Report in the Telegraaf: Stamps in Bunker

The post on the blog, following my immediate reaction, set me to work for a moment. The stamp featuring the image of Adolf Hitler and the overprint 2kg is one of a set of four so-called field stamps. The first field stamp was specifically intended for the 'franking' (no value indication is given) of airmail letters and airmail postcards due to restrictions on the sending of mail to and from areas where German armies were encircled by the Allies. This was particularly the case in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and Scandinavia.   The stamp was issued on April 20, 1942, and was made available until April 1943. The stamp exists in two perforation types: perforated and pierced. Usually, the perforation is very poor. Soldiers received four stamps per month, and after May 1943, eight stamps. It was then decided to have soldiers affix two stamps per letter. The image on the stamp is a Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft. On July 10, 1942, a field postage stamp was issued specifically for field post parcels. This stamp featured the Imperial Eagle and, like the previous stamp, is available in two perforation types. Shipments up to 250 grams were postage-free. For parcels weighing from 250 grams to 1000 grams, the rate was 20 Pfennig. In addition, the brown stamp had to be affixed. From September 1, 1942, the maximum weight for a parcel was increased to 2 kilograms. The rate for 1000 to 2000 grams was 40 Pfennig, and two brown stamps had to be added. From June 23, 1944, it was no longer possible to send heavy parcels, and the weight was limited to 10 grams. Every soldier received one brown field postage stamp monthly from July 10, 1942, to August 31, 1942. From September 1, 1942, until the autumn of 1944, the 'rate' from the home front to the soldiers was two field postage stamps. On November 24, 1944, the stamp with the overprint 2kg was issued. This stamp was therefore intended for packages of up to a maximum of 2kg. The stamps were intended only for packages from the home front to the soldiers containing winter clothing. The stamps were not issued to collectors. The stamps that now adorn albums came onto the market after the war. On October 20, 1944, a smaller-sized, green field stamp was issued, specifically intended for Christmas parcels. The parcels were only to be sent from the home front to the soldiers, and the maximum weight was 2000 grams. Then there were the last two stamps, which would appear on April 20, 1945. Not field stamps, but ordinary postage stamps of 12 Pfennig with a surcharge of 38 Pfennig.   The stamps were 'dedicated' to the SS and the SA. The SS stood for Schutzstaffel, the protection division of the German army, originally Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard, founded in 1925. It would become the cruelest unit of the German army. Everyone feared the soldiers in black uniforms. The SA was also founded in 1925 and essentially had the same task as the SS. The soldiers wore brown uniforms. The abbreviation stands for Sturm Abteilung. Because the war was in its final days, the stamps were no longer made available at post offices. Nevertheless, letters are known to exist on which the stamps appear. Only a few post offices in Berlin had received the stamps, and thus a few collectors were able to acquire them just before the armistice. There are still two stamps in existence that were prepared for issue but could not be produced due to the end of the war. Only a few examples of these have come into the hands of collectors. One stamp features the NSKK, the Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps, and the other the NSFK, the Nationalsozialistisches Flieger Korps of the Hitler Youth. The image on the stamp is a glider. The photo shows how German youth could operate such a glider, a very different 'aircraft' than the one on the stamp. The Corps was founded in January 1932. Actually, the corps consisted of three sections: a motorized flying section, a gliding section, and a ballooning section. That a find in a bunker in Denmark is nevertheless a piece of evidence of a piece of history, with many unpleasant aspects, but also with philatelic aspects.