TheMe who do not COUec4 IItamplI will be llUrpri.&ed to dillco'ver how mucJ~ of Europe'II recent hilltonJ t" mirrored in IItampll. HISTORY BY MAIL By JOHN DUEHRKOPP T is a rare event for us to receive a. soon replaced by Polish stamps captured in letter from Europe; and when we do Warsaw and overprinted with the German happen to be the lucky recipient of such national emblem and the designation "Gen­ uncommon object, we hardly pay any eral-Gouvernement" (FIo. 23). It might tion to that little square of colored seem like an irony of fate that these over­ sticking modestly in the comer of the printed stamps were the very ones which .,-elope. And yet how much these stamps had been printed in commemoration of the tell us about their countries. For, after twentieth anniversary of the PoliRh Republic Ill, they are not only the post office's receipt and which showed outstanding events from postage paid but in addition a sort of the past history of Poland. When the niiting card of their country, whose history, stocks of these stamps had been used op, 'tOOI!omicB, science, art, culture and, last but the new final issue appeared in the autumn least, Bcenic beauties they reflect in a of 1940. Famous buildings of Warsaw, tholl8and ways. Cracow (ll'l:o. 9), and Lublin are reproduced in this beautiful set. It is by no means the intention of this ,erticle to initiate the reader into the mys­ The occupation of Denmark and Norway ~ of philately with all its technical found no philatelic expression, all current tomplications of counting perforations or stamps being recognized by tho Germau ,looking for secret watermarks. We shall occupation authorities, who used them also .tpeak, not of stamp collecting, but of the for their own communications. The only -*mps themselves as witnesses to the most effect was that the portrait of King Haakon ieoent chapter of European history. disappeared from the stamps; instead the portrait of Vidkun Quisling appeared in • various commemorative issues (FIG. 3). Let us turn back the wheel of time to ·the Polish campaign of September 1939. Let us step a little ahead of chronological 'On September 8 of that year the German events here and mention an issue brought :Army communique announced: "The Polish out by the Norwegian Emigre Government prrison of the Westerplatte in Danzig has in London. According to one of its decrees, lUfJ'endered." This meant that Danzig was a.ll mail posted on morchant vessels and WIU­ free again. To commemorate the return of ships sailillg under thc flag of the Norwegian the city to Germany, two special stamps exile government had to be franked with Yere immediately issued in Germany showing these new stamps after January I, 1943. the famous Church of St. Mary (FlO. 24) and The designs of these stamps include a rep­ the "Krantor" in Danzig, together with the resentation of the latest Norwegian destroyer inscription "Danzig ist Deutsch." Sleipner, a merchant COll\TOY en route and, on the highest denomination, the portrait A few days later, after a campaign of of King Haakon. eighteen days, Poland was occupied by German troops. The German Governor The Netherlands were ruled since 1890 General took office and the first postage by Queen Wilhelmina, and her portrait is to stamps for the occupied territories were be found on many a Dutch stamp. But the jasued. These were the well-known German German Western campaign, which started .atamps with the head of President Hinden­ on May 10, 1940, created a new situation. burg overprinted with the words "Deutsche A series of stamps which had been issued :P08t Osten" and the values in Polish our­ immediately before the outbreak of hostili­ rency (FIo. 1). However, this issue was ties and which showed a medallion of the 200 THE XXtb CENTURY Queen was confiscated by the German troops the kingdom of Yugoslavia disintegraUd of occupation and replaced by a neutral into its former parts of Croatia, Montenegro, issue whose design simply consisted of large and Serbia as well as the Italian-occupied numerals. Their denominations remained territories of Fiume, Kupa, and Laibach. unchanged in guilders and cents. On April 10, 1941, the independent new state of Croatia wa.s founded which, until it In neighboring Belgium there was no could issue its own stamps, made use of philatelic indication of the occupation of the stocks of former Yugoslavian stampll. In country, the stamps with King Leopold's order, however, to blot out the portrait of portrait remaining in circulation. Only the King Peter II, who had occupied the Yugo­ return of the territories of Eupen and Mal· slavian throne since 1934, the stamps were medy, which had been scyered from the overprinted with a coat-of-arms (FlO. 2) aDd Reich by the Versaille.s Treaty, wa.s com· with the words "Nezavisna Drzava Hrnk memorated in Germany by two stamps ska" (Independent State of Croatia). An showing views of those towns (FIG. 4). issue similar in appearance was brought out In Luxemburg affairs took a different to commemorate the founding of the new turn. After the German troops had oc· Croatian Army. These stamps, which were cupied the Grand Duchy, postal develop. sold at twice their face value, were very ments followed a similar coursc here a.s in limited in number and sold out within a Poland: German stamps with an overprint few days. Several months later, the new were first circulated and soon replaced by state introduced itself with its own stamps the current stamps of Luxemburg over· depicting the romantic nature of this coun· printed in German currency (FlO. 22). As try in attractive views of Zagreb (FlO. 18), from January I, 1942, these latter were also Konjic, the Velebit ma.ssif, etc. withdrawn from circulation, and from that date on only the ordinary German stamps Reborn Serbia, whose past philatelic his· have been in use. So this small European tory is a rich one, also resorted at first to state has also ceased to exist in philately. overprinted stamps, to appear finally with its own issue showing views of SODlC of ita As in Belgium, the current stamps were famous monasteries. Montenegro, which also left in circulation in tIle occupied part also declared itself an independent state, of France, and no German occupation accepted Italian regency. After the country stamps were issued. The return of Alsace was occupied, the current Italian stamps and Lorraine, which Germany had lost with the portrait of King Victor Emmanuel through the Versailles Dictate, wa.s reBected and with the Roman coat-of-arms were by the overprint of "Elsass" on the ordinary overprinted with the name of the country German stamps. After a short period of and remained in circulation until Badoglio'a transition t,he stamps of t,he Reich were the treason. In 1943, Montenegro issued an only ones to be valid here. additional series of its own with scenes from the country's national literature. We might The conclusion of belligerent events in mention here as a philatelic freak that these the West was provided by the occupation of stamps bore on their reverse side quotations the British Channel Islands of Jersey and applying to the scenes shown. Alter Bado· Guernsey on July I, 1940. As it wa.s not glio's treason, German troops undertook the po88i ble to issue new stamps quickly enough, protection of the country, and now we find the English stamps showing King George again the old Yugoslavian stamps with the VI were allowed to continue in circulation. overprint "Deutsche Militar-Verwaltung Since the local stocks of one-penny stamps were very soon exhausted, the German Montenegro." postal administration was forced to resort Finally we must mention the numerous to cutting the twopenny stamps in half. occupation issues brought out by the Italian Not until 1941 did the islands receive their civil authorities in the territories mentioned own stamps in penny denominations with a above as well as on a number of Greek special emblem. islands. An example: in the Italian-Croatian border treaty the basin of Laibach was • ceded to Italy and immediately incorporated A new chapter in the history of the war as an Italian province. AIter a few inter­ was begun wit h the Balkan campaign in 1941. mediary series of stamps with the overprint It was in April of that year that, as a result "Zona Occupata," the ordinary Italian stamps of the victory of German and Italian troops, were the only ones to be valid t,here. HISTORY BY MAIL 201 complete occupation of Greece brought A symbolic representation of the nations: cooclusion of military operations in t,he united as comrades in arms is given in a . Since aU recent issues of Gret:k special issue produced for the exhibit.ion pi were of an entirely neutral character, "Europe's Fateful Struggle in the East" C1II1eDt stamps remained in circulation. which was held at Zagreb in December 1941. latest serics shows views of ancient The stamp shows 4 warriors whose shields '0 significance, for instance, Herakleion display the armorial bearings of Germany, Crete and the monastery of Meteora. Croatia, ltaly, and Rumania (FIG. 8). The 'interest,ing feature of this series is that stamps were sold at a premium, the proceeds face values are considerably higher than of which were intended for the Croatian of former issues. This is the first volunteers fighting on the Eastern Jo~ront. that a stamp of 200 drachmas has made Hungary, whose Honved soldiers are now appearance (FlO.