LA POSTE FRANCE in 2009 issued this first day cover stamp and maxi card of "La Promenade", of children in Alsatian costumes, circa 1917. It was one of many works by Hansi who hailed from Colmar, Alsace.
Jean-Jacques Waltz ((1873-1951), also known as "Oncle Hansi", or simply "Hansi" ("Little John") was a French artist of Alsatian origin. Hansi became famous with his polemical satiric work Professor Knatschke (1912), which became a best-seller in France, as well as several other militant works. He came to incarnate the symbol of pro-French Alsatians, especially among "revanchist" French intellectuals.
For making fun of German military and professors, he was imprisoned several times by the German authorities, culminating in a one-year sentence given by the tribunal of Leipzig in July 1914. He escaped to France, where he joined the military as a translator-officer when the First World War broke out.
In 1940, Hansi, still wanted by the Gestapo for his militant works and his treason of 1914, had to flee into Vichy France. He was attacked by the Nazis in Agen, and fled to Switzerland. Badly wounded because of this attack, he remained weak until he died in 1951.
For making fun of German military and professors, he was imprisoned several times by the German authorities, culminating in a one-year sentence given by the tribunal of Leipzig in July 1914. He escaped to France, where he joined the military as a translator-officer when the First World War broke out.
In 1940, Hansi, still wanted by the Gestapo for his militant works and his treason of 1914, had to flee into Vichy France. He was attacked by the Nazis in Agen, and fled to Switzerland. Badly wounded because of this attack, he remained weak until he died in 1951.
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