Gallery

 

In This Report:
Gotenhafen - A Postal History of the Port, by John Miskevich .............................Pages 1,3-17
Addendum - More on the Schleswig-Holstein ..................................................................18-20
Gdingen-Gdynia-Gotenhafen - How it all began ....................................................................21
Eddie Krause Reports In.....................................................................................................22-24
Modified Postmarks in the once Free City ..............................................................................25
End of the Baltic Commercial Fleet, by Ton Hulkenberg........................................................26

Philatelic Reflections of 1944:
Eddie Krause’s well researched article on the re-use of captured Polish post cards and their use in Krakau in 1944 got us to thinking. Not too far away, on the Eastern Front. in:

January: General Kuchler onders his 18^th army back to the River Luga. Soviet tanks surround 60,000 in the Korsun Pocket. Hitler replaces Kuchler with Model.
February: Hitler is forced to withdraw Army Group North to Panther Line.
March: Zhukov overruns part of the 1^st Panzeramee. Kleist and Manstein replaced by Model and Schorner.
April: Soviets attack in Crimea. Hitler agrees to withdraw to Sevastopol, orders it to be “held to the last!”
May: Hitler changes his mind and orders Crimea to be evacuated. Remains of the German 17^th Army in Crimea are destroyed. Beginning of the rout along the entire front.

Now look at the information that Eddie provides on page 24. German stamp collectors are still writing to the Versandstelle für Sammiermarken (Phi kitelic Agency [in occupied KrakauJ for Stamp Collectors). This is no longer 1939 or 1940 --- it’s now 1944! Wow! Is philately interesting or what???

Also - Erwin Zwierzycki, our new friend in Gdansk, corrects our list of fifty post offices in his home town. There are flOW fifty-one: on 1 December l987opened Gdansk 51 Poczfa Poiska in Grunwaldzka 611. 80-340 Gdansk. Thanks, Erwin!

The author of the Gotenhalen article is John Miskevich, a lawyer by trade, having graduated from Rutgers College (1972) and the Widner University School of Law (1976). John began collecting postal history in 1977 and, between 1983 and 1995, contributed over forty articles to The Rulletiii of the Third Reich Study Group of the Germany Philatelic Society Besides maintaining members hips in the Danzig Study Group and the Color and Physical Measurements Study Group, he is also member of the Society for Czechoslovak Philately and the Civil Censorship Study Group iii the United Kingdom. John was the first-place recipient of the,George A. Blizil Literature Award of the G.P.S. for his articles in the German Postal Specialist in 1994, and again in 1995. You may write to him relative to this article at 74 Larkspur Lane, Clifton NJ 07013-3410.

 

Danzig Report Vol. 1 - Nr. 91 - April - May - June - 1996, Page 2.