Freistadt Danzig Post 150th Birth Anniversary of Authur Schopenhauer - 1938

FREISTADT DANZIG POST issued on 22 February 1938  three  first day cover stamps to commemorate  the 150th birth anniversary of philosopher Authur Schopenhauer. A 10 Pf illustrated stationery postcard was issued as well. The first day cancellation postmark originated from and states Danzig Schopenhauer Gedenkfeier.

The postage stamps of 'Schopenhauer' from the Free City of Danzig (in values of 15 Pf, 25 Pf and 40 Pf) were designed by Danzig painter and graphic artist Max Buchholz.

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860) was a German philosopher born in Danzig. He is best known for his 1818 work "The World as Will and Representation" (expanded in 1844), which characterises the phenomenal world as the product of a blind noumenal will. His work has been described as an exemplary manifestation of philosophical pessimism.

Although his work failed to garner substantial attention during his lifetime, Schopenhauer had a posthumous impact across various disciplines, including philosophy, literature, and science. His writing on aesthetics, morality, and psychology influenced many thinkers and artists. Those who have cited his influence include philosophers Emil Cioran, Friedrich Nietzsche and Ludwig Wittgenstein, scientists Erwin Schrödinger and Albert Einstein, psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, writers Leo Tolstoy, Herman Melville, Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Machado de Assis, Jorge Luis Borges, Marcel Proust and Samuel Beckett, and composers Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Arnold Schoenberg and Gustav Mahler.

That said, I personally do not subscribe to Schopenhauer's philosophy. My interest in these stamps is purely philatelic, as these were among the last postage stamps issued by Freistadt Danzig before it was incorporated into the Third Reich. The stamps and postcard also command a premium price among stamp collectors.

Oesterreich Post Great Austrian art exhibition in the Viennese Künstlerhaus

OESTERREICH POST on 20 June 1947 issued a series of surtax stamps entitled "Great Austrian art exhibition in the Viennese Künstlerhaus".

The stamps depicted:
   - Corvinus cup (15th century)
   - Fountain figure "Providentia" by Raphael Donner
   - Benedictine monastery, Melk
   - Wife of Dr. Brante of Vienna
 - Farmer with children at window; Painting by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller
   - Vienna, main gate of Belvedere Palace
   - Nymph Egeria at the Schlossbrunnen in Schönbrunn
   - National Library of Vienna
   - Workshop of the engraver Ernst Rohm; Lithograph by Ferdinand
   - Girl with straw hat; Painting by Friedrich von Amerling

Deutsche Post 100th Anniversary of the International Aerospace Exhibition in Frankfurt

DEUTSCHE POST issued in 2009 this commemorative  stamp marking the 100th anniversary of the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) in Frankfurt (Germany). It depicted a zeppelin, biplane and balloon against the background of the Imperial Cathedral of Saint Bartholomew in Frankfurt.

USPS “Early Football Heroes” -- Walter Camp and Bronko Nagurski

 

USPS (United States Postal Service) issued four stamps on 8 August 2003, honoring “Early Football Heroes”, which  included Walter Camp (founder of American football), Bronko Nagurski (Chicago Bears), as well as Red Grange (Chicago Bears) and Ernie Nevers (Duluth Eskimos & Chicago Cardinals). The official release was at the College Football Hall of Fame at South Bend, Indiana.

Netherlands 40th Anniversary of Liberation during WWII

THE NETHERLANDS issued a set of four first day cover stamps to mark the 40th Anniversary of Liberation from Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.

Stamps included:
- 50 Ct - Dutch Resistance in the Netherlands
- 60 Ct - Allied Liberation of the Netherlands
- 65 Ct - Holocaust Internees from the Netherlands
- 70 Ct - East Indies Dutch Nationals at the Burma-Thai (Death) Railway

 

 

Hellenic Post "National Resistance 1941-1944"

 

HELLENIC POST on 8 November 1982 issued a First Day Cover set of eight stamps dedicated to "National Resistance 1941-1944" against Nazi Germany. The cachet is an engraved woodcut by artist Loukia Maggiorou showing Greek independence fighters and WWII antifascist partisans.

