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19th October 1941 Kolmar 19.10.1941 Kolmar reverse.jpeg 19.10.1941 Kolmar reverse.jpeg 1/1 Postcard sent from Kolmar depicting 'Adolf Hitlerstrasse' (now Avenue de la République, Colmar). Ref: 19.10.1941 Link to the same view today Kolmar Colmar (German: Kolmar ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department and of the subprefecture of the Colmar-Ribeauvillé arrondissement. With the rest of Alsace, Colmar was annexed by the newly formed German Empire in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War and incorporated into the Alsace-Lorraine province. It returned to France after World War I according to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles , was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1940, and then reverted to French control after the battle of the ' Colmar Pocket ' in 1945. Source: Wikipedia Postcard depicting a view of Colmar. Posted whilst under German Occupation and featuring a 6 Pf Hindenburg Medallion definitive overprinted with 'Elsaß' (Mi.4). Ref: 17.05.1941 The 2nd February 1945 is a key date in the city´s history. For the citizens of Colmar, it marked the end of the war, even if fighting continued for a time elsewhere in Europe. The battle of the Colmar pocket was the last to be fought on French soil. Three whole months would pass between the liberation of Strasburg and the one of Colmar, with desperate German resistance holding up the Allied advance before finally collapsing. The operation was supposed to be done in a short period of time. In November 1944, General De Lattre de Tassigny´s 1st Army launched a crushing offensive in the south of Alsace that broke through the German front line to take Belfort and then pushed on to the Rhine, liberating Mulhouse on 21st November. Two days later, General Leclerc´s 2nd armoured division entered Strasburg, after a campaign that had started in Koufra in Chad. The liberation of Alsace then seemed to be a question of days or even hours. The panic-stricken Nazi authorities in Colmar had already fled the city and the Colmarians were getting ready to celebrate their liberation. But then the Americans wavered and De Lattre decided to call a halt to his offensive in the plain of Alsace and to withdraw the 5th armoured division to the rear of the French lines. The German reaction was swift. Operation Nordwind was launched on 1st January 1945 in the north of Alsace, as part of the German counter-attack that had already successfully regained the initiative in the Ardennes since 16th December 1944. In Upper Alsace, since December, the French troops had been halted to the north of Mulhouse and to the south of Ribeauvillé and Riquewihr. On 22nd January 1945, despite the freezing cold and the snow, General de Lattre launched a pincer movement to liberate Colmar and reach the Rhine at Brisach. Colmar was skirted from the north and the west. General Schlesser´s daring night attack on 1st and 2nd February brought the French army into Colmar and the city was at long last liberated. Fighting in the Colmar pocket would continue until 9th February. The battle itself had lasted twenty one days in freezing conditions and resulted in heavy Allied losses, with 8,000 American dead and 16,000 French. The 19th German Army, under General Raspe, lost over 20,000 men, with a further 16,000 been taken prisoners. Source: tourisme-colmar.com Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page
27th July 1941 FPN 24401 D 27.07.1941 26_58 Feldpost on Russian card reverse.jpeg 27.07.1941 26_58 Feldpost on Russian card reverse.jpeg 1/1 Feldpost mail sent from FPN 24401 D (part of Infantry Regiment 331... possibly 167th Volksgrenadier Division?). Message written on a Russian language postcard. Ref: 27.07.1941 - 26/58 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page
Mi.779 (20.06.1941) German Derby 1/0 'Doppelbrief' cover featuring Mi.779. Ref: 29.06.1941 SEE SOUVENIR SHEET AT 17/84 (SSA53/B) Mi.779 Grand German prize for three year olds (German Derby) for the blue ribbon Mi.779. Ref: 22.06.1941 Special cancellation for the event (JB:Hamburg114/358). Ref: 22.06.1941 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page
9th June 1941 Kampf un Wien 1/1 Exhibition postcard for 'Kampf um Wien' (Battle for Vienna) depicting the honour memorial for the martyrs of the 1934 Putsch. Featuring a special cancellation for the occasion (JB:Wien84/767). Ref: 09.06.1941 Ausstellung 'Kampf um Wien' Further research required Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page
18th September 1941 JB: Imst 18.09.1941 Bochmann Imst reverse.jpeg 18.09.1941 Bochmann Imst reverse.jpeg 1/1 Feldpost letter-sheet (unknown FPN) sent from Imst to Vienna. Featuring JB:Imst1/399. Ref: 18.09.1941 IMST cancellation as featured in the Bochmann catalogues (1952) JB:Imst1/399 - 'Luftkurort in Tirol/ Höhe 830m/ Schemenlaufen'. Ref: 18.09.1941 This cancellation was used from 1939 to 1944 It was the only special cancellation for Imst up to that period. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page
14th August 1941 1/1 Quotation feldpost card ref: 6.41. FPN 10521E to Friedersbach. Ref: 14.08.1941 Quotation 6.41 - 'Der führer am 16. März 1941' 'Keine Macht und keine Unterstützung der Welt werden am Ausgang dieses Kampfes etwas ändern. England wird fallen!' No power and no support in the world will change the outcome of this struggle. England will fall!
