WWII era Foreign Postal Links with Axis, Related & Occupied Countries

World War II - mail from Poland DURING the German invasion: 3 Sept. 1939 postmarked surface mail picture postal card (Nobel prize laureate Wladislaw Reyont) with message in Hebrew-spelled Yiddish, sent from BRODY to TEL AVIV, franked 30 Groszy & tied by 2x strikes of the local postmark; sent in a sealed bag and received some time later in Palestine, evidenced by the mute hexigonal Palestine censor...

Latvian SSR "1st day" official incoming overseas mail: 22 July 1940 postmarked [official] triple-weight registered surface mail cover on imprinted postal stationary of the Latvian Foreign Ministry in Soviet-occupied RIGA to [Jewish-Palestinian] Latvian Consul M. Caspi in JERUSALEM, franked 96 Sant. (75s international registered letter rate + 2x10s additional weight) tied by 3 strikes of local post...

Wartime incoming civilian mail: 10 Aug 1940 postmarked uprated postcard from LYON (now Vichy France) to TEL AVIV franked 1.50Fr; received in Palestine as per the hexigonal T5 Tel Aviv censor mark. The UK suspended postal services to France and her colonies on 25 June 1940, on the same date the Vichy government was installed; Vichy severed diplomatic ties with the UK on 8 July following her attack ...

Via Warsaw - late pre-WWII mail from Nazi Germany: 6 AUG 1939 postmarked [detached] German postal reply card with long message in German dated the same day, air mailed from MAGDEBURG to care-of addressee in JERUSALEM (VIA WARSAW per penciled routing instruction at top), uprated to 25pf (from 15pf) for overseas usage & tied by German air mail ettiquette; as predating WWII by 3 weeks (1 Sept 1939) t...

Last mail from Nazi Germany on eve of WWII: 30 AUG 1939 postmarked air mail cover from DARMSTADT to TEL AVIV, franked 25pf using Hindenburg medallion single, per period overseas airmail rate & tied by "Air Mail" machine slogan cancel: World War II broke out just after midnight on 1 Sept. 1939, and all postal services from Germany to Palestine (and vice versa) were suspended on 6 Sept. - neverthele...

Last mail from Nazi Germany on eve of WWII: 30 AUG 1939 postmarked [complete] German 15pf imprinted postal reply card with long message in German dated 29 Aug, surface-mailed from NURNBERG to addressee in HAIFA & tied by full strike of local "Party Day" postmark: World War II broke out just after midnight on 1 Sept. 1939, and all postal services from Germany to Palestine (and vice versa) were susp...

VERY LAST mail from Nazi Germany on eve of WWII - by air: 31 AUG 1939 (17:00) postmarked [complete] German postal reply card with long message in German dated the same day, air mailed from MAGDEBURG to care-of addressee in JERUSALEM (via VIENNA per penciled routing instruction), uprated from 15pf to 25pf for overseas usage (15pf postcard rate + 10pf for air mail) & tied by German air mail ettiquet...

VERY LAST mail from Nazi Germany on eve of WWII - by sea: 31 AUG 1939 (17:00) postmarked [detached] German postal reply card with long message in German dated the same day, air mailed from MAGDEBURG to addressee in NAHARIYA (via VIENNA per penciled routing instruction), uprated from 15pf to 25pf for overseas usage (15pf postcard rate + 10pf for air mail) & tied by German air mail ettiquette: World...

EXTRAORDINARY VERY LAST WWII (wartime) MAIL FROM GERMANY TO PALESTINE: Sunday 3 SEPT 1939 postmarked registered airmail cover with 16:00 time-stamp, sent from BERLIN-CHARLOTTENBURG to HAIFA & franked 75pf per period rate using 3x Hindenburg medallion definitives stamps + tied by single strike of the local postmark; backstamped 10 SEPT 1939 TEL AVIV transit-arrival, 12 SEPT HAIFA transit and 15 SEP...

Outbreak WWII suspended service outbound mail: 10 Sept 1939 surface mail postal stationary postcard from TEL AVIV to BELZ Poland, in Hebrew-lettered Yiddish on Mandate postal stationary prefranked 8m per period overseas rate, tied by local double-ringed postmark; address subsequently crossed out by crayon & postcard stamped "return to". Here, war on 10th day but Belz not yet occupied (c. 14-15 Sep...

UNIQUE World War II DISPATCHED & RETURNED wartime civilian mail to Nazi Germany: Sept-Oct 1939 era postmarked cover on Jerusalem 'Etz Hayim Yeshiva' imprinted postal stationary (marked "return postage guaranteed"), sent from JERUSALEM to SILUTE "Lithuania"; likely franked 15 mils (Ba #108) now missing, for overseas surface mail & tied by a strike of the single-circle canceller of the sorting offic...

Wartime incoming civilian mail: 7 Feb 1940 postmarked stampless Red Cross postal card from BALASSAGYARMAT Hungary to TEL AVIV on bilingual French/Hungarian imprinted Red Cross stationary; noted "toll free" for internees of belligerent countries; passed Palestine censor T3 in TEL AVIV. Appears pre-stamped by Hungarian authority in Kóvár (Koláre), a Hungarian-occupied area of Slovakia as of March...

