet to the Germany & Colonies Philatelic Society for inclusion on their website at germanphilately.org so that those who can access the website can download a copy.

I believe that taking these steps will provide a copy of the News Sheet in one form or another to all that would like one!

Ed.

ATTENTION ! Important notice about the News Sheet CDs

It has come to my attention that the News Sheet CDs (Nos. 1 – 167) offered to the membership cannot be played on an ‘Apple Mac’. I am very sorry about this but unless someone knows of a way to transfer the information on the CD offered into something that can be played on an ‘Apple Mac’, they can only be played on a pc.

Ed.

The Third Reich Study Group Meeting in London, 22nd July 2017 The first display(s) were given by David Taylor, starting with the 16th Breslau Games in 1938. This was the first time the games had been commemorated by a set of stamps. Ethnic Germans from all over the world were invited to attend. In addition to the stamps, David’s display included various ‘Get to Know Germany’ cards with views of Breslau and the stadium, numerous souvenir sheets and a special machine cancellation, plus many other attractive postcards designed to appeal to visitors and collectors. Breslau is now in Poland and was renamed Wroclaw after the war. David’s second display showed stamps and postcards issued for the International Postal Congress, which was attended by most of the German occupied and Axis countries, and held to establish/agree postal rates on mail sent between these countries. Again David’s colourful display included the postage stamps, souvenir sheets, postal stationery cards and special handstamps designed to mark the event.

Member David Taylor at the meeting standing in front of the first of his displays “The 16th Breslau Games 1938”.

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News Sheet No.170 September 2017 Dear Member (cont.)

The next display was given by Simon McArthur, and featured the German occupation of the Netherlands and the 2 stage liberation in 1944/45. Simon’s interesting display gave an insight to life and conditions in the Netherlands during WW2, together with the local political and postal arrangements during the war. In addition to overprinted stamps and postal stationery, Simon’s display included covers with special propaganda vignettes designed to raise funds for the Dutch fascist party (the NSB) and the Dutch legion who fought with the Waffen SS on the eastern front. The fascinating display concluded with post-war stamps and postcards commemorating the Dutch resistance movement and liberation of the country.

Above: Simon McArthur and his display “The Occupation and Liberation of the Netherlands”.

Right: Two items from Simon’s display showing cards overprinted with “Communication temporarily suspended”

The third display was given by Rex Dixon and featured the inland postage rates of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia from 1939 – 45. These were divided into 3 phases i.e. early issues from 13.3.1939, then revised rates from May/June 1940 – 30.9.40 and finally from 10.1940. Rex used a variety of mailed items to illustrate virtually all the appropriate postage rates, including overprinted Czech stamps and the new Protectorate issues, plus commercial printed matter, pneumatic post, postage due, cash on delivery, meter mark, etc. A phenomenal display by Rex of philately during the period of Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. Above right: Rex Dixon and his display “Postage rates in Bohemia and Moravia 1939-45”

Left: One of the many interesting items from Rex’s display. 27th March 1939. Business reply card, a service inherited from Czechoslovakia and still using Czechoslovak rates: inland postcard 50h, business reply fee for a postcard 10h, both payable by the receiving business”.

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News Sheet No.170 September 2017 Dear Member (cont.)

The final display was given by Tony Hickey, who showed his superb collection of German propaganda material produced in the United States to support the homeland. This included a postcard printed in 1914, then in the 1930 material to promote the German ‘Bund’ at a meeting held in New York, attended by 40,000 supporters. Pre-WW2 postcards were subsequently printed to commemorate President Hindenburg’s Memorial Day. The US Bund was banned at the outbreak of war and the banning was soon followed by the printing of numerous anti-NS propaganda posters, postcards and vignettes, all shown in Tony’s awesome display. Left: Tony and his display “The American Nazis and U.S. anti-German Propaganda”.

Tony Hickey gave a vote of thanks to all speakers at the meeting. The next TRSG meeting at the Civil Service Club in London will be on 4th November featuring a display “Private postal stationery 1939-45” by Robert Mott and members are all invited to bring something from their collection to display.

Sincere apologies (from Steve Clark) to the above speakers for any errors in the above summaries !

Thank you Steve for your report and photos. Ed.

