9th April 1940 Bochmann Kempen Cover sent from Kempen featuring two commemorative stamps (5 Pf - Mi.732, and 3 Pf - Mi.739), together with a Danzig 4 Pf definitive overprint (Mi.717). All tied with JB:Kampen1/416. Ref: 09.04.1940 KAMPEN cancellation as featured in the Bochmann catalogues (1952) JB:Kampen1/416 - 'Stahlrohrmöbel'. Ref: 09.04.1940 Note: JB:Kampen1/416 was used continuously between 1939 and 1952. It was the only special cancellation used in Kampen during the Third Reich period. The word 'Stahlrohrmöbel' translates as 'tubular steel furniture' and most likely represents the works at L & C Arnold in Kempden. There in the 1920's the company worked with steel tubes as a construction element of furniture, particularly shaping the chair design of the avant-garde of that time. Whilst not specifically manufactured by L & C Arnold, the iconic tubular furniture of the time is exemplified in the design of Marcel Breuer and the 'Wassily Chair' A link to the Wikipedia page regarding this chair design can be found here. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

4th February 1940 Bochmann Garmisch-Partenkirchen Cover sent from Garmisch-Partenkirchen featuring Hindenburg vending machine strip W74, and special cancellation JB:Garmisch-Partenkirchen22/306. Ref: 04.02.1940 GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN cancellations as featured in the Bochmann catalogues (1952) JB:Garmisch-Partenkirchen1/305 - see - 22/75 (1936), 34/89 (1933) JB:Garmisch-Partenkirchen2/305 - 'IV. Olympische Winterspiele/ 19. 36'. Ref: 16.02.1936 JB:Garmisch-Partenkirchen16/306 - 'Thüringer HJ/ im Alpen-/ Zeltlager/ b.Grainau'. Ref: 13.08.1938 JB:Garmisch-Partenkirchen22/306 - 'Internationale/ Wintersportwoche 1940'. Ref: 04.02.1940 JB:Garmisch-Partenkirchen27/306 - '6. Winterkampfespiele der HJ 23.2.-2.3.1941'. Ref: 24.02.1941 - 27/306 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

6th September 1940 MHB 50 Registered cover sent locally in Vienna. Featuring various stamp configurations including S199 (12 Pf, Mi.519 & 8 Pf, Mi.517). This sequence is found in booklet sheet MHB 50 and MHB 52. Ref: 06.09.1940 Stamp sequences from booklet sheet MHB 50 S199 (Mi.519+Mi.517) taken from MHB 50 (or MHB 52). Ref: 06.09.1940 S201 (Mi.517+Mi.519) taken from MHB 50. Ref: 09.07.1939 - 2/41 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

11th November 1940 Jagdschloss Springe Saupark Official invitation to a hare-hunting event at Jagdschloß-Gaupark at Springe (Hannover). Featuring official 6 Pf postage stamp (Mi.135). These State hunting grounds were used by Hermann Göring. Ref: 11.11.1940 Link to Jagdschloß web site

24th March 1940 Rudolf A. Wendl 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

23rd February 1940 Parole der Woche 0840 Cover sent from Möhringen (Baden) to an address in Karlsruhe featuring Parole der Woche Nr.8, 'Der Feind hat das Wort:', to the reverse. Ref: 23.02.1940 - 16/27 Parole der Woche Nr.8 (1940) Translation Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Mi.743 (28.03.1940) Mi.743 Mi.743 (Ref: 29.03.1940) next stamp issue

Buildings 1940 Booklet (11.1940) Buildings 1940 Booklet Fridericus 1933 , Hindenburg 1933 , Wagner 1933 , Hindenburg 1934 , Professions 1934 , Folk Costumes 1935 , Olympic Games 1936 , Hindenburg 1936/37 , Modern Buildings 1936 , Hindenburg 1937/39 , Ships 1937 , Ostmark 1938 , Hindenburg 1939 , Buildings 1939 , Hindenburg 1940/41 , Buildings 1940 , Adolf Hitler 1941

5th September 1940 Romania Cover sent from Bucharest to Bielefeld, Germany. With ABP Vienna censor tape and markings. Featuring stamp Mi.503 depicting King Carol II. Ref: 05.09.1940 - 1/11 Link to ABP Vienna

