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30th July 1940 Frontstalag 183-A Cover sent to a captured French officer being held at Frontstalag 183-A in Chateaubriant. Reverse. Cover sent to a captured French officer being held at Frontstalag 183-A in Chateaubriant. Reverse. 1/1 Cover sent to a captured French officer being held at Frontstalag 183-A in Chateaubriant. Note to the reverse the expertisation hand-stamp 'HAMMER'. Ref: 03.07.1940 Front Stalag 183-A Chateaubriant There were four camps located at Châteaubriant designated A, B, C and S. These were built by the French to house a possible 75,000 German prisoners-of-war. However, from May 1940 it was Allied soldiers that were imprisoned there. On 14th January 1941 the POWs were conveyed by train to camps in Germany. The four camps at Châteaubriant were then closed. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Mi.73-74 (25.08.1941) B&M Antonín Dvorák Mi.73-74 (25.08.1941) B&M Antonín Dvorák 02.09.1941 Mi.73-74 Dvorak reverse.jpeg 02.09.1941 Mi.73-74 Dvorak reverse.jpeg 1/1 CTO cover sent from stamp dealer Paul Kuhrt in Prague (featuring one of his 'Viktoria!' cachets). Featuring stamp sequences W Zd 20 (Zf+Mi.73) and W Zd 21 (Mi.74+Zf) from the Bohemia and Moravia Antonín Dvorák issue. Ref: 02.09.1941 - 8/50 Mi.73-74 100th Birthday of Antonín Dvorák W Zd 20 (Zf + Mi.73) Ref: 02.09.1941 - 8/50 W Zd 21 (Mi.74 + Zf) Ref: 02.09.1941 - 08/50 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Stamps of France Stamps of France 12.01.1943 Vichy France reverse.jpeg 12.01.1943 Vichy France reverse.jpeg 1/1 Cover sent from Tilly-sur-Seulles to Mosles, Calvados department, in northern France. Featuring a Vichy France postage stamp depicting the head of Marshal Pétain (Mi.524). With part-inverted date stamp?. Ref: 12.01.1943 Stamps of France Metropolitan France Vichy France - Zone Occupée - Zone Libre - Zone Nord - Zone Sud French Second Republic 2nd December 1852 - 1870 French Third Republic (4th September 1870 - 10th July 1940) Vichy France - The French State (Vichy France - 10th July 1940 - 9th August 1944) Notes: Following the armistice of 22nd June 1940 a demarcation line divided France. To the north and west French land was occupied and largely administered by the German army of occupation. To the south, Zone Libre, the French government had relocated from Paris to Vichy. Case Anton - the occupation of Vichy France (Zone Libre) by German and Italian troops between 10th - 27th November 1942. Following Case Anton, the north and west of France (Zone Occupée) was renamed Zone Nord. The south (Zone Libre) was renamed Zone Sud. The Italian army administered small areas of south-eastern France following the French surrender in 1940. These areas were increased following Case Anton . It is to be noted that the largest town in the initial area of control was Menton. Field post usage from the town during the period of occupation is lesser seen. With the Italian surrender on 8th September 1943 the German army continued in administering these areas. From Wikipedia (2025): The area of south-east France actually occupied by the Italians has been disputed. A study of the postal history of the region has cast new light on the part of France controlled by the Italians and the Germans (Trapnell, 2014). By studying mail that had been censored by the occupying power, this study showed that the Italians occupied the eastern part up to a 'line' joining Toulon - Gap - Grenoble - Chambéry - Annecy - Geneva. Places occupied by the Italians west of this were few or transitory. Mi.524. Ref: 12.01.1943 Mi.528. Ref: Prophila4 See 20.07.1943 (4 Franc Blue) Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

29th November 1937 Heinrich Köhler 29th November 1937 Heinrich Köhler 29.11.1937 Heinrich Kohler reverse.jpeg 29.11.1937 Heinrich Kohler reverse.jpeg 1/1 Return addressed cover sent by a book dealer in Munich to the philatelic auction house of Heinrich Kohler. Postage stamps featured include W123 from MHB 61. Ref: 29.11.1937 Heinrich Köhler Source : heinrich-koehler.de It was Wednesday 23 April 1913, at 2-30 pm: the festive hall of the House of Artists on the Bellevuestrasse in Berlin fills with people. Both the participants and the curious want to see the sensation of the day - the first general stamp auction in Germany. This first auction was an extraordinary success for Heinrich Koehler and the auction house that he founded. An important centre of world philately had come into being - and the company flourished in the years that followed. The most famous