Member’s Activities Some of the new online members may be interested in attending the G & C.P.S. AGM, this year to be held in Aylesbury from Friday 6th - Sunday 8th October. The agenda includes an auction, displays by members (with usually lots of Third Reich material) and a stamp fair with about 4 - 6 dealers in German philately. Wives/husbands, partners, etc. may also attend this great annual social event. Giles du Boulay is the organizer, if you need any more information.

Some members of (mostly London) TRSG regularly go to Germany twice a year, to the international stamp fairs held in Sindelfingen (this year from Wednesday 25th - Saturday 28th October) and to either Munich or Essen in the Spring. Further details can be obtained from Tony Hickey.

As you would expect, these events usually require full membership to the G & C.P.S., but then members also receive ‘Germania’ (the Society’s journal) four times a year and complete access to the website. Details of activities and membership can be found through our website at: germanphilately.org

Frames from Tony’s display showing (from left to right) ‘Women’s Army Corps (WACS) Comic Postcards’ and two sheets of vignettes entitled ‘Artists for Victory’.

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State of the Membership New Members We would like to welcome the following new members to our Study Group. They are: Bill Morrison - Stirling, FK9 5EE

Royston Makepeace - Manchester, M3 3AF

Richard Boarder - Towcester, Northants., NN12 8UF

Kees Adema - Fairfield, Connecticut, 06824, U.S.A.

Jens Monrad - DK-9380, Vestbjerg, Denmark

Sachin Joshi - Maharashtra, India

Jason H. Manchester - Columbus, Ohio, 43220, U.S.A.

Steve Palmer - Watford, WD18 7SR

Richard Young - Wollaton, Nottingham, NG8 2RB

Dr. Ross Langlands - Haddington, East Lothian, EH41 4NH

Enquiries New Enquiries Enq. 6/17 One of our Scottish members, Bill Morrison, who is a keen collector of German horse racing

philatelic items, sent me the item shown below offered to him recently by a dealer. It shows Adolf Hitler on the reverse with a 6+4Rpf value stamp from the ‘Return of Eupen, Malmedy and Moresnet to Germany’ set (Mi.748) on the front. It is cancelled by the special cancel used on the day of race (the Brown Ribbon race) on 28th July 1940 at the race track. He thinks the card may have been issued at the race track but I feel that if it was, it would have been franked by the special stamp issued for the race (Mi.747). Maybe it was the difference in price of 6+4Rpf against the special commemorative stamp at 42+106Rpf? Your thoughts and comments are welcome.

The race that year was won by a horse called Bellini an Italian horse ridden by jockey P. Gubellini.

Enq. 7/17 Our member Tom Blewitt got in touch and would like to ask a general philatelic question. Tom asks:

“I wonder whether it might be possible to ask if any members have submitted items to BPP experts and how was the experience and has anybody any idea about fees. It’s a few years since I did it and just wondered if things have changed and what the fees are presently for befunds (attests) and the like”.

95 Our on-line membership now stands at:

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News Sheet No.170 September 2017 New Enquiries (cont.) Enq. 8/17 Our member Tony Moseley asks:

“The enclosed scans are from a Sudetenland cover, which came to me recently, with some others. The single line cancel is almost unreadable, but my first thoughts were that it spelt “Grulich” (Czech name Kraliky)

My only problem with this, is that trying to read the address on the rear, it appears to read “Bohmerwald”. As some members may realise, Grulich (Kraliky) is located in the north east of the occupied Czech lands, while “Bohmerwald” is in the south near the border with Austria.

If anyone has any comments regarding this cover, or can correctly read the addresses (front and back) written in Sutterlin Germanic script, I would be most grateful”.

Fig.1: Front of Tony’s Sudetenland cover.

Fig.2: Sender’s details from back of cover.

Fig.3: Enlarged view of the cancel.

Fig.1

Fig.2

Fig.3

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News Sheet No.170 September 2017 New Enquiries (cont.) Enq. 9/17 Our new member from India, Sachin Joshi, sent a copy of a cover that has been offered by a dealer.

He got in touch to see what the membership thought of its authenticity (see below).

