German Anti-Soviet Propaganda Stamp

Authors

Object ID

2015.2.149

Object Name

Stamp, Postage

Date

1935

Files

Content Warning

The Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection consists of images, documents, and artifacts related to the Holocaust. The collection contains materials that depict a number of topics that may be difficult for viewers to engage with, including: antisemitic descriptions, caricatures, and representation of Jewish people; Nazi imagery and ideology; descriptions and images of German ghettos; graphic images of the violence of the Holocaust; and the creation of the State of Israel. For more information, see our policy page.

Description

Green stamp on white serrated paper depicting Stalin in profile facing left. To the left of Stalin is the British crown, and on the right is a hammer and sickle. Titled "This is Jewish War" with Stars of David in the upper corners, and hammer and sickles in the lower corners.

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:

Both the Allies and Axis powers produced forgeries of their enemies' postage stamps. Among these were postal forgeries, which were intended to cause economic disruption by defrauding the adversaries' postal services, and propaganda forgeries, clandestinely distributed to increase dissent and weaken the morale of the enemy population. Propaganda forgeries created by the Nazis included stamps with antisemitic messages. Notable forgeries include spoofs of Great Britain's 1935 Silver Jubilee stamp, with the slogan "This War is a Jewish War," and the 1937 Coronation issue, noting the alliance between Stalin's USSR and Great Britain. Equating Stalinism with Judaism and claiming Nazism was a bulwark against Communism was a major theme of Nazi ideology. The Nazis also issued a set with overprints proclaiming the liquidation of the British Empire. The OSS (Office of Strategic Services), the forerunner of the CIA, ran a mission from Switzerland called "Operation Cornflakes" which involved bombing German mail trains and air-dropping bags of false but properly addressed mail containing Allied propaganda, including propaganda forgeries. The intent was that the false mail would be mixed in with the real mail and delivered by the German postal service. The most striking OSS forgeries mock German Hitler-head stamps, and picture Hitler's face as a partly exposed skull. (from Stampselector).

Dimensions

1 3/4 x 2 1/2"

Keywords

This War is a Jewish War, Star of David, Forgery, Propaganda, OSS Office of Stategic Services, Mail services, Postal service, Mail, Stamp, Joseph Stalin

Subcollection

Philatelic, Propaganda

Recommended Citation

"German Anti-Soviet Propaganda Stamp" (1935). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2015.2.149.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/239