collectors of the time, Philippe la Renotière von Ferrary, Baron Rothschild and Fabergé, the celebrated court jeweller of the Russian Tsars, visit the firm in Berlin. Many other important collectors become Koehler's close personal friends: Gaston Nehrlich, Lichtenstein, Weinberger and Oberländer. King George V, and King Carol II of Romania are illustrious guests and customers of the Heinrich Koehler auction house. And not without reason - most of the large collections of the day were auctioned by Heinrich Koehler. Heinrich Koehler achieved worldwide recognition and was a member of important international organisations, also the Expert Committee of the Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL). He was also invited to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in England - being the second German, after Munk, to achieve this honour. The seizure of power by National Socialism meant an enormous drop in the activities of Heinrich Koehler - from now on the international public largely stayed away. Nevertheless, he was able to hold important auctions before the outbreak of war and also in the early years of the world war - but it was no longer his time. His death on 22nd August 1945 was a huge loss for German and international philately. When he died, he and the philatelic world could look back on 116 auctions containing countless superb items. With the death of Heinrich Koehler an era of philately and philatelic auctions came to an end - though one would hardly like to mention this against the background of world events which overshadowed the evening of his life. Heinrich Koehler's widow Anna, supported a little later by her daughter Henriette Grosse-Heinrich Koehler, nevertheless took over the tasks - in some respects difficult tasks - associated with their inheritance and decided to continue the Heinrich Koehler auction house. Berlin was destroyed. In 1948 the principal building at Friedrichstrasse 166 was requisitioned. Anna Koehler moved the company's headquarters to Wiesbaden, where there were family connections. Eventually, on 19th May 1949 they were finally able to hold the 124th Heinrich Koehler auction, the first at the Nassauer Hof in Wiesbaden. In doing so they began a new era for the auction house, continuing of a tradition whereby Germany stood for values very different from those which the country had embodied from 1933 to 1945. Commercial cover sent from Heinrich Köhler. Featuring a block of 5 & 12 Pf stamps (Mi.468 and Mi.487) taken from booklet sheet MHB 30. The booklet sheet was produced for the Hindenburg 1933 booklet and the block shown on cover may well have been part of H-Pane 77. Ref: 23.04.1934 - 15/93 Further reference: As the son of the opera singer Bernhard Köhler and his wife Ida, he grew up first in Darmstadt and later in Leipzig from 1883 to 1892. He attended school in Leipzig and was a member of the Thomanerchor. He later attended a high school in Cologne until around 1896. In 1897 he began an apprenticeship with the Cologne stamp dealer August Wilhelm Drahn. After completing his apprenticeship, Köhler went on a trip to Nicaragua with his cousin Josef Rener. After returning in April 1901, he worked as a stamp dealer in Cologne for three years. With Gérard Gilbert he founded the company Gilbert & Köhler in Paris at the end of 1903. On 7th October 1904, Köhler married Anna Rener. They had two children together: daughter Renée, born on 26th November 1907, and another daughter named Henriette, born on 17th October 1909, both in Paris. In the 1920s, Köhler had a relationship with his secretary Lina Bereiter. This also resulted in a daughter. Gilbert & Köhler began auctions in 1908. They held 40 auctions until the beginning of 1913, then they separated. Heinrich Köhler started anew in Berlin and held his first auction there on 13th April 1913 and founded the Heinrich Köhler stamp auction house. By the end of the Second World War there would be a total of 116. Famous collectors of their time, such as Philipp von Ferrary , Baron Rothschild and House of Fabergé Agathon Fabergé, the court jeweler of the Russian Tsar, visited him in Berlin. Other well-known collectors became his friends, such as Gaston Nehrlich, Alfred Lichtenstein, Consul Weinberger and Oberländer. King George V, Carol II of Romania , and Simon Wiesenthal, were guests and customers of the Heinrich Köhler auction house. Köhler dealt intensively with counterfeits and counterfeiters. In 1925 he opened an official testing center after years of issuing reports on stamps purchased from his