It shows a cover from Hans Froede of Düsseldorf presumably containing a stamp catalogue sent to

Geneva, Switzerland. It is franked by 2 x Mi.Z738 5Rpf ‘Newspaper’ stamps (instead of 1 x 10Rpf). These stamps were issued on the 1st November 1939 for destinations outside Germany. All looks O.K. at this point until you look closely at the datestamps. The one on the right of the cover was cancelled on 2.11.39 with a ‘hh’ hammer and the stamp on the left is cancelled on 4.11.39 with an ‘a’ hammer cancel both from Düsseldorf 1 post office. As Sachin has concerns about the cover’s authenticity, can any of our members come up with a scenario where this could occur?

Results of Enquiries Enq. 4/17 As a result of Tony Quinn’s enquiry in the last News Sheet about a rare prisoner card from the ‘V2

Dora’ complex, our member Larry Nelson sent in another card of interest (below). Larry writes: “Further to the Mittelbau card shown in the last news sheet, attached is a card from the

Dora sub camp of Mittelbau which our readers might be interested in. See the arrow pointing to the ‘D’. In addition to the boxed handstamp shown in the news sheet card, this card also has a boxed handstamp which says that all replies must be written in German. As a footnote, on the message side of the card the sender asks about the health of his sisters in Buchenwald”.

Above: Front of cover. Above right: Enlarged view of left hand stamp with cancel. Right: Enlarged view of right hand stamp with cancel.

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Interesting Items from our Members The card below was sent in by Tony Hickey. He says “I thought that this card might be of interest. It is from the “Der Sieg im Westen” Exhibition held in Linz in July 1941. It is unusual as this is the first card that I have seen commemorating the Navy’s role in the victory in the west.

More on those Russian Propaganda cards The series of 5 Russian propaganda cards featured in my article in the last News Sheet (No.169 June) were being offered in the 37th Christoph Gärtner auction held from June 20th-23rd. Some of the cards (all cards were offered as separate lots) were not in good shape and that was reflected in the reserve prices but all 5 cards were there. The table below shows the outcome of the cards at the auction.

Lot No. Frech catalogue No. Reserve price Prices realised 17647 PP 127 Prop. 1/04 300 Euro 370 Euro 17648 PP 127 Prop. 1/03 150 Euro 135 Euro* 17649 PP 127 Prop. 1/02 600 Euro 1000 Euro 17650 PP 127 Prop. 1/05 300 Euro 320 Euro 17651 PP 127 Prop. 1/01 600 Euro 900 Euro

As you can see with the prices realised, when you add the Christoph Gärtner’s 22% auctioneer’s premium to the hammer price and the 2 Euro per lot, the grand total for the sold lots is 3334.50 Euro (* Lot 17648 was sold ‘after auction’). When postage and insurance is also added (with VAT tax on top of that), it is plain to see that these cards are still much sought after.

Ed.

Lot 17647 Lot 17648 Lot 17649 Lot 17650 Lot 17651

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“ERNTEDANKTAG” 1933 – 1938 The Postal History of the German National Harvest Festival

Celebrations During the Third Reich

by John Rawlings Part 2: 1936 - 1938 At this stage in its brief history the Bückeberg harvest festival became a two-day event. In 1936 it was held on October 2nd/3rd and, for a clear picture of the postal history of its final two years, we have only the listings shown in Figs.14 to 16 below and whatever legible examples can be found in members’ collections to guide us. The only handstamps or datestamps illustrated in the catalogues are the three provided by Bochmann and, as Fig.17 shows, the accompanying text is sometimes vague or even incomplete. The one clearly identifiable datestamp that I have from the 1936 event is shown here in Fig.17. It features the ‘Ernte / danktag’ slogan introduced in the previous year to the left of a single circle datestamp bearing the inscription ‘Bückeberg’ and the words ‘bei / Hameln 1’ beneath the date of posting. My reading of the details in Bochmann implies the existence of two more such datestamps bearing the inscriptions ‘’bei/Hameln’ and ‘b. Hameln / a’ but the omission of my own example has me wondering how many there actually are. The event of course had no on site Reichspost office as such and it is impossible to be sure whether the datestamps shown above and the two shown in Figs.18 and 19 were actually used in the nearby office in Hameln or in the various mobile post offices parked at the event. Fig.18 (above) Double circle ‘f’ ‘Erntedanktag’ handstamp on philatelic card posted at the event on October 4th 1936. Fig.19 (right) Bückeberg b. Hameln ‘b’ roller datestamp on registered cover bearing a regist-ration label from Hameln 1 post office.

