Stamps of Poland Stamps of Poland 1/1 Poland - stamps within the Brief History collection (including the stamps issued by the Polish Government in Exile) 1941 Polish Government in Exile Mi.360 (Gr 5) - United States Embassy ruins, Warsaw. Ref: Prophila7 Mi.362 (Gr 25) - Destruction of Mickiewicz monument, Krakow. Ref: Prophila7 Mi.363 (Gr 55) - Ruins of the Castle Square, Warsaw. Ref: Prophila7 Mi.365 (Gr 80) - Armoured tank. Ref: Prophila7 1943 Polish Government in Exile Mi.368 (Gr 5) - Polish aircraft in the battle of the Atlantic. Ref: Prophila7 Mi.369 (Gr 10) - Polish Merchant navy. Ref: Prophila7 Mi.370 (Gr 25) - Polish army in France. Ref: Prophila7 Mi.371 (Gr 55) - Polish soldiers in Narvik. Ref: Prophila7 Mi.373 (Gr 75) - Polish army in Libya. Ref: Prophila7 Mi.373 (Gr 80) - Polish army in Middle-East with General Sikorski. Ref: Prophila7 Mi.375 (Zł 1 Gr 50) - Underground printing press in Poland. Ref: Prophila7 1944 Polish Government in Exile Mi.376 (Gr 45) - Capture of Monte Cassino by the Poles. Ref: Prophila7 Mi.377 (Gr 55) - Capture of Monte Cassino by the Poles. Ref: Prophila7 Mi.378 (Gr 80) - Capture of Monte Cassino by the Poles. Ref: Prophila7 Mi.379 (Zł 1 Gr 20) - Capture of Monte Cassino by the Poles. Ref: Prophila7 On 17th May, General Anders led the Polish II Corps in launching their second attack on Monte Cassino. Under constant artillery and mortar fire from the strongly fortified German positions and with little natural cover for protection, the fighting was fierce and at times hand-to-hand. With their line of supply threatened by the Allied advance in the Liri valley, the Germans decided to withdraw from the Cassino Heights to the new defensive positions on the Hitler Line. In the early hours of 18th May , the British 78th Division and Polish II Corps linked up in the Liri valley, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Cassino town. On the Cassino high ground, the survivors of the second Polish offensive were so battered that 'it took some time to find men with enough strength to climb the few hundred yards to the summit.' A patrol of the Polish 12th Podolian Cavalry Regiment finally made it to the heights and raised a Polish flag over the ruins. The only remnants of the defenders were a group of thirty German wounded who had been unable to move. Source: Wikipedia Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

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16th April 1934 1/1 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

22nd October 1942 Herbert Schramm 1/0 Typewritten letter 22.10.1942 - 21/23 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

18th August 1934 1/1 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

24th March 1940 Rudolf A. Wendl 1/1 Portrait photograph of film actor Rudolf A. Wendl. Ref: 24.03.1940 Little is known about Wendl. More research required. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

19th March 1935 Karl Hennig 1/0 Karl Hennig - See 19.03.1935 - 24/63 See 27/99 See 29/50 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

12th April 1935 Zeitschriftenvertrieb - Ernst Gilowy 1/0 See 28/65

11th February 1942 Stalag VII-A Screenshot 2021-11-27 at 09.29.50.png Screenshot 2021-11-27 at 09.29.50.png 1/1 Stalag VII-A Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

21st October 1945 Saxonia Collectors Association 21st October 1945 Saxonia Collectors Association 21.10.1945 Briefnarken Saxonia reverse.jpeg 21.10.1945 Briefnarken Saxonia reverse.jpeg 1/1 Collectors card featuring postage stamps Mi.124 and Mi.125 (Soviet Zone - West Saxony) issued on October 18th for the Sample Show of Leipzig Products. The card has been produced by the 'Briefmarkensammler Verein - Saxonia Leipzig' (Saxonia Stamp Collectors' Association). Ref: 21.10.1945 Briefmarkensammler Verein - Saxonia Leipzig Further information on the Leipzig philatelic associations can be found here Contact Brief History to inform us of additonal information regarding this page