Mi.803 (09.09.1941) Berlin Grand Prix Race 1/1 Collectors cover featuring Mi.803 (depicting the Brandenburg Gate) issued to commemorate the horse race, 'Grand Prix of the German Capital'. Tied by special postmark JB:Hoppegarten3/395. Note: this cancel was only used on 14th September 1941. Ref: 14.09.1941 Mi.803 Gallop Race 'The Grand Prix of the Reich Capital' Notes: Design: Erich Meerwald . Recess printing. Sheets 5 x 10. Without watermark. Perf. 14. Quantity issued: unknown. Valid until 31.12.1942. Mi.803 (25+50 Pf - Brandenburg Gate). Ref: 14.09.1941 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page
20th October 1941 Böhmische Industrial Bank 20.10.1941 Bohmische Industrial Bank reverse.jpeg 20.10.1941 Bohmische Industrial Bank reverse.jpeg 1/1 Official postcard sent from the 'BÖHMISCHE INDUSTRIAL-BANK' branch in Königgrätz (the city of Hradec Králové) to a firm in Niebüll. The correspondence informs Johannes Klink that the banks head office in Prague will transfer 122.54 RM into their account from 'Rudolf Novak, Papier-Philatelie'. Featuring Bohemia & Moravia postage Mi.65 tied by a 'Viktoria' laurel leaf cancellation (difficult to read but no doubt it being a 'Königgrätz' cancel). Ref: 20.10.1941 BÖHMISCHE INDUSTRIAL-BANK Further research required Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page
10th November 1941 Camp 310, Suez/ Geneifa Italian POW postcard sent from Camp 310 located in Suez, Egypt. Featuring various censor marks from both Britain, Italy and Germany. Reverse Italian POW postcard sent from Camp 310 located in Suez, Egypt. Featuring various censor marks from both Britain, Italy and Germany. Reverse 1/1 Italian POW postcard sent from Camp 310 located in Suez, Egypt. Featuring various censor marks from both Britain, Italy and Germany (Munich or Vienna censor office?). Ref: 10.11.1941 - 22/66 Camp 310, Suez/ Geneifa, Egypt Add 21.01.1941 General Headquarters Middle East issued the following on 7th June 1941: All prisoners of war who are to be evacuated from Egypt will be taken from No. 310 Prisoner of War Camp Suez (exception Officers). Officers will be taken from Geneifa Prisoner of War Camps but if there is a delay in embarkation, they will remain in Camp 310 Suez until called forward. Commandant, No. 310 Prisoner of War Camp will be responsible for carrying out instructions… The right type of Prisoners of War are sent to the respective destinations The correct proportion of Chaplains and Medical Personnel accompany each party. Prisoners of War have been properly searched and disinfected before embarkation. Army W. 3000 has been completed and Part 1 accompany the Prisoners of War. Nominal rolls have been compiled and that they accompany Prisoners of War, copies being forwarded immediately after embarkation to all concerned. That a numerical state showing numbers embarked is immediately forwarded to all concerned, including A.G.S., General Headquarters. Source: italianprisonersofwar.com The archive of former POW at Camp 310, Albert Marrullier. The Brief History project is grateful to the family of Albert Marrullier for allowing these to be shown. A wooden box with POW and camp design. Inscribed 'Berto F4816 Fayed 10.6.1941' . Decorative horn knives and antelope figures. Marrullier spoke fluent Arabic and was given permission to trade Red Cross rations with the Bedouin for horn and other items. Postcards from the Albert Marrullier archive. Unknown artist. The caption on the first postcard (1a Serie - No.1) has the word 'internati' (internees) rather than 'prisoners'. This may suggest that the postcards were produced post September 1943 following the Italian-Allied armistice. 1a Serie - No.1 'Campionario d'internati a Geneifa' 1a Serie - No.2 'Occupazioni diverse al campo' 1a Serie - No.3 'Vita intima in una tenda' 1a Serie - No.4 'Passa la "Corvée"'. Corvée - a savoury, yeasted bread. 1a Serie - No.5 'Galateo geneiffino' 1a Serie - No.6 'Diversi aspetti dei luoghi... comodi di Geneifa' 2a Serie - No.1 'La Culinaria al campo' 2a Serie - No.2 'Distribuzione del rancio ad un gruppo' 2a Serie - No.3 'Giorno de gran bucato a Geneifa' 2a Serie - No.4 'Pulizia corporale al campo' 2a Serie - No.5 'Artigianato e mestieri d'internati' 2a Serie - No.6 'Adunata!..' Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page