Fig.14 Bückeberg datestamps 1933-37 as listed in the Bochmann postmark catalogue.

Fig.15 Reck and Schembra listing for 1936.

Fig.16 Reck and Schembra listing for 1937.

Fig.17 Single circle ‘Bückeberg / bei / Hameln 1’ datestamp used at the

festival on October 4th 1936.

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News Sheet No.170 September 2017 “ERNTEDANKTAG” 1933 – 1938: Part 2 (cont.)

Both Bochmann and Reck and Schembra seem to agree that the ‘Erntedanktag’ handstamps identified by the small letters ‘c’ to ‘i’ were used in the mobile post offices but did they also handle registered mail? Anyone doubtful about the franking of the cover should remember that the 12Rpf value of that year’s Winter Relief fund set was one of the four values put on sale as early as September 21st 1936.

Special commemorative cards from earlier years may well have been sold and used at this event but the only card known to me that was specially printed for this year’s event is the one shown in Fig.20 (left). Since it bears the number ‘B2’ in the lower left hand corner of the reverse it must have been one of a short series of colour cards printed by Hitler’s official photographer in Munich. The lower half of the card shows seven small black and white images symbolic of the celebrations, while the top half shows Hitler bare-headed as he slowly makes his way along the ‘Führerweg’ (Leader’s path) to the central altar through the forest of standards and banners and the many welcoming hands outstretched to greet him.

The foregoing account reveals (I hope) just how much research is still needed to establish precisely what postal arrangements were made for the crowds attending and many will be surprised to learn that these included special mobile telegraph offices. This fact is based on the two cards, shown in Figs.21 and 22 below, which have never been shown in any of our News Sheets and add a new dimension to the postal history of the period.

Together they clearly suggest that the army (which, as we know, had a considerable presence at both the Rallies and the ‘Erntedanktag’) was using these occasions to carry out trials of the new postal coaches as early as 1936 and indicate that, when the Rally ended on September 14th the crew (or crews – for there were, almost certainly, several such coaches involved) simply ‘upped sticks’ and headed for Bückeberg where the trials continued. The card from Tony Hickey’s collection, featured in Fig.21, clearly suggests that these mobile telegraph offices were used for ordinary civilian mail, and Fig.22, from my own collection, suggests that favour cancellations could be obtained by collectors. These two cards bear identical cancellations from the No.1 Telegraph office. This double circle ‘a’ handstamp carries an inscription which reads “Fahrbares Telegraphenamt NR 1 and, on the reverse of my own card, is a typed message which includes the phrase “……. Von Bückeberg die herzlichsten Grusse” thus confirming where the postal coach was at the time of posting. I have two such cards in my own collection. In each case the 6Rpf stamp has been cancelled by a similar datestamp, one bears the identifying letter ‘a’ and the other has a letter ‘c’ – thus suggesting that at least three of these mobile telegraph offices were involved in the trials.

Fig.20 Hoffmann card printed for and sold at the 1936 ‘Erntedanktag’ festival.

Fig.21 Commercial card posted in Mobile Telegraph Office No.1 on the final day of the

1936 Nuremberg Rally.

Fig.22 Philatelic card posted in Mobile Telegraph Office No.1 on the final day of the Bückeberg

Harvest Festival of 1936.

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The full story explaining the absence of these handstamps from the catalogues may never be known but I suspect that the use of these handstamps on civilian and/or collectors’ mail may well have involved some ‘bending’ of the post office regulations in force at the time. In the following year the festival was scheduled for October 2nd/3rd but was preceded by the printing and issue of the special postal stationery card shown in Fig.23. The imprinted 6Rpf stamp was identical to that issued earlier the same year to mark Hitler’s birthday and the left hand side of the front of the card featured a photograph by Heinrich Hoffmann showing a group of farmers and their wives gathered around a traditional German maypole. It was intended for issue on October 1st but some post offices must have received their stocks at a slightly earlier date because the Frech Postal History handbook lists a first day cover dated September 29th. Those purchasing a copy found themselves having to pay more than four times face value because the sales price included a 19Rpf surcharge intended for what was called Hitler’s ‘Culture Fund’. The card remained valid until June 30th 1938.