Postcard issued by the Nazi Party together with propaganda labels for the Presidential elections of 13th March 1932. The message printed on pink paper reads, 'Thälmann doesn't say a word about the Jews having caused inflation, that's why we elect Hitler'. The message printed on cream paper reads, 'Under the S.P.D. we became breadless, now we vote for Hitler'. Ref: 11.03.1932 - Fleurs & Papillons 11th March 1932 Presidential Election, March 1932 11.03.1932 Presidential Election reverse.jpeg 11.03.1932 Presidential Election reverse.jpeg 1/1 Postcard issued by the Nazi Party together with propaganda labels for the Presidential elections of 13th March 1932. The message printed on pink paper reads, 'Thälmann doesn't say a word about the Jews having caused inflation, that's why we elect Hitler'. The message printed on cream paper reads, 'Under the S.P.D. we became breadless, now we vote for Hitler'. Ref: 11.03.1932 - Fleurs & Papillons Ernst Thälmann and the Presidential Election, 13th March 1932 From Wikipedia (2024): Ernst Thälmann (1886-1944), German communist politician, and leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) from 1925 to 1933. A committed communist, Thälmann played a major role during the political instability of the Weimar Republic, especially in its final years, when the KPD explicitly sought to overthrow the liberal democracy of the republic. Under his leadership the KPD became intimately associated with the government of the Soviet Union and the policies of Joseph Stalin. The KPD under Thälmann's leadership regarded the Social Democratic Party (SPD) as its main adversary and the party adopted the position that the social democrats were 'social fascists'. (Also see: https://www.briefhistory.co.uk/1946/karl-liebknecht ) Thälmann was also leader of the paramilitary Roter Frontkämpferbund . He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1933 and held in solitary confinement for eleven years; for political reasons, Stalin did not seek his release after the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Germany, and Thälmann's party rival Walter Ulbricht ignored requests to plead on his behalf. Thälmann was shot on Adolf Hitler's personal orders in Buchenwald in 1944. Unused fund-raising postcard (from 1929) for National Socialist prisoners and wounded. Painting by Felix Albrecht. Below the image the statement from Ernst Röhm reads, 'Your will is demanding victory'. Together with a 50 Pf donation label for the Reichspräsidenten-Wahlkampf of March 1932. Ref: Fleurs & Papillons Biography of Felix Albrecht Presidential Election, 1932 Presidential elections were held in Germany on 13th March, with a runoff on 10th April. Independent incumbent Paul von Hindenburg won a second seven-year term against Adolf Hitler of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). Communist Party (KPD) leader Ernst Thälmann also ran and received more than ten percent of the vote in the runoff. Theodor Duesterberg , the deputy leader of the World War I veterans' organization Der Stahlhelm , ran in the first round but dropped out of the runoff. This was the second and final direct election to the office of President of the Reich ( Reichspräsident ), Germany's head of state under the Weimar Republic . (The KPD's slogan was 'A vote for Hindenburg is a vote for Hitler; a vote for Hitler is a vote for war.' Thälmann returned as a candidate in the second round of the election, as it was permitted by the German electoral law, but his vote count lessened from 4,983,000, in the first round, to 3,707,000.) Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Membership card with fee pages for the 'N.S. Deutscher Frontkämpfer-Bund (Stahlhelm)'. This being a transitional membership from the former 'Der Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten' (The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers) that existed from 1918-1935 until it's subordination to the National Social system when it became the Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher frontkämpfer-Bund (Stahlhelm), (National Socialist German Combatants' Federation (Stahlhelm)) (NSDFBSt). Ref: Fleurs & Papillons 2nd April 1933 Der Stahlhelm 02_04_1933-steel-helmet-cover.webp 02_04_1933-steel-helmet-cover.webp 1/1 Membership card with fee pages for the 'N.S. Deutscher Frontkämpfer-Bund (Stahlhelm)'. This being a transitional membership from the former 'Der Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten' (The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers) that existed from 1918-1935 until it's subordination to the National Social system when it became the Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher frontkämpfer-Bund (Stahlhelm), (National Socialist German Combatants' Federation (Stahlhelm)) (NSDFBSt). Ref: Fleurs & Papillons Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Frontkämpfer-Bund (Stahlhelm) Opening pages of the membership card featuring photographic identification of the former soldier during World war One. Ref: 02.04.1933 - Fleurs & Papillons Der Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten (German: 'The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers'), commonly known as Der Stahlhelm ('The Steel Helmet'), was a German First World War veteran's organisation existing from 1918 to 1935. In the late days of the Weimar Republic, it was closely affiliated to the monarchist German National People's Party (DNVP), placed at party gatherings in the position of armed security guards ( Saalschutz ). Violet hand-stamp validating Stahlhelm membership for January 1933. Ref: 02.04.1933 - Fleurs & Papillons Der Stahlhelm was formed on 25th December 1918 in Magdeburg, Germany, by the factory owner and First World War–disabled reserve officer Franz Seldte. After the 11th November armistice, the Army had been split up and the newly established German Reichswehr , according to the Treaty of Versailles, was to be restricted to no more than 100,000 men. Similar to the numerous Freikorps , which upon the Revolution of 1918–1919 were temporarily backed by the Council of the People's Deputies under Chancellor Friedrich Ebert, Der Stahlhelm ex-servicemen's organisation was meant to form a paramilitary organisation. The league was a rallying point for revanchist and nationalistic forces from the beginning. Within the organisation a worldview oriented toward the prior