This stamp is listed by Michel catalogue at the end of the chapter for Bohemia and Moravia. Issued for the delivery of packets to the concentration camp of Theresienstadt (Terezín in Czech). Another example of "Ghetto-Post" were the stamps issued for the ghetto in Litzmannstadt, today Lodz in Poland.
Stefano Adinolfi (02 Jun 00)

In Michel this is listed under Bohemia and Moravia (in the occupied lands section) only one green stamp 1943. The listing type is Zulassungsmarken. Theresienstadt was a show camp, the Red Cross was allowed in for inspection and relief. At a stamp show exhibit I have seen this used on a package wrapper, more than one, so it was used but not much.
See this page on the commemorative stamp for the assassinated Herr Heydrich, in Prague... see how many were sent to Theresienstadt to be executed: http://users.1st.net/dhancock/heydrich.html At: http://www.profinet.at/austrianconsult/germ194.html you can see a card mailed from Theresienstadt, with rubber stamped messages saying that Foodstuffs are not to be sent and that you could only write on the 15th and 30th days of each month... evidently even a show camp had restrictions, two days you could write to a prisoner there. Another pastoral scene can be seen on this card.
Many of the survivors of the Theresienstadt Concentration camp after the war were in the Deggendorf Displaced Persons Camp until June 1949, many had been transferred to Auschwitz. At http://www.jewishsports.net/gymnastics.html you can read of the Flatow cousins who won Gold medals for Germany in the first Olympics, both died at Theresienstadt, Alfred in 1942, Gustav fled at the beginning of the war but was apprehended in Holland and sent to Theresienstadt where he died months before war's end. Germany issued a stamp commemorating them in 1996. Terezín was the "model" camp for the better known of the Jewish population... Theresienstadt was known or became known as the "Waiting Room of Auschwitz".
Paul S. Luchter (02 Jun 00)

The Michel German specialised catalogue mentions this stamp as a 1943 additional stamp for packets to the concentration camp. The colour should be dark green (cat. DM 850,-). It also mentions specimen printings in black (cat. DM 900,-).
Leo Bakx (03 Jun 00)

# 431 Theresienstadt (in Czech = Terezin) is a small town about 55 km north of Prague. It was a garrison town built by Emperess Maria Theresa in the 18th century. It was/is a good-sized town. During WWII, the Nazis kicked out the inhabitants of the city and turned it into the famous show-case Jewish ghetto. They used it for showing to members of the International Red Cross etc. This was of course the height of cynicism, as Theresienstadt was mostly just a miserable holding pen where people were hungry and abused, it was a transit camp, for many the last stop before Auschwitz. The ghetto being large enough, it made sense to have an internal postal system. There was also money printed up for use in the ghetto.
Rick Pinard (06 Jun 00)

I just would like say that there exist forgeries on this rare stamp.
Kjell Crone (08 Jun 00)

#432 Waehlt die Parteien der Republik! means "Vote for the parties of the republic!" I would guess an appeal of the German democrats before an election in the turbulent 20's/early 30's. The parties of the republic would have been the democratic parties, as opposed to the Nazis and the Communists.
Rick Pinard (06 Jun 00)

Your stamp is one of Nick Bantock's fantasies as seen in the pretty books he wrote on the courtship of Griffin & Sabine. They were printed, I believe, by Anna Banana at Banana Productions in the suburbs of Vancouver.
Ken Bryson (18 Jul 00)

I suspect this stamp is a Czarist Russia postal stationery, possibly a cut out from a wrapper, as I think the Cyrillic says "ten kopeks per half ounce".
David Heppell (04 Jun 00)

#435. The double headed eagle is (was) the symbol of the Romanov Russian Royal Family. The stamp is Russian, as is implied by the double headed eagle and the Cyrillic writing (no Czarist era stamps identified the country). Note that the Cyrillic is in "old Russian" Cyrillic rather than in modernised Cyrillic, and includes a letter no longer used (after the "P" in kopeek. The Cyrillic says "ten kopeek per lot" - a lot was a measure of weight and is about half an ounce. This rate is the same rate as was applicable when Russia introduced its first adhesive stamps, so I'm guessing that whatever this stamp is, it dates back to the 1840s-80s. It is not, however, a regular adhesive issue as we know it. My guess would be that it might be a zemstvo - a local issue stamp rather than a national issue stamp such as are recognised by the major catalogs, however the lack of any name of a district or the word zemstvo in some variant has me a bit confused. I don't think it is some form of revenue issue because of its reference to "10k per lot" which implies some sort of postal application.
David M Rowell (06 Jun 00)

Looks like a label for a shipping company that ran daily between London and Ostend[e] (Belgium). "Societe Anonyme" is like "Incorporated" in the US. "Rubis Topaze Saphir" I guess these are the company's three vessels. "Service Journalier de Grande Vitesse pour Marchandises entre le Continent et l'Angleterre" = Very fast daily service for merchandise (goods) between the Continent and England. This shipping operation was probably part of John Cockerill S.A., a steel manufacturer founded in Belgium in 1817 - but could not find confirmation on the WWW.... Lots of history on a tiny piece of paper!
Laurence of Suburbia (14 Jul 00)

See #C76 in Cinderella Galleries for all the info on this item, as C76 is a blue version/20h version of this stamp, obviously a set of some amount...
Paul Luchter (10 Jun 00)

[Oops, either I am getting old or this site is becoming too big... I can't even remember what I posted last month!!!! ]
[Stefano (12 Jun 00)]

I found a footnote in my Michel Germany catalogue mentioning this stamp. Unfortunately my understanding of German is not what I wish it should be... however, what I could make out was that it was indeed issued by the Allies but it was never used to carry mail (while other forgeries of Hitler stamps made by the Allies are known postally used). I think it is collectible.
Stefano Adinolfi (09 Jun 00)

Your stamp appears to be the 12pf "Futsches Reich" ("Ruined Empire") propaganda stamp forgery printed by the United States' Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. The OSS, which would later become the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), ordered the stamp forgeries created by OSS operatives in Switerland as part of Operation Corn Flake. The objective of this operation was to undermine German morale by sending anti-Nazi propaganda to average German families.
Mark Eiler (11 Jun 00)

In addition to the various wartime forgeries made by British and American Intelligence there were several "propaganda labels" or caricatures not designed for postal use. The "Hitler skull" sheets of the 12 pfg, which you illustrate, were made in Switzerland by order of the U.S.A. and are probably the best known. I would say they were highly collectible. British Intelligence made a similar issue of the 6 pfg violet depicting Himmler instead of Hitler. "Futsches Reich" means, as the Americans would put it, "Busted state".
David Heppell (12 Jun 00)