The four different types of cancellation used on mail posted in these mobile post offices during the two-day period are listed in both Bochmann and Reck and Schembra but both relevant entries lack clarity. In the former the entries infer that both Figs.24 and 25 include the word ‘Erntedanktag’ in the lower section of their outer ring while, in the latter, there is no illustration and the short description simply says ‘Bückeberg b. Hameln, date Erntedanktag’ ‘c’ to ‘n’.

Fig.23 Mi.P.265 – Special postal stationery card commemorating the Bückeberg Harvest Festival of 1937.

Fig.24 Double circle roller cancellation. Two versions, bearing the identifying letters ‘b’ and ‘m’ were used.

Fig.25 Single circle ‘Bückeberg / Bei / Hameln’ datestamp without the identifying letter.

Fig.26 Double circle ‘Bückeberg b. Hameln’ with identifying letter ‘a’.

Fig.27 Double circle ‘Bückeberg b. Hameln / Erntedanktag’ handstamp with identifying letter ‘k’.

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As we can see from the illustrations on the previous page only one of the four datestamps actually includes the word ‘Erntedanktag’ in the lower section of its double circle and I very much hope that used examples from members’ collections may enable us to establish which identifying letters were used with each of these handstamps. Remainders of the commemorative cards produced for earlier festivals were, almost certainly, used again in 1937. Relatively few artist or photocards seem to have been specially printed for sale at this, the last of the National Harvest Festivals, but among those that were are the two shown in Figs.28 and 29 below.

This year the natural amphitheatre at Bückeberg is said to have been crowded with 1.2 million people, making it the best attended public event in the brief twelve year history of the Third Reich. Work on the site continued into the following year and, at some early stage, the Berlin artist Eric Stahl was commissioned by the Reichspost to design a special postal stationery card to commemorate the event, due to be held on October 1st/2nd 1938. The design, shown in Fig.30 below, featured a Party banner and a ‘harvest maiden’ in the traditional dress of the Schaumburg region, carrying an overflowing basket of fruit and vegetables and a sheaf of ripe grain straight from the fields. The imprinted 6Rpf stamp used the Hitler head portrait issued earlier the same year for both Hitler’s birthday stamp in April and the Party Rally stamp and postal stationery card in September, but this time, with the words ‘Erntedanktag 1938’ to the right of the value figure. All three of these items carried the 19Rpf surcharge for Hitler’s culture fund.

Stocks of these cards began to reach German post offices in the final week of September 1938 and the Frech postal stationery catalogue lists its earliest known date of issue as September 28th. Initial sales were probably good because it is not an expensive or difficult card to find, either mint or used, but it seems not to have remained on sale until the end of the following year, as was normally the case, because these were not normal times in Germany.

Fig.29 Photographic view of the Bückeberg and the massed crowds at one of the earlier festivals.

Printed by Albert Horn of Gotha.

Fig.28 Card in full colour, designed by ‘Wahrlich’ and commissioned by the Nazi propaganda office in

South Hannover – Braunschweig.

Fig.30 Mi.P.273 – Design commemorating the planned Harvest Festival Rally of 1938, printed on card varying in shade from cream to white.

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The crisis in the Sudetenland was rapidly coming to a head. After the failure of international diplomacy at the meetings in Munich and Bad Godesberg earlier in September, Germany seemed to be on the brink of war with its neighbour, Czechoslovakia, and, with this in mind, the Nazi high command were under orders to have special trains ready to move troops rather than transport hundreds of thousands of ordinary Germans to Bückeberg. As the official Amtsblatt announcements quoted on page 8 of News Sheet 76 state (but do not explain) the card came on sale on September 28th and was then withdrawn from sale (except at special philatelic counters in post offices at Berlin W30 and Vienna 1) on October 15th. By the final week of September all postal preparations for the Bückeberg festival of 1938 must have been complete but, of course, the datestamps and handstamps were never used and all that we know about the Reichspost’s plans for the event comes from the entry shown in Fig.31 below, taken from the Reck and Schembra listings of the German mobile post offices of the period. The ten special mobile post offices listed above were probably in place before the event was cancelled and it is interesting to note that two were intended to serve tented camps (Zeltstadt), probably accommodating the troops who would have performed manoeuvres to entertain the crowds. These are said to have been located at Tündern and Afferde. These were probably small local villages but I have been unable to find them on the maps and gazetteers available to me. The final line in Fig.31 infers that only one type of datestamp was to have been used this year and the description suggests that it would have been identical (or at least very similar to) the one shown in Fig.25. The only surviving postal souvenir of this event that never was is, therefore, Eric Stahl’s postal stationery card. Unknown quantities were sold, both to collectors and to the general public and, like the one shown in Fig.32 below, were used throughout Germany for ordinary correspondence. Whether the card was ever officially invalidated by the Reichspost I have been unable to discover. In the autumn of the following year it was the Nuremberg Rally’s turn to be cancelled at the very last moment as German troops poured into Poland and World War II began. Now both it and the Bückeberg Festivals passed into history. As far as I am aware the German post office made no further attempt to revive the Harvest Festival theme but, as the card from Tony Hickey’s collection (see Fig.33) indicates, while these events were in full swing in the mid 1930s, the nationwide publicity that they received encouraged other nationalist groups to stage and publicise their own harvest celebrations.