The horizontal and vertical designs included:

-   1d, Demonstration of 24 Mararch 1942.
-   2d, Sacrifice of Inhabitants of Kalavrita, by S. Vasiliou.
-   5d, Resistance Fighters in Thrace, by A. Tassos.
-   9d, The Start of the Resistance in Crete, by P. Gravalos.
- 12d, Partisan Men and Women, by P. Gravalos.
- 21d, Blowing Up a Bridge, by A. Tassos.
- 30d, Fighters at a Barricade, by G. Skaliotis.
- 50d, The Fight in Northern Greece, by V. Katraki.

Freistadt Danzig Scientific Innovators 1938 with Cancellation 1939

FREISTADT DANZIG (FREE CITY STATE OF DANZIG)  released  a set of three commemorative stamps on 29th April 1938, the final postage stamps issued in the independent Freistadt Danzig. They were issued to honour the achievements of the scientific innovators of the nation.

The stamps of 10 pfennig, 15 pfennig and 25 pfennig depicted Gregor Mendel, Dr. Robert Koch, and Wilhelm Roentgen respectively, along with their famous statements.

In September 1939, these would be the final postage stamps of Freistadt Danzig, as the sovereign city state was incorporated into the German Reich and after this date the postage stamps of the Third Reich were used in Danzig and its surrounding areas.

This postcard is quite unique in that not only are these the very stamps affixed to it, the cancellation postmark contains the propaganda message "Greetings from Adolf Hitler, Leader and Liberator," which is fitting when one considers a photo of Hitler is shown on the front of the card. It is dated 19 September 1939, 17 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland on 2 September.

Freistadt Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and nearly 200 towns and villages in the surrounding areas. It was created on 15 November 1920 after the end of World War I.

The Free City of Danzig existed less than two decades, i.e. from November 1920 to November 1939. Meanwhile, the state issued postage stamps which have their own story. The first indigenous stamps were printed on 31st January 1921. Approximately 18 years later, the nation issued its last postage stamps.

After WWII, those Germans who had fled Danzig were forcefully expelled and repopulated with Polish citizens. That said, the city state of Gdansk (as it later became known in Poland) remained underpopulated well into the 1950s.

Disclaimer: In displaying these stamps and postcard I must stress I DO NOT advocate, NOR wish to glorify the regime of Nazi Germany or any present day fascist organization/state. My sole intent is to illustrate the philatelic history of the period, one which I personally believe to have been evil and as such a plight in the history of Germany and their satellite allies at the time.

La Poste France 20th Anniversary of Armistice and Liberation of Paris 1944

TWO DIFFERENT EVENTS are depicted in this rather unique postcard: 1) American General Omar Bradley and troops are seen parading through the Arc de Triomphe in Paris  on 29 August 1944; 2) the 1938 La Poste France postage stamp commemorates the 20th Anniversary of the Cessation of WWI, yet the cancellation postmark states Musée Carnavalet (the oldest museum in Paris) and the date appears to be 11 November 1944 -- 26th Anniversary of the Armistice. Nevertheless, LIBERATION!!!

 

Nippon Post Jimmy Carter at Tokyo Seven Nation Economic Summit

NIPPON POST on 15 January 1975 issued to two stamps celebrating the American tour of Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako. The two stamps depicted the national flags of Japan and the United States, trimmed with cherry blossoms.

The same stamps were used in 1979 when U.S. President Jimmy Carter met Japan Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira. The visit corresponded with the Tokyo Seven Nation Economic Summit, which was held on 24 June 1979. The special cachet and postmark cancellations highlighted the event.

Deutsche Post 100th Memorial Anniversary of Friedrich Nietzsche

DEUTSCHE POST on 25 August 2000 issued a 100th memorial anniversary stamp of Friedrich Nietzsche. This 110 Pfennig was designed by Elisabeth von Janota-Bzowski. The cancellation postmark for this first day cover originated from Bonn, Germany.

Friedrich Nietzsche, born on 15 October 1844 in Röcken near Lützen, was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. He became the youngest person ever to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel in 1869 at the age of 24. Nietzsche resigned in 1879 due to health problems that plagued him most of his life; he completed much of his core writing in the following decade. In 1889, at age 44, he suffered a collapse and afterward a complete loss of his mental faculties, with paralysis and probably vascular dementia. He lived his remaining years in the care of his mother until her death in 1897 and then with his sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche. He died on 25 August 1900 in Weimar, after experiencing pneumonia and multiple strokes.