Red Cross Holocaust-era/WWII postal link: 8 APR 1940 cover on Belgian Red Cross stationary from BRUSSELS to HAIFA, franked 1.75Fr & tied by machine slogan cancel; subsequently opened by the Haifa censor at left & resealed with Sach-Q10 red/white label # 71/10833 & tied by H-29 boxed censor handstamp Sach-Q21; slit open at right. Just over a month after the date of dispatch Germany invaded Western ...

WWII French military mail mailed during the Battle of France & Italian invasion, transited via Palestine: 16 JUNE 1940 postmarked stampless On Active Service (OAS) cover endorsed in French "FM", sent from FREJUS to a sergeant of the RACL (Regiment d'artillerie coloniale du Levante) - Colonial Artillery Regiment in the Levant - in DAMASCUS Syria.An intricate period of military and postal history: G...

1940 Fall of France suspended service incoming mail: 19 JUNE 1940 commercial cover on stationary of Swiss Postal Bank ZURICH to 'Kupat Am Bank' in TEL AVIV meter franked 30Ra per period postage rate, halted midway & marked by odd lettered "Service postaI(capital "i" for final "L") suspendu" handstamp; vertical fold; slit open at top. In June postal routes to Palestine via France were suspended due...

Mail to/from Romania on the eve of Jewish persecution: 1 SEPT 1940 postcard from TEL AVIV to sender's mother at in PUTNA Romania ("Judetul Radauti Bukovina" - Radauti county in Bukovina), written in German, franked 10m per 8m overseas postcard rate & tied by single strike of local postmark; passed Palestine Censor T6(?) either on dispatch or return; unclear double-ringed transit mark on local post...

Wartime incoming civilian mail: 8 X 1940 cover from KOLOZSVAR (Klausenburg) Hungary to TEL AVIV, franked 40f per period surface rate to Palestine; passed T5 censor (Sach-21a) in TEL AVIV. Rare origin & period: locale occupied by Hungary a month earlier (from Romania 11 Sept.); Hungary entered WWII shortly after, on 20 Nov. 1940. Locale was home-town of important Sanz-Klausenburg Hassidic dynasty. ...

Wartime outbound civilian mail: 22 OCT 1940 registered postcard in German from HAIFA (return addressed Maabarot) to Soviet-occupied LVOV franked 25m using Ba #93/99 per period surface mail rate (10m postcard + 15m registry fee) & tied by full strike HAIFA NAHLA B.O. postmark (GD-120); same day REG HAIFA transit; received LVOV 2-12-40 but as address unknown, marked such (manuscript & French instruc...

Wartime incoming civilian mail: 5 NOV 1940 uprated registered postcard from Soviet-occupied BEREZHANY to HAIFA, in German between 2 Jews, franked 80Kop (2 franks may be missing - postage period rate was 1.10R) & tied by 3 strikes of Berezhany Tarnopol Oblast postmark; passed Palestine Censor H22 & front-stamped 10 JA 41 REG HAIFA arrival, but re-routed to hospital in PETACH TIKVA: front-stamped ne...

WWII mail from Soviet occupied Lithuania: 10 MAR 1941 postmarked Lithuanian postal card with long message in Hebrew-written Yiddish (seems to be 2 messages from 2 different people), from VILNA to care-of addressee in TEL AVIV, here franked with Soviet postage of 30 kopeks (per 1 May 1936 postage rate period surface rate for overseas postcards) - Boyle notes that Soviet postage on mail became manda...

WWII mail from Soviet occupied Lithuania: 13-03-1941 postmarked cover from VILNA to care-of addressee in TEL AVIV, here franked with Soviet postage of 50 kopeks (per 1 May 1936 postage rate period surface rate for 20g overseas letters) & tied by local postmark - Boyle notes that Soviet postage on mail became mandatory on 25 March (eg. almost 10 days later); open/sealed by the pink/black 70/5833 Te...

Holocaust-era 2-way correspondence after Hungary's occupation of Yugoslavia: 26 MAY 1941 dated message in German on British Red Cross/Order of St. John Red Cross "postal message scheme" contact form, sent from daughter in JERUSALEM to mother in recently Hungarian-occupied UJVIDEK (NOVI SAD) in Vojvodina former Yugoslavia; the form was transmitted via the Red Cross office in GENEVA whose cachet is ...

Romania-Palestine rare WWII postal history: 23 Sept 1941 postmarked registered express postal card bearing same day dated family correspondence message in French, sent from BUCHAREST to KFAR YEHOSHUA via HAIFA; uprated with additional franking (now missing) & tied by multiple strikes of the local postmark; affixed with Romanian registry and express labels tied by a boxed Romanian CENZURAT censor m...

EXTRAORDINARY & IMPOSSIBLE once-in-a-wartime postal link: 27 Sept 1941 postmarked cover from VIENNA (GERMANY) to addressee "J. Davidai" (i.e. Jewish name) at Kibbutz "GINNEGAR [via] Afula Palestine via ANKARA Turkey", franked 25pf per period rate for overseas surface mail (other than to Hungary & former Czechoslovakia) using a Hindenburg medallion single adhesive stamp & tied by single strike of l...