15th September 1940 Berlin Postcard depicting a view of Berlin. Sent via feldpost (FPN 35671) from Berlin and featuring the briefstempel of 'Kommandant von Berlin 12'. Note: The Kommandant of Berlin would be made responsible for: The order and (military) discipline in the city and therefore could proclaim Standort regulations - streamlining the local military support in case of emergencies - giving orders to the Streifendienst - liaison with the local civilian services (police, fire brigade, local political representatives, etc.) - organisation of military ceremonies - point of contact for military personnel on leave in the city for administrative matters. Also featuring special 'Luftschutz' cancel ref: JB:203/822. Ref: 15.09.1940 See 26.05.1939 - 29/38 (Prachtstraße & Brandenburger Tor) See 01.02.1941 - 32/37 (Westache - https://immermodern.de/en/strassen-von-heute/westachse ) See 08.10.1939 - Cafe Viktoria (story of Magarete Schütte-Lihotzky) Berlin (Überroller-post - Allied occupation by district - all 1945: Aldershof 24.4., Alt-Glienicke 24.4., Schles. Bhf. 24.4, Charlottenburg 28.4, Dahlem 26.4., Friedenau 28.4., Friedrichsfelde 22.4.,Gartenstadt 26.4., Grunewald 28.04., Köpenick 23.4., Lichterfelde 25.4., Mahlsdorf 22.4., Mariendorf 24.4., Marienfelde 23.4., Moabit 28.4., Neukölln 27.4., Pankow 23.4., Reinickendorf 24.4., Rudow 24.4., Ruhleben 28.4., Siemensstadt 26.4., Schmargendorf 27.4., Schöneberg 28.4., Spandau 27.4., Steglitz 27.4., tegel 24.4., Tempelhof 27.4., Treptow 25.4., Weißensee 22.4., Wilmersdorf 28.4., Wittenau 24.4., Zehlendorf 25.4.) Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, as measured by population within city limits. Simultaneously, the city is one of the states of Germany, and is the third smallest state in the country in terms of area. Berlin is surrounded by the state of Brandenburg, and Brandenburg's capital Potsdam is nearby. The urban area of Berlin has a population of over 4.5 million and is therefore the most populous urban area in Germany. The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has around 6.2 million inhabitants and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr region, and the fifth-biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union. Postcard depicting a section of the Spree running through the centre of Berlin featuring the Schloß and Cathedral. Ref: 21.11.1939 - 30/1. Article regarding the Cathedral: As early as December 1940, the blast from a British air raid on Berlin had destroyed the precious altar windows designed by Anton von Werner, as well as all other Cathedral windows. The western and eastern façades were also damaged. The stoker Paul Scheffel was killed in this attack. On 24th May 1944, a bomb hit the dome lantern, setting fire to it and the entire outer dome. The lantern construction’s collapse under its own weight subsequently smashed the inner stone dome, plunging it into the Sermon Church where it smashed through the church floor before finally breaking open the precious coffins in the Hohenzollern family crypt. (Source: berlinerdom.de) By 1931, the Great Depression had severely damaged the city's economy. Politics were in chaos, as militias controlled by the Nazis and the Communists fought for control of the streets. President Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor in January 1933, and the Nazis quickly moved to take complete control of the entire nation. On 27th February 1933, a left-wing radical was alleged to have set afire the Reichstag building (a fire which was later believed to have been set by the Nazis themselves); the fire gave Hitler the opportunity to set aside the constitution. Tens of thousands of political opponents fled into exile or were imprisoned. All civic organisations, except the churches, came under Nazi control. Postcard depicting the new Reichs Chancellery on Wilhelmstraße, Berlin. Ref: 08.09.1936 Around 1933, some 160,000 Jews were living in Berlin: one third of all German Jews, 4% of the Berlin population. A third of them were poor immigrants from Eastern Europe, who lived mainly in the Scheunenviertel near Alexanderplatz. The Jews were persecuted from the beginning of the Nazi regime. In March, all Jewish doctors had to leave the Charité hospital. In the first week of April, Nazi officials ordered the German population not to buy from Jewish shops. CLICK HERE FOR THE NATIONAL GALLERY The 1936 Summer Olympics were held in Berlin and used as a showcase for Nazi Germany (though the Games had been given to Germany before 1933). In order to not alienate the foreign visitors, the 'forbidden for Jews' signs were temporarily removed. Nazi rule destroyed Berlin's Jewish community, which numbered 160,000 before the Nazis came to power. After the pogrom of Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned. Around 1939, there were still 75,000 Jews living in Berlin. The majority of German Jews in Berlin were taken to the Grunewald railway station in early 1943 and shipped in stock cars to death camps such as Auschwitz, where most were murdered in the Holocaust. Only some 1200 Jews survived in Berlin by hiding. Approximately 800 Jews survived in Berlin's Jewish Hospital. Causes for their survival include bureaucratic infighting, hospital director Dr. Walter Lustig's