Nietzsche is considered to be one of the great thinkers of the 19th century who was far ahead of his time. His ambiguous work met with equally exuberant veneration as well as vehement rejection. The confrontation with the life and work of the great philosopher continues unabated more than 100 years after his demise. Nietzsche found little recognition during his lifetime, but he became the world's most widely read philosophical author after his death.  

 

Source: Deutsche Post and Wikipedia

Oesterreich Post 100th Memorial Anniversary of Peter Rosegger

OESTERREICH POST  on 26 June 2018 issued a 100th Memorial Anniversary stamp of Austrian poet/writer Peter Rosegger. He has been honoured many times in both Austrian and German postage stamps.

Peter Rosegger (original Roßegger) (1843 – 1918) was an Austrian writer and poet from Krieglach in the province of Styria. He was a son of a mountain farmer and grew up in the woodlands and mountains of Alpl. Rosegger went on to become a most prolific poet and author as well as an insightful teacher and visionary.

In his later years, he was honoured by officials from various Austrian universities and the city of Graz (the capital of Styria). He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times. He was nearly awarded the Nobel Prize in 1913 and is (at least among the people of Styria) something like a national treasure to this day.  

Source: Wikipedia

Deutsches Reich Plowman - 1921

 

DEUTSCHES REICH issued in 1921 a 20 Mark  stamp of a horse and ploughman.

As hyperinflation began to affect the economy of the Weimar Republic, postage stamps like this came into use. The highest hyperinflation stamp was numerical design valued at 100, 000 Marks. Imagine paying 100,000 DM for a single stamp!

Deutsches Reichpost "Danzig ist Deutsch" - 1939

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST on 18 September 1939 the Third Reich issued two stamps proclaiming "Danzig ist Deutsch".  

At the beginning of September 1939, the Danzig Nazi Party leader, Albert Forster, entered the League of Nations High Commissioner's residence and ordered him to leave the city. The Freistadt Danzig ceased to exist as an independent political entity.  The former Free City was formally incorporated into the German Third Reich as part of the newly-formed Reichsgau of Danzig-West Prussia.

Deutsches Reichpost Apprentice's Vocational Contest - 1939

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST  on  4 April 1939 issued two stamps, 6 Rpf and 12Rpf denominations, to mark the Apprentice's Vocational Contest. No special postmark was used to commemorate this event. The design, by Meerwald, features the Reich's Adler with outstretched wings holding a cog (symbolising industry) emblazoned with the swastika. Behind the Reich's Adler is a wreath symbolising victory. Despite the name of the event this was not only for apprentices as it also attracted many older competitors. The stamps were perf K 14 on coated, swastika watermarked paper (10x10)

Disclaimer: In displaying this stamp I must stress I DO NOT advocate, NOR wish to glorify the regime of Nazi Germany or any present day fascist organization/state. My sole intent is to illustrate the philatelic history of the period, one which I personally believe to have been evil and as such a plight in the history of Germany and their satellite allies at the time.

Deutsches Reichpost Party Congress in Nuremberg - 1935

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST  in  1935 issued two stamps to publicise the massive party congress in Nuremberg. The stamps showed the Nuremberg city outline with the party symbol, a giant stylised eagle and swastika.

Disclaimer: In displaying this stamp I must stress I DO NOT advocate, NOR wish to glorify the regime of Nazi Germany or any present day fascist organization/state. My sole intent is to illustrate the philatelic history of the period, one which I personally believe to have been evil and as such a plight in the history of Germany and their satellite allies at the time.

Deutsches Reichpost Sixth Congress of Municipalities - 1936

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST  issued on 3 June  1936 to a set of four stamps to publicise the Sixth Congress of Municipalities. The congress was held in Berlin and in Munich from 7 June through 13 June 1936. Shown here are two of those stamps.

Disclaimer: In displaying these stamps I must stress I DO NOT advocate, NOR wish to glorify the regime of Nazi Germany or any present day fascist organization/state. My sole intent is to illustrate the philatelic history of the period, one which I personally believe to have been evil and as such a plight in the history of Germany and their satellite allies at the time.

