23rd February 1944 Typewritten Feldpost 23rd February 1944 Typewritten feldpost Otto Fuss See 23.02.944 - 26/12 We have received your kind letter with thanks. I was very pleased about the stamps, dear Rudi. If you would send me some more new stamps, complete sets if possible, I will be happy to reimburse you for the costs, that is, if you have any money to spare. I don't want you to use your money, which you need for yourself, for the stamps. On February 18, 1944, I sent you another package that I just had on hand and that you don't need, you can perhaps swap or sell somewhere else. The package contains 3 shaving mirrors, 1 tobacco pipe, 1 cigarette butt, 1 tube of toothpaste, 1 pack of razor blades, 1 pack of cigarette paper, some candies, and some gingerbread. We hope this package will be well received, too. We are also pleased that you received the Christmas package. We're still doing very well, as are your parents and little sister. We only got hit by a few incendiary bombs (sticks) from the last attack, but they were quickly extinguished. I hope all this war will finally be over soon. Until then, best wishes from your Uncle. Otto. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Mi.900 - 901 (August 1944) Mi.900 - 901 (August 1944) Mi.900-901 Mi.901 - see 34/4 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

10th January 1944 10th January 1944 Berlin Bombed 29 Feldpost-Kartenbrief sent from Berlin to FPN 59732A (Stab u. Einheit Sturmgeschutz-Abteilung 301). With type written correspondence. Ref: 10.01.1944 Loose translation using DeepL I have just found your letter of 18.12.1943 among my correspondence - I do not know whether I have already answered it and sent you a Merry Christmas and best wishes for the new year, but if not, I return your greetings and wishes most sincerely, and if so, let us say that twice is better. Hopefully our mutual wishes will come true. -- Here in Berlin it looks terrible, I estimate that 60% of Berlin and the surrounding area is in ruins. On 29.12. * in the evening at about 19:30 I visited Curt, as I was on my way the sirens were wailing, I went to Curt at a gallop; there I had to go into the air-raid shelter. Soon the humming and bumming started and the bombs crashed down in front of and behind us to the left and right and when the flak guns fired, the whole building shook. I was worried about my home and when I stuck my nose out, the city and its surroundings were in a blaze of light. Now I hurried to my flat. The journey was not so easy, I had to walk over bricks that had fallen down, over partly... I had to climb over fallen bricks, over partly burning trees, branches and fences and... when I got to the street and saw that my home had been spared, I was happy and thanked God. -Since then we have had several large fires. Thank God I have still been spared. Hopefully... things will continue to go well. Curt is still here at the O.K.W. A fortnight ago he went on another tour to Italy, but I don't know where he is now - I haven't heard from him in about eight days. - Smoking material has not yet arrived. I am doing well according to today's conditions and am satisfied with my health, and I hope and wish the same for you, your uncle sends you his best regards. Goodbye! * 29/30 December 1943 712 aircraft - 457 Lancasters, 252 Halifaxes, 3 Mosquitoes. A long approach route from the south, passing south of the Ruhr and then within 20 miles of Leipzig, together with Mosquito diversions at Düsseldorf, Leipzig and Magdeburg, caused the German controller great difficulties and there were few fighters over Berlin. Bad weather on the outward route also kept down the number of German fighters finding the bomber stream. 20 aircraft - 11 Lancasters, 9 Halifaxes - were lost, 2.8% of the force. Berlin was again cloud-covered. The Bomber Command report claiming a concentrated attack on sky-markers is not confirmed by the local report. The heaviest bombing was in the southern and south-eastern districts but many bombs also fell to the east of the city. 388 houses and other mixed property were destroyed but no item of major interest is mentioned. 182 people were killed, more than 600 were injured and over 10,00 bombed out. M. Middlebrook and C. Everitt, The Bomber Command War Diaries (London, 1990), p.462

16th June 1944 Stalag XIII-C 16th June 1944 Stalag XIIIC POW (Internee) mail from an Italian soldier at Stalag XIII-C. Ref: 16.06.1944 Stalag XIII-C Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

