Gallery

 

Danzig and the Berlin Exchange Control Office
by Robin Pizer


1. INTRODUCTION
After the first World War ended, there were at least six offices in Berlin that inspected the mail for one reason or another. The main inspection office for exchange control was in Berlin W8. For a short time after the war, the wartime censorship office in Berlin 0 17 remained open for exchange control purposes, while in Berlin SW 77 there was an office where parcels were examined for exchange control reasons and in Berlin N4 there was an office which inspected parcels for Customs purposes. Then there was an office in Berlin C2 which dealt with mail to the province of Posen in 1919. Such mail could not always be delivered because of the political upheaval caused by the re—drawing of the eastern boundaries of Germany. Lastly, mail posted at German embassies abroad and brought to the Foreign Ministry in Berlin by diplomatic bag was checked and handed over to the post office in Berlin W8 for onward delivery.

It should be understood that the censorship of mail for military purposes was banned by a law of 15 November 1918 but in its place, examination of the mail for exchange control reasons was introduced. This was to make sure that money, share certificates and other valuable items did. not cross German boundaries without permission. At the time, it can have been no more than a wise precaution, as no one could have foreseen the terrible inflation that was to come.

 

Danzig Report Vol. 1 - Nr. 77 - October - November - December - 1992, Page 3.