relationship with Adolf Eichmann, the Nazis' bizarre system for classifying persons of partly Jewish ancestry, German leader Adolf Hitler's ambivalence about how to handle Jews of German descent, and the fact that the Nazis needed a place to treat Jews. Thirty kilometers (19 mi) northwest of Berlin, near Oranienburg, was Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where mainly political opponents, Jews, Poles, Russian prisoners of war, etc. were incarcerated. Tens of thousands died there. In Berlin, Sachsenhausen had 17 subcamps for men and women, including teenagers, near industries, where the prisoners had to work. The prisoners were of various nationalities, including Polish, Jewish, French, Belgian, Czechoslovak, Russian, Ukrainian, Romani, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, Spanish, Luxembourgish, German, Austrian, Italian, Yugoslavian, Bulgarian, Hungarian. There was also a camp for Sinti and Romani people, and the Stalag III-D prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs of various nationalities. In the late 1930s Hitler and his architect Albert Speer made plans for the new Berlin—a world city or Welthauptstadt Germania . All the projects were to be of gigantic size. Adjacent to the Reichstag, Speer planned to construct the Volkshalle (The People's Hall), 250 m high, with an enormous copper dome. It would be large enough to hold 170,000 people. From the People's Hall, a southbound avenue was planned, the Avenue of Victory, 23 m wide and 5.6 kilometers (3.5 mi) long. At the other end there would have been the new railway station, and next to it Tempelhof Airport. Halfway down the avenue there would have been a huge arch 117 m high, commemorating those fallen during the world wars. With the completion of these projects (planned for 1950), Berlin was to be renamed "Germania." The war postponed all construction, as the city instead built giant concrete towers as bases for anti-aircraft guns. Today only a few structures remain from the Nazi era, such as the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (National Ministry of Aviation), Tempelhof International Airport, and Olympiastadion. Hitler's Reich Chancellery was demolished by Soviet occupation authorities. Initially Berlin was at the extreme range of British bombers and attacks had to be made in clear skies during summer, increasing the risk to the attackers. Better bombers came into service in 1942 but most of the British bombing effort that year was spent in support of the Battle of the Atlantic against German submarines. 1940 : A token British air-raid on Berlin on 25 August 1940; Hitler responds by ordering the Blitz on London. 1943 : Polish resistance group Zagra-Lin successfully carries out a series of small bomb attacks. 1943 : The USAAF strategic bombing force began operations against Berlin. The RAF focused their strategic bombing efforts on Berlin in their 'Battle of Berlin' from November. It was halted at the end of March 1944, after 16 mass bombing raids on the capital, due to unacceptable losses of aircraft and crew. By that point about half a million had been made homeless but morale and production was unaffected. About a quarter of the city's population was evacuated. Raids on major German cities grew in scope and raids of over 1,000 4-engined bombers were not uncommon by 1944. (On 18th March 1945 alone, for example, 1,250 American bombers attacked the city). 1944 : USAAF bombing switched to forcing encounters with the German air force so that it could be defeated by the bombers' fighter escorts. Attacks on Berlin ensured a response from the Luftwaffe, drawing it into a battle where their losses could not be replaced at the same rate as the Allies. RAF focus switched to preparations for the invasion of France but Berlin was still subjected to regular nuisance and diversionary raids by the RAF. March 1945 : The RAF begins 36 consecutive nights of bombing by its fast de Havilland Mosquito medium bombers (from around 40 to 80 each night). British bombers dropped 46,000 tons of bombs; the Americans dropped 23,000 tons. By May 1945, 1.7 million people (40%) had fled. April 1945 : Berlin was the main objective for Allied armies. The Race to Berlin refers to the competition of Allied generals during the final months of World War II to enter Berlin first. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower halted Anglo-American troops on the Elbe River, primarily because the Soviets made their capture of the city a high national priority in terms of prestige and revenge. The Red Army converged on Berlin with several Fronts (Army Groups). Hitler remained in supreme command and imagined that rescue armies were on the way; he refused to consider surrender. 30th April 1945 : Hitler committed suicide in the Führerbunker underneath the Reich Chancellery. Resistance continued, though most of the city was in Soviet hands by that point. 2nd May 1945 : Berlin finally capitulated. Destruction of buildings and infrastructure was nearly total in parts of the inner city business and residential sectors. The outlying sections suffered relatively little damage. This averages to one fifth of all buildings, and 50% in the inner city. Source: Wikipedia Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