imperial regime and the Hohenzollern monarchy predominated, many of its members promoting the Dolchstosslegende ('stab-in-the-back legend') and the 'November Criminals' bias against the Weimar Coalition government. Its journal, Der Stahlhelm , was edited by Count Hans-Jürgen von Blumenthal, later hanged for his part in the 20th July plot of 1944. Financing was provided by the Deutscher Herrenklub , an association of German industrialists and business magnates with elements of the East Elbian landed gentry ( Junker ). Jewish veterans were denied admission and formed a separate Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten . Adhesive stamp validating Stahlhelm membership for January 1934. Note: Erler (1995) records this stamp being overprinted '1933' in red, and '1935' in black.Ref: 02.04.1933 - Fleurs & Papillons After the failed Kapp Putsch of 1920, the organization gained further support from dissolved Freikorps units. In 1923 the former DNVP politician Theodor Duesterberg joined Der Stahlhelm and quickly rose to Seldte's deputy and long–time rival. In 1923, Stahlhelm units were actively involved in the formally passive resistance struggle of paramilitary formations against the French occupation of the Ruhr area. These units were responsible for numerous acts of sabotage on French trains and military posts. One of the volunteers operating in the Ruhr area was Paul Osthold, who headed the German Institute for Technical Work Training (DINTA) in the 1930s and became one of the leading representatives of German employers' associations in the Federal Republic of Germany. From 1924 on, in several subsidiary organisations, veterans with front line experience as well as new recruits would provide a standing armed force in support of the Reichswehr beyond the 100,000 men allowed. With 500,000 members in 1930, the league was the largest paramilitary organisation of Weimar Republic. In the 1920s Der Stahlhelm received political support from Fascist Italy's Duce Benito Mussolini. Adhesive stamp validating Stahlhelm membership for one month in 1934. Ref: 02.04.1933 - Fleurs & Papillons Although Der Stahlhelm was officially a non-party entity and above party politics, after 1929 it took on an anti-republican and anti-democratic character. Its goals were a German dictatorship, the preparation of a revanchist program, and the direction of local anti-parliamentarian action. For political reasons its members distinguished themselves from the Nazi Party (NSDAP) as 'German Fascists'. Among their further demands were the establishment of a Greater Germanic People's Reich, struggle against Social Democracy, the 'mercantilism of the Jews' and the general liberal democratic worldview, and attempted without success to place candidates favourable to the politics of a renewed expansion to the East. Adhesive stamp validating Stahlhelm membership for one month in 1935. Note: Erler (1995) records this stamp being overprinted '1-35' in red. Ref: 02.04.1933 - Fleurs & Papillons In 1929 Der Stahlhelm supported the 'Peoples' Initiative' of DNVP leader Alfred Hugenberg and the Nazis to initiate a German referendum against the Young Plan on World War I reparations. In 1931 they proposed another referendum for the dissolution of the Prussian Landtag. After both these referendums failed to reach the 50% necessary to be declared valid, the organization in October 1931 joined another attempt of DNVP, NSDAP and Pan-German League to form the Harzburg Front, a united right-wing campaign against the Weimar Republic and Chancellor Heinrich Brüning. However, the front soon broke up and in the first round of the 1932 German presidential election, Theodor Duesterberg ran as Der Stahlhelm candidate against incumbent Paul von Hindenburg and Adolf Hitler. Facing a massive Nazi campaign reproaching him with a non-pure 'Aryan' ancestry he only gained 6.8% of the votes cast. Pages 14 -15 of the membership book complete with Stahlhelm fee stamps. At the head of page 15 the hand-stamp reads, 'Submitted for inspection on 7th Nov. 1935 and in order up to and including September 1935' (this being the day of dissolution). Ref: 02.04.1933 - Fleurs & Papillons After the Nazi seizure of power on 30th January 1933, the new authorities urged for a merger into the party's Sturmabteilung (SA) paramilitary organisation. Seldte joined the Hitler Cabinet as Reich Minister for Labour, prevailing against Duesterberg. Der Stahlhelm still tried to keep its distance from the Nazis, and in the run-up to the German federal election of 5th March 1933 formed the united conservative 'Black-White-Red Struggle Front' ( Kampffront Schwarz-Weiß-Rot ) with the DNVP and the Agricultural League, reaching 8% of the votes. On 27th March 1933, the SA attempted to disarm Stahlhelm members in Braunschweig, who under the command of Werner Schrader had forged an alliance with scattered republican Reichsbanner forces. The violent incident initiated by Nazi Minister Dietrich Klagges and later called Der Stahlhelm Putsch was characteristic of the pressure applied by the Nazis on Der Stahlhelm in this period, mistrusting the organisation due to its fundamentally monarchist character. In April Seldte applied for membership in the NSDAP and also joined the SA, from August 1933 in the rank of an Obergruppenführer . On 27th April 1933, Seldte had officially declared Der Stahlhelm subordinate to Hitler's command. The attempts by the Nazis to integrate Der Stahlhelm succeeded in 1934 in the course of the 'voluntary' Gleichschaltung (English: Synchronization) process: the organisation was renamed Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher frontkämpfer-Bund (Stahlhelm) (English: National Socialist German Combatants' Federation (Stahlhelm)) (NSDFBSt) while large parts were merged into the SA as Wehrstahlhelm , Reserve I and Reserve II contingents. The remaining NSDFBSt local groups were finally dissolved by decree of Adolf Hitler on 7th November 1935. Seldte's rival Duesterberg was interned at Dachau concentration camp upon the Night of the Long Knives at the beginning of July 1934, but released soon after. Source: Wikipedia (2024) Advertising feature within the membership card. Ref: 02.04.1933 - Fleurs & Papillons Link to a web-page regarding the Stahlhelm in the region of Thuringa where the present membership card is from. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page