I very much hope that all members will now check their own collections and send in clear photocopies of all covers and cards that may help to clarify and extend our understanding of the postal history of these unique events.

Acknowledgements: The Frech Postal Stationery catalogue. The Bochmann Postmark catalogue. The Reck and Schembra lists of German Mobile Post Offices 1933-1945. Online Histories. The Hickey collection. Author’s own collection.

Fig.32 Used copy of the official Harvest Festival card posted in Rostock on December 17th 1938.

Fig.33 Harvest Festival card produced in Leitmeritz in the Sudetenland in 1937 and printed in Leipa by

Franz May & Co.

Fig.31 The ten special mobile post offices planned for the Bückeberg harvest festival of 1938.

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The Special Cancels and Serienstempel for the

Hitler Youth After member Bill Sells’ query in the last News Sheet about a publication dedicated to the special cancels and serienstempel (same advertising used in more than one city/town), I have decided to start our own research into the subject. Back in News Sheet No.18 (June 1979) there was a 3 page article about the HJ or Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth) movement that showed a few of these cancels, but we will be looking for all of them! We will also be including all the BDM or Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls) cancels etc. as they were part of the Hitler Youth movement.

To start off, I have looked through the Bochmann catalogues for all the special cancels which included HJ, Hitler Jugend, BDM or Hakenkreuz mit Raute (swastika with diamond) in the description. I then looked in the Bochmann ‘serienstempel’ catalogue using the same criteria. I am sure that I may have missed some of them so maybe members with copies of the Bochmann catalogues can double check my findings. I have listed what I found below:

‘Bochmann’ special cancels

Town/City Number(s) Town/City Number(s)Bamberg #9 Mülheim (Ruhr) #4, #5

Benneckenstein #1 München #70

Berchtesgaden #4 Murnau #2

Braunschweig #28 Neunkirchen (Saar) #3, #4

Breitenbrunn #1 Nordernay #6

Bremen #19 Nürnberg #67

Breslau #58 Oberjoch #1

Camburg #1 Oberstdorf #4, #6, #7

Chemnitz #31 Offenburg #4, #5

Cuxhaven #1, #3 Ostseebad Müritz #1, #2

Duisburg #5 Potsdam #6, #7

Garmisch-Partenkirchen #16, #20, #27 Radolfzell #4

Grainau #1 Rudolstadt #5

Graz #17 Saalfeld #11

Greibensee #1 Saarbrücken #10

Johanngeorgenstadt #3 Salzburg #17, #18

Kassel #22, #25, #28 Scheibenberg #1

Kiel #38, #41 Schwarzburg #3

Königsdorf #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 Sperenberg #1

Kutno #1 Stuttgart #74

Landsberg (Lech) #2 Walchsee #1

Leipzig #145 Weimar #13, #15

Lenggries #2 Wendisch Buchholz #1

Linz (Donau) #8, #11 Wien #36, #44

Magdeburg #28 Zeuschtsee #1

M.Gladbach #2

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News Sheet No.170 September 2017 The Special Cancels and Serienstempel for the Hitler Youth (cont.) Here are examples of the special cancels mentioned in the Bochmann catalogues from the list on the previous page and the first to be registered in our special file:

Bochmann: Bamberg #9

Bochmann: Chemnitz #31

Bochmann: Garmisch-Partenkirchen #16

Bochmann: Kassel #28 Bochmann:

Leipzig #145 Bochmann:

Magdeburg #28

Bochmann:

M.Gladbach #2 Bochmann:

Neunkirchen #4 Bochmann:

Neunkirchen #3

Bochmann: Oberstdorf #4

Bochmann: Oberstdorf #6

Bochmann: Walchsee #1

Bochmann: Wien #36

Bochmann:

Rudolstadt #5

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News Sheet No.170 September 2017 The Special Cancels and Serienstempel for the Hitler Youth (cont.)