20th September 1940 Stalag X-C See 30/67 Stalag X-C The Wehrmacht established Stalag X C in Nienburg, in Defense District (Wehrkreis) X (map 4a), by an order of the General Army Office (Allgemeines Heeresamt, AHA) dated July 17, 1940.1 Stalag X C remained in Nienburg until the end of the war, in an area directly next to Oflag X B (Mudra Barracks). When the first prisoners of war (POWs) arrived in July 1940, the construction of housing (wooden barracks) was continued. The camp was subordinate to the Commander of Prisoners of War in Defense District X (Kommandeur der Kriegsgefangenen im Wehrkreis X). No field post number (Feldpostnummer) was assigned, since the camp remained within Germany. The following officers served as camp commandant: Oberstleutnant z.V. Gebhard von July 25–September Kotze 12, 1940 Oberstleutnant z.V. Beelitz September 13– December 17, 1940 Major z.V. Dr. Willi Anschütz December 20, 1940–April 11, 1941 Oberst Curt von Zimmermann May 9, 1941–July 31, 1942 Oberstleutnant d.R. Ernst Bischoff August 1, 1942– January 31, 1944 Oberst Ernst von Koss from February 1, 1944 Oberst Steininger from March 25, 1944 The campgrounds and the work detachments (Arbeitskommandos) were guarded by the 2nd Company of the Home Guard Battalion 325 (Heimatschutzbatallion 325, later Reserve Battalion 233) and by Reserve Battalions (Landesschützenbataillone) 660, 670, 675, and 680. Stalag X C temporarily supported POW Construction and Labor Battalions 2 and 22, respectively (Kriegsgefangen Bau- und Arbeits-Bataillon 2 bzw. 22) during their deployment in the region. This support consisted of, among other things, handling administrative matters, providing medical care, passing on shipments of charitable gifts, and providing support services to the POWs. On November 4, 1941, Stalag X C detailed personnel for the organization of Stalag 370 in Nienburg, by order of the Deputy Corps Headquarters for XII Army Corps (Stellvertretende Generalkommando XII. Armeekorps).3 In July 1943, Stalag X C had a special feature. It served as the central collection camp for POWs who had worked for the Wehrmacht as Geheimnisträger, persons entrusted with confidential information (confidential informants, radio operators, etc.), but who could no longer do so. Usually, the reason for this was that the individual had been exposed or unmasked or that there were security concerns about him. Stalag X C had a subcamp in Rohrsen, in an area with wooden barracks in the communal district of the municipality of Heemsen. It was established in September 1942 and admitted the separatist French POWs from Corsica on October 20, 1942, prisoners who previously had been housed in Oflag V C. The Germans continued their efforts to use this group of POWs for political purposes. The poor conditions in Rohrsen, however, caused the Corsicans to feel as if they were in a penal camp, and their interest in collaboration with the Germans gradually faded away. Then the project was abandoned by the Germans, and the Corsicans were assigned to other camps. From then on, the Rohrsen camp was used only as accommodation facilities for Soviet POWs. Finally, by order of the AHA on May 15, 1944,4 it was disbanded and turned into a camp hospital (Lazarett) for around 500 Soviet POWs who had contracted tuberculosis. The conditions there were very poor and in no way justified the designation of “hospital.” More than 700 Soviet soldiers lost their lives there. Stalag X C was a fairly large camp with an average of around 30,000 prisoners, reaching maximum occupancy in June 1941 with a prisoner population of approximately 45,000.5 The French constituted the largest group. The second-largest group varied, at different times being made up of Belgians, Poles, Yugoslavs, Italians, or, perhaps most often, Soviets. Additional countries were also represented in the camp in smaller numbers, ranging from 5 to 100 prisoners at various times: Great Britain, Romania, Greece, and Crete. Stalag X C thus had the full range of possible prisoners in its area. Until June 1941, the camp also held a total of 100 civilians from France, Belgium, Poland, and Yugoslavia. The treatment of the POWs depended on their nationality. Those receiving the best treatment