Bohemia and Moravia
1943-1944
Bohemia and Moravia issued the three stamps shown above (Mi. #114-16, Sc. #B15-17) on January 20, 1943 to raise money for the German Winter Relief Fund.
The three designs depict King Charles IV (1313-1378),
Peter Parler (1330-1399), and King John the Blind (1296-1346). Charles
IV and John the Blind were Bohemian born Holy Roman Emperors, and Peter
Parler was an architect, active in Bohemia and Germany at that time.
A new set of newspaper postage stamps was issued on February 15, 1943. The set is shown above (Mi. #117-25, Sc. #P11-19).
These
are similar in design to the ones issued in 1939, but the inscriptions
are different, and the denomination name abbreviation does not appear
after the denomination numerals.
The Michel catalog indicates that sheets of these stamps were privately
perforated by various commercial firms. No other information is given.
A collection of these privately perforated varieties, especially on
cover, would be a great enhancement to any Bohemia and Moravia philatelic study.
The two stamps at the top of the image above (Mi. #126-27, Sc. #B18-19) were issued on April 20, 1943 to commemorate the 54th Birthday of Adolph Hitler.
Both
of the stamps depict a portrait of Hitler, standing at a window of
Prague Castle, and looking out onto a panoramic view of the town of
Prague.
The three stamps at the bottom of
the image above (Mi. #128-30, Sc. #85-87) were issued on May 22, 1943 to commemorate the 130th Anniversary of the Birth of Richard Wagner (1813-1883).
The
three stamps depict a scene from the opera "Die Meistersinger", a
portrait of Richard Wagner, and a scene from the opera "Siegfried".
Wagner is probably best known for his four epic mythological operas,
known as the "Ring" or "Der Ring des Nibelungen". They are: "Das
Rheingold", "Die Walküre (Valkyrie)", "Siegfried", and
"Götterdämmerung".
The stamp at the upper left (Mi. #131, Sc. #B20) was issued on May 28, 1943
to commemorate the First Anniversary of the Death of Reinhard Heydrich,
the Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia.
The design features the SS symbol and the death mask of Heydrich.
This
design also exists in a miniature sheet, containing one perforated
stamp. The sheets were only distributed to people attending the funeral
of Reinhard Heydrich, and they were never sold to the public. The
sheets are exceedingly rare and are pretty much unobtainable. The
Michel catalog value for one is €20,000.
The stamp shown at the upper right (Mi. #132, Sc. #B21) was issued on September 16 to publicize and raise money for the German Red Cross.
The stamp is printed in black, with the design featuring an eagle standard with a red cross in front of it.
Take a look at the surtax amounts on these two issues and on the following issues.
At this time, the Germans REALLY started squeezing stamp collectors
and Czech citizens of Bohemia and Moravia for cash to support the German
war effort! The Heydrich stamp above has a postal franking value of 60
Haleru with a charity surtax of 4.40 Koruna ... thus, for someone to
use this stamp to mail a postcard, they would have to pay 5.00 Koruna
for the single stamp! The stamp at above right is even worse. The Red
Cross stamp has a postal franking value of 1.20 Koruna, along with a
surtax of 8.80 Koruna, thus, that stamp would cost the patron 10.00
Koruna at the post office.
Note: All of the stamp issues from the Red Cross issue onward are now inscribed "GROSSDEUTSCHES REICH" (Greater German State) instead of "DEUTSCHES REICH".
The three stamps at the top of the
image above (Mi. #133-35, Sc. #B22-24) were issued on March 15, 1944 to commemorate the 5th Anniversary of the Establishment of the "Protectorate".
Two of the stamps depict a couple wearing native costumes, and the other stamp depicts the Nazi emblem along with the arms of Bohemia and Moravia.
A Czech stamp collector would need to pay 40.00 Koruna for these three stamps, which have a face value of 15 Koruna!
The two stamps at the bottom of the image above (Mi. #136-37, Sc. #B25-26) were issued on April 20, 1944 to celebrate the 55th Birthday of Adolph Hitler.
The two stamps depict a portrait of Adolph Hitler, standing at the entrance of the City Hall in Bruno.
The two stamps at the top of the image
above (Mi. #138-39, Sc. #B27-28) were issued on May 12, 1944 to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of
the Death of Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884), a famous Czech composer and
pianist.
The two stamps at the bottom of the
image above (Mi. #140-41, Sc. #88-89) were issued on November 21, 1944 to commemorate the 600th Anniversary of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.
In
May 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allied forces, and the
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, along with the state of Slovakia,
once again became the Republic of Czechoslovakia.
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Bohemia and Moravia - 1943-1944