28th February 1944 Oflag 77 28th February 1944 Oflag 77 Kriegsgefangenenpost. A reply card sent to an Italian prisoner/internee at Oflag 77 situated at Deblin-Irena (in occupied Poland). Notes: In January 1944 there were 47 Italian inmates reported at Stalag 325 (Lemberg). The present postcard in its complete form may well have been sent from Stalag 325 (as indicated on the address panel). During February 1944 there were no reported Italian inmates at Stalag 325. In January 1944 Stalag 307 contained 7,765 Italian inmates. At some point in January the stalag was renamed Oflag 77. By February 1944 Oflag 77 reportedly held 7,477 Italian officers along with 847 batmen. Ref: 28.02.1944 Oflag 77 (Stalag 307) The first POW camp was established in Dęblin by the German occupiers in 1939 for Polish troops of the Independent Operational Group Polesie taken prisoner during the German invasion of Poland that began World War II. Following the Battle of France, French, Dutch, Belgian and Senegalese POWs were brought to the camp. It was located in the Dęblin Fortress. In April 1941, the Stalag 307 camp was established in Moosburg, then relocated to Kaliłów in May 1941, and finally to Dęblin in October 1941. While still in Kaliłów, abysmal living conditions and feeding rations caused widespread malnutrition and diseases, and there were also mass executions of POWs, including those attempting to escape. Some 13,000 POWs died there. In Dęblin, Stalag 307 housed French, Soviet and Italian prisoners. Overcrowding, poor food rations and sanitary conditions caused starvation and epidemics, resulting in a high mortality rate. The camp had two subcamps, located in Zarzecze and Poniatowa. In January 1944 Stalag 307 was reorganised into Oflag 77, and on 19th August 1944 it was dissolved. Around 100,000 POWs died in the camp. Source: Wikipedia Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Large format postcard (141 x 210mm) folded once across the centre. Featuring a colour map of Greater Germany above text which reads, 'Exchange Camp and Young Educators - March of the NS Teachers' Association 1938'. To the reverse there is a guide to the icons used on the map and a section for correspondence. Ref: 03.07.1938 - 3/35 30th July 1938 NSLB March 1938 Large format postcard (141 x 210mm) folded once across the centre. Featuring a colour map of Greater Germany above text which reads, 'Exchange Camp and Young Educators - March of the NS Teachers' Association 1938'. To the reverse there is a guide to the icons used on the map and a section for correspondence. Ref: 03.07.1938 - 3/35 Instructions for use at stated on the reverse of the card Explanation of symbols: Brown triangles - Teachers' camp [male] Red triangles - Teachers' camp [female] White dots and lines - Marching routes of the teachers Yellow dots - Assembly camps with rally sites Instructions for use: Mark the relevant triangle or point with a number and give a corresponding explanation on the reverse. The marching routes of the secondary school teachers can be drawn in pencil according to their actual position in order to keep the recipient up to date. In this regard, we would like to draw your attention to the Reichspost advertisement. FURTHER INFORMATION REQUIRE ABOUT THIS NSLB MARCH See special cancel at 28/29 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Postcard depicting the Church Square in Lustenau. Featuring the Austrian State printing of Mi.663 ('E.P.') and lesser seen Austrian slogan cancellation. Ref: 07.05.1938 7th May 1938 Lustenau Postcard depicting the Church Square in Lustenau. Featuring the Austrian State printing of Mi.663 ('E.P.') and lesser seen Austrian slogan cancellation. Ref: 07.05.1938 Lustenau Lustenau is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg in the district of Dornbirn. It lies on the river Rhine, which forms the border with Switzerland. Lustenau is Vorarlberg's fourth largest town. The name Lustenau derives from a document from 24th January 887, signed by the Carolingian king Charles the Fat, with the title 'Lustenauua curti regali', meaning 'Royal Court of Lustenau'. In 1395 the Counts of Werdenberg pledged the Zwingenstein fortress and Lustenau to the Knights of Ems, and in 1526 the pledge was converted into a final purchase. After the male line of the Hohenems family died out in 1759, a decade-long dispute over ownership of Lustenau developed between Maria Theresa of Austria on the one hand and the Hohenems heiress Maria Rebekka on the other. Until 1830, Lustenau was an independent county ruled over by the Counts of Waldburg-Zeil-Lustenau-Hohenems. After 1830 it became part of Austria. During the German Reich, there is no evidence of any organised resistance against National Socialism in Lustenau. However, a large number of cases of individual opposition are documented, which were punished with arrests, with the delivery to a concentration camp or even with the death penalty. After