 
Source: Stamp Collecting . com

Deutsches Reichpost Leisure Time Congress - 1936

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST  issued on 30th June 1936 to stamps market the Leisure Time Congress event. The Leisure Time Congress was held in Hamburg, 23 till 30 July 1936.

Disclaimer: In displaying these stamps I must stress I DO NOT advocate, NOR wish to glorify the regime of Nazi Germany or any present day fascist organization/state. My sole intent is to illustrate the philatelic history of the period, one which I personally believe to have been evil and as such a plight in the history of Germany and their satellite allies at the time.

Source: Stamp Collecting . com

Deutsches Reichpost 12th Anniversary of the Munich Putsch

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST on 5th November 1935 issued a commemorative stamp to mark the 12th anniversary of the Munich Putsch.

The Putsch occurred on 9th November 1923 when Hitler tried to take power by force in Munich. The attempt failed, but it created martyrs when the Munich police shot and killed some of the members. Within the Third Reich this event was often depicted philatelic history, with several stamp and postcard issues, the last time being November 1944.

 Disclaimer: In displaying this stamp I must stress I DO NOT advocate, NOR wish to glorify the regime of Nazi Germany or any present day fascist organization/state. My sole intent is to illustrate the philatelic history of the period, one which I personally believe to have been evil and as such a plight in the history of Germany and their satellite allies at the time.

Source: Stamp Collecting . com

Deutsches Reichpost Nuremberg Party Congress - 1936

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST on 3 September 1936 issued two stamps marking the Nuremberg Nazi Party Congress. It carried raised hands saluting two swastikas. This was one of an annual issue for the Party Congress in Nurnberg. Historically significant, these stamps, as no other, show the fervor of the Nazi party. The designer was Sepp Semar. The stamps were printed by Reichsdruckerei, Berlin), using the Photogravure method. The size was 23 x 27 mm with comb14 perforations.

The stamps included:
  6 Pf - Dark green
12 Pf - Dark brown/red

Disclaimer: In displaying these stamps I must stress I DO NOT advocate, NOR wish to glorify the regime of Nazi Germany or any present day fascist organization/state. My sole intent is to illustrate the philatelic history of the period, one which I personally believe to have been evil and as such a plight in the history of Germany and their satellite allies at the time.

Deutsches Reichpost "Remember the Lost Colonies" - 1934

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST on 30 June 1934 issued to a set of stamps to "Remember the Lost Colonies", Germany's colonies stripped from her following WWI. The stamps showed famous German colonial figures.

The stamps depicted:
      3 Pf — Franz A.E. Lüderitz, German Southwest Africa (shown here).
      6 Pf — Dr. Gustav Nachtigal, Togo and Cameroon.
    12 Pf — Dr. Karl Peters, German East Africa.
    25 Pf — Hermann von Wissmann, German East Africa.

The “x” values have vertically rippled gum, while the “y” values have horizontally rippled gum.

Deutsches Reichpost Frederick the Great - 1933

 

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST issued on 12th April 1933 three stamps depicting Frederick the Great, King of Prussia (1712 to 1786), which was reproduced from a painting by Adolph von Menzel (1815 to 1905). These stamps were available on engraved sheets (10x10) and in stamp booklets. The stamps have a waffle/network watermark and had 14x14¼ perforations.

The set included:
- 6RpF blackish-bluish-green
- 12RPf lilac-red
- 25Rpf bright-lilac-ultramarine (not shown)

These stamps were produced in unknown quantities and were valid until 31 December 1935. An official postcard and an official postmark were issued to coincide with the Opening of the new Reichstag (Potsdam).

Frederick II was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Silesian wars, his re-organisation of the Prussian Army, the First Partition of Poland, and his patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment. Frederick was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled King in Prussia, declaring himself King of Prussia after annexing Royal Prussia from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772. Prussia greatly increased its territories and became a major military power in Europe under his rule. He became known as Frederick the Great.

During his reign he commanded the Prussian Army at sixteen major battles and various sieges, skirmishes and other actions, ultimately obtaining almost all his political objectives. He is often admired for his tactical skills, especially for his use of the oblique order of battle an attack focused on one flank of the opposing line, allowing a local advantage even if his forces were outnumbered overall. Even more important were his operational successes, especially the use of interior lines to prevent the unification of numerically superior opposing armies and defend the Prussian core territory.

Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazis glorified Frederick as a precursor to Adolf Hitler. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels commissioned artists to render fanciful images of Frederick, Bismarck, and Hitler together in order to create a sense of a historical continuum amongst them. Hence, these and other stamps were created during this period.

Source: Stamp Collecting . Com and Wikipedia

Deutsches Reichpost Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz - 1936

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST  on 15 February 1936 issued a 6 Pf. stamp of Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900) and 12 Pf. stamp of Carl Benz (1844-1929).   The stamps were first placed on sale on 15 February during the 50th Anniversary of the Automobile and to publicise the International Automobile and Motorcycle Show in Berlin. Thereafter, the stamps were made available for sale at all German post offices on the following day.

Source: Stamp Collecting . com

French Occupation Zone "German Writers" Set and Crests - 1945

FRENCH OCCUPATION ZONE after WWII issued between December 1945 and April 1946 a series of 13 stamps, among these being Mark denominations that featured Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich von Schiller, and Heinrich Heine, all famous German writers. These were used for general usage throughout the French occupation zone. Though the stamps were denominated in German currency, they all have the "appearance" of similar contemporary French postage stamps of the era. These general issues were valid for postage until June 1948, though in 1947, each of the German states within the French occupation zone began issuing their own postage stamps. These stamps were engraved on unwatermarked paper and had 13 perforations.

 

Deutsche Bundespost Death Bicentenary of Frederick the Great

DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST on 14 August 1986 issued two commemorative stamps to mark the Death Bicentenary of Frederick the Great. One stamp, reproduced from a painting by Adolph von Menzel, shows Frederick the Great performing a flute concerto. The other stamp is rendered from a portrait by Anton Graff.  Cancellation postmark originated from Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany.

Nippon Post "Air Patriotic Stamp" - 1937

NIPPON POST on 1 June 1937 issued three semi-stamps depicting the Nakajima-Douglas DC-2. These were released during "Air Patriotic Week" as a donation stamp called "Air Patriotic Stamp". Patriotic stamps were issued to collect part of the costs through donations in order to advance the maintenance of airports in Japan. To collect donations, 23.58 million copies were issued for 2 sen, 6.94 million for 3 sen, and 20.14 million for 4 sen. The Douglas DC-2 was shown flying above the Japanese Alps. The postmark cancellation on this postcard originated from the Rumoi station in Hokkaido.

The three types of stamps included:
2 sen Red)
3 sen (Navy Blue)
4 sen (Green)

After Nakajima Hikoki acquired a production license in 1935 of the Douglas DC-2,  he later obtained the license to build the DC-3 model for $90,000 in February 1938. Previously, the Great Northern Airways and the Far East Fur Trading Company had purchased 22 DC-3s from 1937–1939. This total consisted of 13 Cyclone powered DC-3s and nine Twin Wasp powered DC-3As, two of which were delivered un-assembled and assigned to a relatively new concern, Shōwa Aircraft.

During WWII the Shōwa L2D and Nakajima L2D, given the designations Shōwa Navy Type 0 Transport and Nakajima Navy Type 0 Transport, were license-built versions of the Douglas DC-3. The L2D series, numerically, was the most important Japanese transport in World War II. The L2D was given the Allied code name Tabby.

Source: Wikipedia and www.muuseo.com/showa_express

Australia Post "Australia Under Wire" 50th Anniversary of WWII - 1942

AUSTRALIA POST on 1992 issued a series of five stamps entitled "Australians Under Fire". These stamps marked the 50th Anniversary of WWII and highlighted where Australians fought or were under fire during World War II. Brian Clinton designed the stamps and Leigh-Mardon Pty. Ltd. printed them.

There were five stamps issued
- 45c Bombing of Darwin 1942;
- 75c Battle of Milne Bay 1942;
- 75c Battle of Kokoda Trail 1942;
- $1.05 Battle of the Coral Sea 1942;
- $1.20 Battle of El Alamein 1942.

The $1.05 stamp had Australian and American Flags printed in alternative gutter pairs.