company. In 1925/1926 he managed to convict Rudolf Siegel, a well-known Berlin auctioneer, of distributing and producing counterfeits. In 1926 he developed a 'test stamp system'. In the 1930s he was a member of the associations' supervisory board. Köhler's company was the official auctioneer of IPOSTA Berlin in 1930. He had also worked as a sworn expert for the Berlin Courts (Regional Courts I, II and III) and as a publicly appointed expert for the IHK Berlin. Köhler owned a large collection of forgeries, in which the forgeries of Goegg-Mercier, Hirschburger, Fournier's predecessor and successor, and many 'Ferrarities', but also Fouré forgeries, were documented. The well-known inspector Fritz Starauschek, who later became head of the senior inspection office in the GDR, was among his employees. Heinrich Köhler had been a juror since the 1920s, adjudicating in Paris, Monaco 1928, Berlin – IPOSTA 1930, WIPA 1933, OSTROPA 1935). During the Third Reich he tried to stay out of politics. His daughter Renée had married a Jewish-Russian emigrant. The last time he saw her was at PEXIP in Paris. Köhler's business at Friedrichstrasse 166, which was badly damaged before the end of the war, was run by his wife Anna after his death, together with their younger daughter Henriette and their son-in-law Hans Schmidt, from 1948 onwards. Source: Wikipedia Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

German Banks & Financial services German Banks & Financial services Screenshot 2021-11-27 at 09.29.50.png Screenshot 2021-11-27 at 09.29.50.png 1/1 German Banks and Financial services Postal correspondence and stationery Allianz Lebensversicherungs AG. Böhmische Industrial-Bank, Königgrätz (B&M) Deutsche Bank, Mainz Südwestdeutsche Beamtenbank, Frankfurt Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

26th June 1945 26th June 1945 1/1 Cover sent from Bergen a.d.D. (Bergen an der Dumme) to Hannover. Featuring AM Post 12pf - Mi.7 (American printing). Ref: 26.06.1945 Mi.7 - the stamp is from the American printing, available throughout the Bizone from the date of issue until counter sales stopped in mid 1946, and it was valid until 31st October 1946 in the American zone and 7th November 1946 in the British zone (the references in Michel to availability and validity in Berlin are specific to that city). This is a very early date as letter post only resumed in RPD Hannover on 20th June 1945.

RPC depicting the salonschnelldampfer S.S. 'Hertha' (unaddressed). Featuring special on-board cancellation. Note that the image predates the Nazi regime resulting in one the flags being manipulated by the platemaker (whilst the aft flag remains that of Imperial Germany). Ref: 05.08.1934 5th August 1934 S.S. 'Hertha' 05.08.1934 'Hertha' reverse.jpeg 05.08.1934 'Hertha' reverse.jpeg 1/1 RPC depicting the salonschnelldampfer S.S. 'Hertha' (unaddressed). Featuring special on-board cancellation. Note that the image predates the Nazi regime resulting in one the flags being manipulated by the platemaker (whilst the aft flag remains that of Imperial Germany). Ref: 05.08.1934 Salonschnelldampfer S.S. Hertha From Wikipedia.de The Hertha , built on the Stettiner Oderwerke with construction number 547, was put into service on 7th June 1905 by the Stettiner Dampfschiffs-Gesellschaft JF Braeunlich. It was initially used in the postal service on the Sassnitz – Trelleborg line, the forerunner of the so-called Royal Line, then from 1909 in the seaside resort service from Stettin and Świnoujście to the seaside resorts on the east coast of Rügen. The Imperial Navy requisitioned the steamship on 6th August 1914 and initially had it converted into an auxiliary hospital ship E. However, it did not start sailing as such, but, after another renovation, was used as an auxiliary mining ship from September 1914. After the First World War, the shipping company got its ship back and used it in sea service in East Prussia and on occasional trips to Bornholm and Copenhagen. From October 1939, the Hertha was used by the Kriegsmarine as a residential and target ship for the 25th and, from 1943, the 23rd submarine flotilla. After the end of the Second World War she was delivered to Great Britain. As a reparation, she sailed under the Greek flag as Heimara (Χειμάρρα) from 1946 and sank on 19th January 1947 in fog at around 5:40 a.m. about an hour and a half after making contact with the rocky reef Derakotos, northwest of the island of Parthenopi (Parthenopi: main island of the Verdougia Islands) in the south Gulf of Euboea between Aghia Marina on Attica and Styra on Euboea. There was a boiler explosion and power outage. The accident, the largest in Greek shipping, killed more than 380 people out of 544 passengers and 86 crew members. It was only hours later that other ships arrived at the scene of the accident to help. Because of bad weather at Cavo Doro (southern tip of Euboea), the captain chose the route from Salonika to Piraeus through the Gulf of Euboea via the port of Chalkis. The British magazine Parade reported that the Heimara had sunk due to a sea mine, which later turned out to be incorrect. