Deutsche Post Berlin Special 17 June 1953 Stamps and Cancellation

DEUTSCHE POST BERLIN on 17 August 1953 issued two West Berlin stamps commemorating the 17 June 1953 uprising. These stamps were not accepted in Eastern European (Communist) countries; letters franked with these stamps were either returned to the sender or sent with the stamps redacted.

The official First Day Cover came with the quote, translated in English here: "We will not rest nor relax -- I make this oath for the entire German people -- until all of Germany is reunited in peace and freedom." The quote was attributed to Federal Chancellor Dr. Konrad Adenauer on 23 June 1953 in Berlin. These special (propaganda) stamps were launched by the Senate Administration of Postal and Telecommunications Services in Berlin on 17 August 1953.

As for this particular card, these  stamps appeared with a special sports-related design franked with a Deutsche Post cancellation on 29 August 1953. It referred to track and field or "leichtathletik" event between England and West Germany at the Berlin Olympic Stadium.

The East German Uprising was a revolt that occurred in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 16 to 17 June 1953. It began with strike action by construction workers in East Berlin on 16 June against work quotas during the Sovietization process in East Germany. 

Demonstrations in East Berlin turned into a widespread uprising against the Government of East Germany and the ruling Socialist Unity Party the next day, involving over one million people in about 700 localities across the country. Protests against declining living standards and unpopular Sovietisation policies led to a wave of strikes and protests that were not easily brought under control and threatened to overthrow the East German government. 

The uprising in East Berlin was violently suppressed by tanks of the Soviet forces in Germany and the Kasernierte Volkspolizei. Demonstrations continued in over 500 towns and villages for several more days before eventually dying out.

Subsequently, in memory of the 1953 East German uprising, West Germany established the Day of German Unity as an annual national holiday on 17 June. Upon German reunification in October 1990, the holiday was moved to 3 October, the date of formal reunification. The extension of the Unter den Linden Boulevard to the west of the Brandenburg Gate, called Charlottenburger Chaussee, was renamed Strasse des 17. Juni ("17 June Street").

Source: Wikipedia