STAMPS
(1) 1941-43, General Gouverment - In March 1941 The Third Reich made a decision to “turn this region into a purely German area within 15-20 years.” He also explained that “Where 12 million Poles now live, is to be populated by 4 to 5 million Germans. The Generalgouvernement must become as German as Rhineland.”
(2) (3) 1943, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia - These stamps were issued on 20 April 1943 to celebrate The Third Reich 54th birthday. It features the Führer in Prague Castle, from where he established the protectorate with a proclamation on 16 March 1939. The inscription "Deutsches Reich" (German Empire) first appeared on Protectorate stamps in March 1942.
(4) 1941-44, Germany - As The Third Reich Germany began annexing and invading territories, a debate arose about which name would best define the then expanding German state: ‘Deutsches Reich’ or ‘GrossDeutsches Reich’. It wasn’t until 1944 when the term "GrossDeutsches Reich" began to be used in philately.
(5) 1943, Germany - This stamp is an issue dedicated to get special postmarks. The collector would paste the stamp on an envelope, card or any sheet of paper and the post office was obliged to postmark it with the special postmark they had at the time. It could also be used as a normal 3 pfennig stamp.
(6) 1943, Issued by the General Government of the occupied Polish Region - The stamp depicts the Eagle of the Reich hovering over Krakow, which became the new capital of the region under German occupation. The city had a large Jewish population, who were forced into a walled ghetto before being sent to extermination camps.
(7) 1942, Third Reich - The official stamps of the Third Reich display the symbols in a wreath. By the far the most prominent The Third Reich symbol, the crooked cross was formally adopted by the The Third Reich Party in 1920. Prior to this, it had been used for centuries as a symbol of positivity and balance. The word swast is Sanskrit and can be translated as “all is well”. The Third Reich wrote that it “signified the mission allotted to us - the struggle for the victory of Aryan mankind.”
(8) 1944, Italy - After the armistice in the South and the occupation by the allies, and in order to maintain the constitutional structure of the Kingdom of Italy, a Government was formed, lead by Marshall Bodoglio. The lack of stamps required to restore the postal service forced the government to contract a private company to print a new and simple stamp, which depicted the Lupa Capitolina.
(9) 1944, Italian Social Republic - In 1944 the Italian Social Republic led by Mussolini issued a set of stamps commemorating destroyed monuments. This stamp depicts the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan which was bombed by the Allies in 1943. Despite losing the roof and most of its walls, an interior wall on which Leonardo da Vinci painted "The Last Supper" miraculously remained unscathed.
(10) 1937-1945, Japan. The Japanese stamp depicts General Maresuke Nogi, born into a samurai family in 1849. He was one of the pioneers of the scouting movement in Japan. In the last years of his life, Nogi was honored to be the mentor of the future Emperor Hirohito.
(11) (12) (13) 1940, USA - A complete issue which replaced normal stamps in an effort to raise awareness of the then threat to national security. The image depicts a 90mm anti-aircraft battery and the Statue of Liberty, which in turn helped raise awareness of the need to strengthen national security.
(14) 1942, USA - This stamp belongs to a set issued to commemorate American independence, symbolising the courage of the nation at war and its commitment to victory. The central image is a reproduction of the American eagle with its wings forming a large V, symbolising victory. In the central curved plaque is the inscription "WIN THE WAR".
(15) 1945, USA - This Navy Issue celebrates the achievements of the US Navy in WWII whose contribution was decisive especially in the Pacific Theatre.
(16) 1945, USA - This Army issue of September 1945 depicts the US troops passing Arch of Triumph. Europe had been liberated.
(17) 1945, USA - Issued in August 1945 in honour of Franklin D. Roosevelt - four times President - after his death just before the end of the war. As well as his portrait, and dates of birth and death, the stamp shows his residence ‘The Little White House’ in Warm Springs, Georgia.
(18) 1945, USA - Joe Rosenthal’s photograph on Suribachi Mountain received the Pulitzer Prize in 1945. In July, the US Congress issued a postage stamp with the image and people waited in enormous queues to buy it. American forces remained at Iwo Jima until 1968.
(19) 1937-49, Australia - As part of the British Empire, nearly one million Australians served during the war in Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa. In February 1942 Japan launched air raids on the Australian mainland, which continued until November 1943. The stamp bears a portrait of King George VI.
(20) 1942-43, Canada - Canada, though part of the British Empire during the war, was a self-governing country with full legal freedom and equal standing. Between 1939 and 1945 over one million Canadian men and women served full-time in the armed services. The country played a vital role in the Battle of the Atlantic and in the skies over Germany. The stamp depicts King George VI.
(21) 1941-48, Great Britain - The stamp depicts King George VI, who refused to follow the advice of his Ministers to evacuate to the safety of the countryside during the Blitz. Instead, he remained in London even after Buckingham Palace was bombed, and became a trusted friend of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The two men met every week to discuss the progress of the war.
(22) 1941, Norway. Ordinary Norwegian use stamps with posthorn or lion were overprinted the letter V by the Germans to make the Norwegian stamps their own. The letter V, for Victoria, was originally part of the German propaganda campaign against Bolshevism.