the Second World War, local embroidery industry gave Lustenau an economic boom. Source: Wikipedia The exhibition is being developed under the aegis of the Historical Archive of the Market Town Lustenau and will be displayed in the municipal gallery Hollenstein. Following the 'Anschluss' of Austria to the German Reich in March 1938 the Nazis also assumed power in Lustenau. In addition to the hope for a better future fomented by the Nazis, soon the fear of persecution, Nazi propaganda and the bitterness of World War II dominated daily life. The exhibition demonstrates the effects of the Nazi dictatorship on the development of the municipality and the lives of the residents of Lustenau, while also trying to document the injustices that took place at that time. Individuals’ experiences of this period will be made accessible using audio recordings of eyewitnesses, among other things. A comprehensive accompanying program with four public lectures and guided tours through the exhibition are planned. Source: https://www.nationalfonds.org/detail-view/4181 (2018) Stephanie Hollenstein Stephanie Hollenstein (1886 in Lustenau – 1944 in Vienna) was an Austrian Expressionist landscape and still-life painter. A member of the Nazi Party, Hollenstein was lesbian and tried to defend fellow-artists against charges of degeneracy, though usually without success. She was nicknamed Die Schiefmalerin , meaning the Crooked Lady Painter. In the 1930s, she was attracted to the 'Männlichkeitskult' (Masculinity Cult) and the military ideals promoted by the Fascists. She became a secret member of the Nazi Party (when it was still officially banned in Austria), then rejoined openly after the Anschluss. From that time until 1943, she was chairperson of the 'Vereinigung Bildender Künstlerinnen der Reichsgaue der Ostmark' (Association of Women Artists of the Reichsgau of Austria). During her tenure, she defended the sculptor, Albert Bechtold, and others against charges that their art was 'Degenerate'; unsuccessfully for the most part. She remained openly lesbian and her own same-sex desire was tolerated as long as it did not cause a public sensation. An application for the title of 'Professor' was denied on the grounds that she was a strictly local artist whose work often did not set a good example. She resigned her position for health reasons. The following year, she suffered a heart attack and died shortly after. Her remains were returned to Lustenau for burial. A municipal art gallery named in her honour was opened in 1971, which houses most of her extant work. Source: Wikipedia LUSTENAU cancellation as featured in the Bochmann catalogues (1952) JB:Lustenau1/512 - 'Lustenau/ Hauptsitz/ der/ Vorarlberger/ Stickerei-/ Industrie'. Ref: 07.05.1938 Note: This is the only special cancel used in Lustenau during the Third Reich period and can be seen cover during 1938 and 1939. Bochmann prices the cancel as if lesser seen but it can now be found at a modest price (under £10). Bochmann adds the following footnote in his catalogue, 'This former Austrian advertising stamp continued to be used after Austria's incorporation into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.' Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

20th February 1938 Princess Letter 37 20th February 1938 Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, Restaurant Walterspiel, Munchen to 27 Queen Square, Bath Dear Madeleine! Thank you awfully much for your letter and the Valentine. It is a charming custom to send Valentines. I am sorry I can’t get any here. Besides it is much too late now. We are here in Munich now and are very busy enjoying life. We arrived the 3rd and are staying here till 2nd March because in Lent we are not allowed to dance. I am very busy going to parties. Today we are giving a fancy- dress ball for 140 people. The next four days are big balls too, and cocktail parties and tea-parties. It is such fun to go dancing. I wonder how much of my feet will be left when I go home to Sarvar. Mammi is here too and Muck and Baby. Baby is having sewing lessons but she can’t work in the morning when she was dancing 5 or 6 hours in the night. I do hope our party will be a success, but I’m afraid we have not got enough boys. 16 said they could not come. I am going as Lady Blakeney, you know, the wife of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Baby has got a costume of the Charles I period and Muck goes as a Celtic woman with a big reddish blonde wig. She looks awful with it. I was twice at the opera and saw Margarethe by Gounod which has a most wonderful music. Do you remember Jeanette Macdonald singing parts of it in “San Francisco”. And then I saw a new German opera “Schwarzer