Hitler in Warsaw; Birthday in Krakau
Nazi Postcard, World War II
20 April 1941

Postcard scan by
Robert Wilfred Franson

 

September 2012

  
Hitler in Warsaw; Birthday in Krakau 20 April 1941: Nazi Postcard (small)

Der OBERSTE BEFEHLSHABER in Warschau

[ Adolf Hitler, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) on parade in Warsaw after Poland's defeat and occupation by Nazi and Soviet forces. ]


  
Postcard text - Hitler's Birthday in Krakau 20 April 1941: Nazi Postcard (small)

[ Reverse: ]

Geburtstag des Führers
20 April 1941
Krakau

[ The Fuhrer's birthday
20 April 1941
Cracow, Poland ]

[ no message ]

  


  
Notes by RWF:

Adolf Hitler's birthday was celebrated throughout the Third Reich and occupied territories, often with speeches and parades in the major cities. I do not know the date of this triumphal parade through Warsaw.

The Warsaw street pictured is one which escaped the Nazi air blitz and ground assault. The pavement seems to have been scrubbed further by a Nazi-era photographic shop. The lead automobile's headlights appear blacked out in the photograph, perhaps so they wouldn't visually distract from the rest of the scene.

At this point at least, the bystanders consist of more German troops than Polish civilians.

Karl Hennig was a major stamp dealer in Hamburg with Nazi Party connections. This is a souvenir card of a type sent in quantity to his dealership; or possibly a postwar forgery of the cancellation by Hennig using original materials.

Philatelists will notice that the prewar postage stamp of Poland is overprinted with the Nazi eagle, a 2-zloty denomination, and the authorizing agency, the General-Gouvernement. This agency, giving its earlier name in full, is the Generalgouvernement für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete, or the General Government for the Occupied Polish Territories, based in Cracow. This controlled, under Adolf Hitler, that region of conquered Poland which had not been directly annexed by Germany, nor occupied by the Soviet Union.

General Government of Poland at Wikipedia
  

© 2012 Robert Wilfred Franson


  
On my rediscovery of this postcard:
Oops — Hitler!
A Surprise in Context
by R. W. Franson

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