 

Source: Australia Post

Central Africa Republic 70th Anniversary of the Firebombing of Dresden

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC  in  2015 issued two mini philatelic sheetlets to mark the 70th anniversary of the firebombing of Dresden during  WWII. Only 1,000 copies were printed of each mini sheetlet.

As for the event, the bombing raid on Dresden occurred between 13 and 15 February 1945 in a bid to crush German morale in the final months of WWII. As a result, British and American bombers killed up to 25,000 people and more than 75,000 dwellings were destroyed, along with unique monuments of Baroque architecture in the historic city centre.

During 37 hours of bombing, the Allied forces dropped at least 3,900 tonnes of explosive and incendiary bombs, unleashing an inferno over 33 sq. km. that melted people and reduced vast areas of the “Jewel of the Elbe” to ash and rubble.

American author Kurt Vonnegut, who was a POW interned in Dresden, alluded to the event in his novel "Slaughter House 5". He was among the POWs who were confined in this underground meat locker and later enlisted to clear the debris and corpses. To summerise the horror that Vonnegut witnessed, he described what he thought was a charred log that turned out to be the stump of a body, gasping the words "Why me?".

The scale of the death and destruction, coming so late in the war, along with significant questions about the legitimacy of the targets destroyed have led to years of debate about whether the attack was justified, or whether it should be labeled a war crime.

Source: Reuters, The Atlantic and "Slaughter House Five"

Ceskoslovwnsko Posta 30th Anniversary of Massacre of Lidice, Ležáky and Terezin

CESKOSLOVWNSKO POSTA on 16 February 1972 issued three first day cover stamps marking the 30 anniversary of the destruction of the Czechoslovakian villages of Lidice and Ležáky, the massacre and internment of their citizens, as well as the incarceration of Jews from the village of Terezin.

The atrocities took place after Operation Anthropoid, a Czechoslovakian-led mission, to assassinate the Nazi's third in command, SS officer Reinhard Heydrich, who was the main architect behind the Final Solution and the head of Nazi forces in Czechoslovakia. The Nazis razed the Czechoslovakian villages of Lidice and Ležáky, literally wiping Lidice from the map.

A false lead led these fascists to believe that two Czech pilots from Lidice had been involved in the assassination of Heydrich. Even after learning the truth, the fate of Lidice had been decided. All men between ages 15 and 84 were executed (173 total). 53 Lidice woman died in concentration camps. 81 children who were deemed racially inappropriate for Germanisation were murdered by the exhaust fumes of modified trucks at the Nazi extermination camp in Chelmno-on-Ner. The village houses were burned to the ground, along with the Lidice shop buildings and St. Martin's church. The town's cemetery was completely destroyed, the village trees were cut down, and the village pond was filled in with debris, leaving nothing to remain of the town.

German retaliation for Reinhard Heydrich's assassination didn't end there. Hundreds of Czech patriots were condemned to death following the 27 May 1942 assassination attempt (which ultimately proved fatal). In under a month's time, from 28 May 28 to 24 June, the Nazis condemned 695 Czech loyalists to death, including 589 men and 106 women. In the end, more than 13,000 were arrested and as many as 5,000 were murdered in reprisals. The girlfriend of Kan Kubiš -- one of the assassins -- Anna Malinová was among those arrested. She subsequently died in the Mauthausen-Gusen (Austria) concentration camp.

Another source has been established that during this period 3,000 Jews were taken from the Terezin ghetto (Theresienstadt) and exterminated. No one knows how many died in the concentration camps.

A sober estimate is that at least 5,000 Czechs were killed to avenge the death of one murderous Nazi. Among them were all the priests of St. Bartholomeus, not one of whom would say a word about their commando-guests who took refuge within the church.

Deutsches Bundespost 5th and 10th Anniversary of Berlin Blockade and Airlift

 

DEUTSCHES BUNDESPOST on 7 October 1956 and 12 May 1959 issued stamps to mark the end of the Berlin Blockade and Airlift (1948-1949), on the fifth and tenth anniversary, respectively.

 

The fifth anniversary stamp was colbalt blue in colour. It carried a value of 15 Pfennigs and was designed by Alfred Goldammer and printed by Bundesdruckerei. 

 

The tenth anniversary stamp was red and black, and it featured the silhouettes of airplanes coming to and fro. It had a value of 25 Pfennigs and was designed by Gerhardt. 