24th November 1941 Mautern, Stein, Krems a.D. 24.11.1941 Mautern, Stein, Krems a.D. reverse.jpeg 24.11.1941 Mautern, Stein, Krems a.D. reverse.jpeg 1/1 Postcard depicting aerial views of Mautern (in the foreground), Stein (across the bridge), and Krems in the distance. All situated along the Danube (Donau) river in the Wachau valley. Ref: 24.11.1941 Mautern, Stein, and Krems a.D. Mautern a.D. In former times ships cruising the Danube had to pay a toll when they passed Mautern. The town got its name from there because toll translates as "Maut" in German. Before it got this name it was called Favianae by the Romans because it was a very important fort. Being an important merchant point in the Middle Ages, it gained additional importance as the bridge over the Danube River was built (a steelwork as of 1895). Source: Wikipedia Stein a.D. (Usually described as a suburb in the city of Krems) Krems a.D. Krems an der Donau is a town with 25,271 inhabitants (2022) in Austria, in the federal state of Lower Austria. It is the fifth-largest city of Lower Austria and is approximately 70 kilometres (43 miles) west of Vienna. Krems is a city with its own statute (or Statutarstadt ), and therefore it is both a municipality and a district. Source: Wikipedia Article on Stalag XVII-B, Krems-Gneixendorf The largest labor camp of the Ostmark, STALAG XVII B Krems-Gneixendorf, detained prisoners of war and was located here. Up to 66,000 soldiers from France, Belgium, Poland, Italy, the Soviet Union, the USA and other countries were held nearby the village of Gneixendorf. The areas in which the prisoners of war came into contact with the local population are of particular interest in the research project, especially with regards to the forced labor deployed. It were the so-called "Außenkommandos" who were assigned to agricultural and forestry enterprises as well as factories and industrial and handicraft enterprises. Forced labor also benefited the city's large-scale construction activities during the Nazi era: Among other things, forced laborers were utilized for work on expanding the harbor, building the "Schmidhütte" steel and sheet metal rolling mill and its factory housing estate in what is now the Lerchenfeld district of Krems. To accommodate them, the prisoners of war were housed in barracks or vacant premises in the immediate vicinity of their workplaces. A topic that has remained completely unexplored to this day is the conditions of life and camps of civilian forced laborers in the district, many of them from Poland and Ukraine, who had to perform forced labor in the Krems area. After 1944, Hungarian-Jewish forced laborers in particular were housed in other Nazi labor camps, including those in Langenlois, Dross, Furth, Mautern, Rossatz and Spitz an der Donau. The research project explores the traces these different Nazi forced labor camps have left behind, some of which are barely visible today, others which are visible but have not been identified in their historical dimension. Source: Dr. Edith Blaschitz, Donau University, Krems Link to page within Brief History containing postal history from Stalag XVII-B Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page
23rd July 1941 Panzertruppenschule I 23.07.1941 Panzertruppenschule reverse.jpeg 23.07.1941 Panzertruppenschule reverse.jpeg 1/1 Feldpost cover sent from Panzertruppenschule I at Wünsdorf. Ref: 23.07.1941 Panzertruppenschule I From Wikipedia: Panzertruppenschule I (Armoured Troops School No.1) was originally formed as the Kraftfahrkampftruppenschule on 1st October 1937 at Wünsdorf. A year later it was renamed Panzertruppenschule . It was the first of two major schools set up by the German Panzerwaffe before World War II to train German armour officers to operate Panzers. The Panzertruppenschule was a 'branch school', where officer candidates were sent after 12–16 weeks spent in basic training, and having successfully undertaken an 8-week course at a Kriegsschule . Prospective panzer troops in the rank of Fähnrich undertook a 16-week training course which aimed to familiarise the officer candidates with the nuances and workings of a Panzer, and also with the tactics to be used when commanding panzers in the field. Upon graduation, the recruit was promoted to Oberfähnrich and sent on field probation. In June 1943, the only known flame-throwing versions of the StuG III, designated StuG III (Flamm) were delivered to the school, but were shortly thereafter destroyed by a fire started by a faulty flamethrower. In late 1943, the school was stripped of its experienced instructors, who were used to form the élite Panzer-Lehr-Division. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page