were the Belgians, the British, and, in particular, the French, who received strong support from the pro-Pétain movement in Vichy France. The POWs from Western nations received substantial deliveries of foodstuffs and other materials from relief organizations. A library (around 20,000 books) was available to the prisoners, and they had orchestras and theater ensembles. These opportunities were also provided to the work detachments, which enjoyed performances and received regular shipments of crates of books. The French published several camp newspapers for their own group: Le Mois, Entre Nous, Servir, and La Françisque. Numerous courses on all kinds of topics functioned for the prisoners as a sort of camp university. The Poles and Yugoslavs received somewhat worse treatment. On the lowest rung of the ladder were the Italians and, especially, the Soviets, who were provided insufficient rations and inadequate medical care and often had to perform very hard work. Clergymen of various faiths who were members of the prisoner population held religious services on a regular basis. Between 85 and 95 percent of the camp was deployed in more than 1,000 work detachments, dispersed among nine district sites. The support area of Stalag X C was essentially the area of the Lower Saxony Regional Employment Office (Landesarbeitsamt) (provided that the places were located in Defense District X). The main emphasis of labor deployment was on agriculture and drainage projects. In the Bremen area, deployment in industry was the general rule. The medical care provided to the POWs usually began in the camp’s medical clinic, which was operated by physicians and personnel drawn from the POW population, under German supervision. Because of the distance from the camp to the work detachments deployed in the Bremen area, Stalag X C operated a medical clinic there. The more seriously ill were referred to hospitals outside the combat zone (with POW wards) or to POW hospitals, such as those in Sandbostel and Rohrsen (here, for Soviet POWs). Stalag X C received numerous visits from a variety of delegations. In addition to the main camp, the visitors very often went to the labor detachments. The following visit reports are known: US Embassy—November 18, 1940; February 20, March 12, May 9, June 17, and September 1941; YMCA— April 24, June 25, September 16, 1941; September 18, 1942; February 23, and February 26, 1944; ICRC—November 13– 19, 1940; March 6, July 7, July 10, August 2, November 24, and November 29, 1941; January 9, August 3, November 10, and November 26, 1942; July 29, and August 9, 1943; February 23, March 25, July 29, and October 13, 1944; March 16, 1945; Scapini Mission—March 8, July 14, and August 2–8, 1941; January 8–9, 1942; February 7, and July 29–30, 1944; DSLP— September 13, 1942 and March 25, 1944; Swiss Legation— February 7, 1944. Some reports contain overall assessments. For the main camp in Nienburg, these assessments generally were in the “good” to “very good” range. For the labor detachments, the assessments varied quite widely. The evaluation result depended on the nature of the work, the housing, and the degree to which the regulations were observed by the employer in question. The assessments covered the entire spectrum from “not acceptable” to “very good.” The Rohrsen subcamp, like the camp hospital into which it was converted, received uniformly negative evaluations. The end of the deployment period of Stalag X C began in March 1945. Numerous prisoners were admitted in the wake of evacuations from other camps. This inevitably led to problems in the distribution of scarce resources. Beginning on April 5, 1945, the POWs who were fit to march were evacuated from the camp and forced to walk in a northerly direction. The first work detachments were liberated in their deployment locations by the Allies. On April 9, 1945, the US Army liberated the Nienburg permanent camp area (with the approximately 15,000 prisoners still remaining there). Source: https://muse.jhu.edu/document/4719/pdf/download Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

9th December 1940 Marinenachrichtenschule See 09.12.1940 - 30/99 (feldpost) Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page