‘Bochmann’ Serienstempel

No. Description Used on #149 Reichsberufswettkampf / der / Deutschen Jugend / vom 9.-15. April

1934 26.3.-15.4.34 (32 towns/cities)

#154 Gebietstreffen / HJ Kurmark / Frankfurt (Oder) / 23.-24. Juni 1934 18.6.-23.6.34 (Cottbus, Frankfurt (Oder))

#182 Wir fordern die Einheit / der Jugend / Die / Hitlerjugend 5.-28.10.35 (Freiburg, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Konstanz, Lahr, Lörrach, Mannheim, Offenburg)

#219 Besucht / die / Zeltlager der / fränk. Hitlerjugend / 1936 5.8.-10.9.36, 3.-9.7.37 (Aschaffenburg, Fürth, Schweinfurt, Würzburg)

#236 Januarparole d.H.J. / Hessen-Nassaus: / Junger Sozialismus 2.-15.1.37 (Darmstadt, Frankfurt (Main), Limburg, Mainz, Wiesbaden)

#238 Januarparole d.H.J. / Hessen-Nassaus: / Schafft uns Heime 11.-29.1.37 (Darmstadt, Frankfurt (Main), Limburg, Mainz, Marburg, Wiesbaden)

#247 Februarparole d.H.J. / Hessen-Nassaus: / Fahrt u. Lager 1.-25.2.37 (Darmstadt, Frankfurt (Main), Limburg, Mainz, Wiesbaden)

#248 Märzparole der H.J. / Hessen-Nassaus: Disziplin u. Ordnung 1.-31.3.37 (Darmstadt, Frankfurt (Main), Limburg, Mainz, Wiesbaden)

#261 Schafft Heime / für die Hitler-Jugend 4.6.-7.12.37 (26 towns/cities)

#313 Helft / der / Jugend / Heime / bauen!

14.4.-15.5.39 (Reichenberg, Wien)

#314 Helft / der / Jugend / Heime / bauen! / Heim der Hitlerjugend

15.4.-15.5.39 (27 towns/cities)

Below and on the next page are examples of all of the 11 serienstempel mentioned in the Bochmann catalogue (and the list above).

Bochmann #149 Bochmann #154

Bochmann #182 Bochmann #236 Bochmann #219

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News Sheet No.170 September 2017 The Special Cancels and Serienstempel for the Hitler Youth (cont.)

I also looked in the Engel catalogue for Hitler Youth special cancels from Bohemia & Moravia. I found 2 cancels.

‘Engel’ Catalogue

Cat No. Description Used on Colour SST No. 55 MÄHR.-OSTRAU 9 – MOR.OSTRAVA 9 SPORTWETTKÄMPFE DER HITLER-JUGEND 4.-6. VII. 41 brown SST No. 102 OLMÜTZ 1 GEBIETSSPORTFEST 1942 HJ BÖHMEN und MÄHREN 16.-19. VII. 42 black

Although neither a ‘special cancel’ or ‘serienstempel’, if any member can tell me of a catalogue that records the meter machine frankings (see below) which include the Hitler Youth, please let me know so we can try to provide the most complete list possible.

Our thanks go to Tony Torres, Tony Hickey and Bill Sells for their contributions.

To be continued…..