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT 1/1 ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTORY Cabaret, Theatre, Variety, Circus & Fair Liliput Schaefer's Märchenstadt 'Liliput' Berlin (see 26.05.1942) Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Mi.8-19 (28.08.1945-1946) Soviet Zone Definitives Mi.8-19 (28.08.1945-1946) Soviet Zone Definitives 14.01.1946 Mecklenburg Mi.17 reverse.jpeg 14.01.1946 Mecklenburg Mi.17 reverse.jpeg 1/1 Commercial cover sent from 'Otto Rechenberger & Co.' to an address in Schwenningen. Featuring Mi.17 (?) from the Soviet Zone Mecklenburg-Vorpommern definitive issue. Ref: 14.01.1946 - 15/89 Mi.8-19 Soviet Zone - Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Definitives Notes on Mi.16-19 : the 12 Pf definitive stamp was produced over four print runs from 18th August 1945 to 30th January 1946 using a variety of ink shades and paper colours. Further research required. Mi.17 (12 Pf). Ref: 14.01.1946 - 15/89 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

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Cover featuring a Rumburg 'Tag der Befreiung' (Liberation Day) cancel. Featuring a block of four Czechoslovakian stamps (Mi.401). Ref: 22.09.1938 - 4/23 Stamps of Czechoslovakia 22.09.1938 JB_Rumburg reverse.jpeg 22.09.1938 JB_Rumburg reverse.jpeg 1/1 Cover featuring a Rumburg 'Tag der Befreiung' (Liberation Day) cancel. Featuring a block of four Czechoslovakian stamps (Mi.401). Ref: 22.09.1938 - 4/23 Czechoslovakia - stamps within the Brief History collection Notes : On 1st October 1938 the Sudetenland was ceded by Czechoslovakia. At this time Czech postage stamps were still in use (some being overprinted with a surcharge). However, this ended on 20th October 1938 after which only German stamps became valid for postage. Bohemia & Moravia did not issue its own stamps until 15th March 1939, when it overprinted the current definitives (Mi.1-19). Like the overprinted stamps, any remaining stocks were withdrawn from sale on 1st December 1939 and they ceased to be valid after 15th December 1939. Michel list the use of Czechoslovak stamps between 15th March and the 12th April 1939 as 'Vorläufer' (forerunners - after the creation of the Protectorate and before the first issue Mi.A1 - definitive depicting President Masaryk) and 'Mitläufer' (co-runners - used after Mi.A1 and before 15th December 1939). Vorläufer - Czech stamps cancelled between 15.03 - 12.04.1939 Mitläufer - Czech stamps cancelled between 13.04 - 15.12.1939 Mi.34 (first issued 1919). Ref: 13.10.1938 Mi.37 (first issued 1919). Ref: 13.10.1938 Mi.279A (perfed on 4 sides). Ref: 30.11.1938 Mi.279B (perfed vertically). Ref: 13.10.1938 Mi.350. Ref: 06.10.1938 Mi.351. Ref: 28.09.1938 Mi.355. Ref: 19.07.1938 - 4/20 Mi.360. Ref: 19.07.1938 - 4/20 Mi.395 Zf. Ref: 19.07.1938 - 4/20 Mi.396. Ref: 03.10.1938 Mi.396 Zf. Ref: 19.07.1938 - 4/20 Mi.397. Ref: 02.10.1938 - 17/8 Mi.400. Ref: 28.09.1938 Mi.400 ZW. Ref: 19.07.1938 - 4/20 Mi.401. Ref: 28.09.1938 Mi.93 (Bohemia & Moravia) 60 H overprinted '5. V./ Československo/ 1945' in red. UNSURE OF VALIDITY. Ref: Prophila1 Mi.107 (Bohemia & Moravia) 10 K overprinted '5. V./ Československo/ 1945' in black. UNSURE OF VALIDITY. Ref: Prophila1 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

3rd September 1939 British Mobilisation 3rd September 1939 British Mobilisation 03.09.1939 Call Up Page 5.jpeg 03.09.1939 Call Up Page 5.jpeg 1/1 British Mobilisation Call Up document (Army Form D.463) informing Mr. Eastwood of the Army Reserve to join the Royal Artillery at the R.A. Reception Centre in Ascot on the 4th September 1939. Ref: 03.09.1939 It is to be remembered that Germany invaded Poland on the 1st September 1939, instigating the official mobilisation of the British Army, the evacuation of children from London, and Black Out measures to be taken. However, it wasn't until the 3rd September that Britain (and France) declared war on Germany. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page