Peter”. It is rather stupid and for small children, but the music is nice. I saw a couple of films here but they were all German. I am very sorry they don’t give English or American films here. I hope your “Living Bridge” went off all right. I go skating very often. It is such fun to watch all those clever children in the ice rink. But I always feel ashamed of being so heavy and clumsy compared to them. Ludwig was out last Sunday and I am awfully proud to have got such a smart soldier-brother. I was skiing yesterday for the first time this year. It was great fun and I fell a lot, but I was lucky and neither broke my legs nor my neck. I feel rather stiff however. I am just waiting for the hairdresser to do my hair. I am going to have two beautiful shoulder long curls. The whole day we were busy preparing things for our ball. Muck and I hope to go and see Papi’s two unmarried sisters for some days after carnival. And I hope there is enough snow left till then that we may go on skiing. I am already quite nervous about the ball tonight. It is so difficult to keep smiling and talking polite conversation the whole evening. Brrrrr-I am so shy and nervous about it all. I am very proud because I danced off some of my fat. I must stop now as my hair is all gone dancing too. And I cant think of anything interesting to write to you just now. Good-bye for today and here is my fondest love all for you. Loll Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Postcard (unused but cancelled) depicting Emil Hacha (1872 - 1945), President of Czechoslovak Republic and State President of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Featuring stamp Mi.279a. Ref: 30.11.1938 30th November 1938 Emil Hacha Postcard (unused but cancelled) depicting Emil Hacha (1872 - 1945), President of Czechoslovak Republic and State President of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Featuring stamp Mi.279a. Ref: 30.11.1938 Emil Hácha (1872 - 1945) Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Stamps of India Stamps of India Stamps of India POW mail sent by an Italian lieutenant from Camp 27 (located at Yol in northern India in the foothills of the Himalayas, not far from Tibet) to an address in Trieste. Ref: 13.07.1944 India - Stamps within the Brief History collection Mi.176 - King George VI Definitive (issued 15.05.1941). Ref: 13.07.1944

23rd February 1944 Arado G.m.b.H., Paris 23rd February 1944 Arado XD1.1 Paris Cover via feldpost from Arado Flugzeugwerke G.m.b.H. (possible liaison office to the Société Industrielle Pour l'Aéronautique, Paris) to a manufacturer in Rackwitz. Featuring the Paris 'A.x' pass-through censor (HL:XD1.1/326). Ref: 23.02.1944 ARADO AND SIPA SIPA (Société Industrielle Pour l'Aéronautique). This company was founded in Neuilly in 1938 as a subcontractor to the French aviation industry. The SIPA workshops were located on the Ile de Jatte which is a large two kilometre long island in the Seine river between Neuilly-sur-Seine and Levallois-Perret on one side and Courbevoie on the other (north-western suburbs of Paris). SIPA produced (and delivered ?) at least 20 Ar 199A models and was later also involved in production work on the Arado 234 jet. SIPA's relationship with Arado apparently pre-dated the outbreak of war. The subject of French production of Luftwaffe aircraft is a fascinating one and as we know, for example from the history of the Fw 190 and the Ju 88, the French were very good at building German aircraft. It wasn't a question either of the French having to 'cooperate' - the Vichy French authorities had very quickly opened negociations with their new German masters in an attempt to preserve employment and some of their manufacturing base in France by offering to produce spares and even complete airframes for German aircraft manufacturers. SIPA evidently continued to work with the Germans and liaise with Arado in particular. In 1942 Arado specifically assigned SIPA the task of development work on an advanced training aircraft which led to the post-war French training type, the SIPA S-10 which first flew in 1944. https://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2010/12/arado-ar-199-seaplane-rainer-kockers.html Contact Brief History to inform us of additonal information regarding this page

Mi.906 (09.11.1944) March to the Feldherrn Hall Mi.906 (09.11.1944) March to the Feldherrn Hall Mi.906 Self-addressed (?) cover from Flöha featuring Mi.906. Also featuring Mi.903-903 (Goldsmiths art) and Mi.904 (Stamp Day). The three issues being consecutive from 11th September - 21st November 1944. Ref: 01.03.1945 M.906 21st anniversary of the march to the Feldherrn Hall in Munich Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page