Engel SST #102

Bochmann #238 Bochmann #248 Bochmann #247

Bochmann #314

Bochmann #261 Bochmann #313

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ANSCHLUSS THE GERMAN ANNEXATION OF AUSTRIA

1938

Introduction of German Postage Stamps 4th April 1938

by Tony Hickey

From the Monday the 4th April 1938 current German 5, 6, 8, 12, 15 and 25Rpf postage stamps were made available at post offices throughout the Ostmark. The absence of the 1, 3 and 4Rpf values meant that the low value Groschen values had to be used to make up some current postage rates. From the 17th June 1938 all remaining values became available. The cover above was sent on the 4th April from the Österreichische Creditanstalt-Wiener Bankverein, Graz, bearing a 12Rpf Hindenburg definitive, the German inland letter rate. Creditanstalt had to declare bankruptcy in May 1931. This was one of the first major bank failures that initiated the Great Depression. The bank was rescued by distributing the enormous share of costs between the Republic, the National Bank of Austria and the Rothschild family (owners). After Nationalization plans failed in 1934, Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß ordered the merger of the institute with the Wiener Bankverein, thus changing its name to Creditanstalt-Wiener Bankverein. The Creditanstalt bankruptcy and its impact in producing a major global banking crisis provided a major propaganda opportunity for Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party: it allowed them to further blame Jews for German and international economic and social troubles. Following the Austrian Anschluss to Nazi Germany in 1938, Creditanstalt-Bankverein was targeted for both financial and racial reasons. Louis de Rothschild was immediately arrested and imprisoned for the losses suffered by the Austrian state when the bank collapsed. Deprived of his position and property, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1939 after more than one year in custody. Louis de Rothschild

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Another Stamp Advertising Poster

Our member Tony Hickey sent in a new poster advertising the set of stamps in aid of the WHW for 1938, entitled ‘The Beautiful German Ostmark’. The panel on the right shows the series of stamps (9) and text below the stamps mentions the booklets that would also be available at 2RM. The text at the bottom also informs that there are postcards available (at 10Rpf each) with a 6Rpf imprinted stamp. The poster was designed by von Axster Heüdtlass.

Thank you Tony.

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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. Please show your support and try to attend your local meeting. London Group 2nd Sept.

25th Nov.

Members’ displays.

“Berlin Private Posts”, a display by John Campbell.

Scottish Group 2nd Sept.

18th Nov.

“Bohemia & Moravia” a display by Tony Bosworth.

“Weimar Republic” a display by Walter Tytherleigh.

North West Group 2nd Sept.

4th Nov.

“Local Zone Issues 1945/1946” a display by Alan Christian.

“German Winter Relief” a display by Rex Dixon.

Tyne-Tees Group 9th Sept.

11th Nov.

Large auction & one-sheet competition.

“The Spitfire” a display by Richard Wheatley.

South East Group 23rd Sept. “The Saar area 1935-48”, a display by Maggie Thompson.

G & C.P.S. 6th-8th Oct. AGM Weekend 2017 at the Holiday Inn Hotel, New Road, Weston Turville, Aylesbury.

South Central Group 14th Oct. “WW2 Polish Refugee Mail”, a display by Albert Jackson & members’ displays.

South West Group 14th Oct. “1936 Olympic Games” a display by Tony Bosworth.

T.R.S.G. (London) 4th Nov. “Private postal stationery 1939-45” a display by Robert Mott and members’ displays.

Midlands Group - No further meetings planned at present.

Dates, times, venues and speakers correct at the time of going to press (17th August 2017). However, please contact the regional organiser(s) for confirmation of the above details.

EPILOGUE John Rawlings’ article on the Harvest Festival (part 2) did not disappoint. A fine and very informative piece indeed. So – we have now started collecting all the Hitler Youth cancels and serienstempel. Hopefully members will send in any they have in their collections that so far have not been shown and an impressive list can be built that is available nowhere else. Now comes the task of something a bit special for the Christmas issue (No.171 December). I am hoping to make it an expanded News Sheet with more pages filled with articles and interesting things for the collector. I am also starting to update our ‘Souvenir Sheet’ CD by adding some new finds and replacing some of the old black & white images with colour ones. Any members that have souvenir sheets that have not been shown before can send in copies directly to me. Maybe something completely new – like a foray into the membership dues stamps and revenue stamps of the Third Reich period. Anyway – let’s see what develops for our next News Sheet and please remember to send in your enquiries!

Cheers, Editor

“Ask not what your Study Group can do for you…. …. ask what you can do for your Study Group”

of course, he didn’t say that…………

BUT WE DID!!!

The Third Reich Study Group NEWS SHEET - German … report on the Third Reich Study Group meeting...

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