 

This postcard depicts the Templehof Airport and the monument dedicated to the airlift. While the postmark is not the special cancellation, it is dated 1 September 1959 and originated from West Berlin.

Deutsche Post "Berliner Bauten" - DC-54 over Templehof

 

DEUTSCHE POST issued the "Berliner Bauten" series of stamps from 1949 to 1954. This West Berlin definitive stamp series consisted of 24 one-color stamps that were printed in sheets . Some of the stamps were also available in stamp books and on rolls . It was the first of two independent Berlin postal stamp series. Before that, the so-called black and red overprints had been used on stamps of the Allied occupying powers. These stamps continued use until about 1957. 

 

Amongst the stamps issued was the one shown here, the Douglas C-54 Skymaster flying over Tempelhof Airport in West Berlin. This lime green stamp was first released in 1949 after the end of the Berlin Airlift. The postmark cancellation for this block set is 1956.

 

The Western Allies organised the Berlin Airlift (also known as Berliner Luftbrücke, literally "Berlin Air Bridge" in German) from 26 June 1948 to 30 September 1949 to carry supplies to the people of West Berlin, a difficult feat given the size of the city's population.

 

It was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. The Soviets offered to drop the blockade if the Western Allies withdrew the newly introduced Deutsche Mark from West Berlin.

 

The Berlin Airlift officially ended on 30 September 1949 after fifteen months. The US Air Force had delivered 1,783,573 tons (76.40% of total) and the RAF 541,937 tons (23.30% of total), totalling 2,334,374 tons, nearly two-thirds of which was coal, on 278,228 flights to Berlin.

 

The C-47s and C-54s together flew over 92,000,000 miles (148,000,000 km) in the process. At the height of the Airlift, one plane reached West Berlin every thirty seconds. Seventeen American and eight British aircraft crashed during the operation. A total of 101 fatalities were recorded as a result of the operation.

 

The Berlin Blockade served to highlight the competing ideological and economic visions for postwar Europe and played a major role in drawing West Germany into the NATO orbit several years later in 1955. 

 

Source: Wikipedia

Statue of Refugee at the Friedland Museum

"GRIFF IN DIE FREIHEIT"  (Reaching for Freedom) is a six meter high sculpture by Fritz Theilmann. In 1955, it was erected at the Friedland Transit Camp in Lower Saxony, Germany by the Association of Returnees (VdH). The figure on the stone base is shown climbing over a barbed wire fence in a prison camp and thus became a symbol of the former German prisoners of war. It also epitomised the mass migration of displaced individuals who initially were processed at this border transit camp in the aftermath of the Second World War

These uprooted populations included foreign victims of the Nazi regime (forced laborers, prisoners of war, and concentration camp survivors), Germans evacuated from bombed-out cities, Germans fleeing or expelled from from Eastern Europe, and German soldiers who were demobilised and released from prisoner of war camps. 

Established by order of the British military government in September 1945, the camp at Friedland functioned as the lynchpin for a system designed to collect, aid, register, and resettle displaced populations as quickly as possible. As such, the camp functioned as a regulating form of humanitarianism that not only aided refugees with food, shelter, and medical services, but also turned unmanageable masses into settled individuals with claims on the postwar welfare state. 

Between 1945 and 1960, the camp processed over 2.1 million individuals. Given the scope of the crisis, this intervention to ameliorate suffering and restore social order depended on the work of German civil authorities, the British military government, and German, British, and international charities.

Morocco 50th Birthday Anniversary of King Mohammed V.

MOROCCO  on 10 August 1959 issued three stamps honouring the 50th Birthday Anniversary of  Sultan/King Mohammed V.  Postmark cancellations originated from Rabat and Casablanca.

King Mohammed V is widely remembered for his role in securing Morocco’s independence from France and Spain.

Apart from his central role in Morocco’s independence, King Mohammed V is remembered for his unprecedented protection of Jews during World War II, from 1939 to 1945. When the Vichy government demanded that Mohammed V impose anti-Jewish legislation upon his people and deport the country’s 250,000 Jews to extermination camps in Europe, he responded, “There are no Jewish citizens, there are no Muslim citizens. They are all Moroccans.”

Source: Morocco World News . com