On Tuesday November 19th Banbury Stamp Society welcomed Giles du Boulay who presented material under the topic ‘Danzig: the Propaganda War’.
Giles started by explaining that the Danzig Free State arose from the treaty of Versailles. The treaty re-instated the country of Poland but excluded the Baltic coast, which remained as German East Prussia. In order to provide Poland with access to the Baltic, a corridor was established which split German East Prussia from the rest of Germany. Although Poland had wanted access through Danzig, the British vetoed this and Danzig was instead set up as a free state under the administration of the newly-created League of Nations. Giles presentation charted the postal administration in Danzig, as well as the increasingly strident calls for ‘reunification’ of Germany which eventually happened in September 1939.
Danzig stamps were initially overprinted German stamps before it started issuing its own designs. Poland also set up a postal service which was only for mail between Danzig and Poland. We saw examples of all of the stamps and postal usage, including mail with Polish stamps sent through the Danzig system.
Much of the presentation covered German propaganda material calling for the reunification of Germany, Danzig and East Prussia. This was a mix of leaflets, labels stuck on letters and pre-printed envelopes. Giles’ material charted the rise of the Nazi party from its inauspicious beginning becoming increasingly strident and finished with the start of World War 2. In amongst the material were envelopes sent to Hitler from Danzig, and a telegram sent from Goering to the head of the Danzig government, Forster.
We finished with German ‘liberation’ stamps after the invasion in September 1939, followed with a postscript of how the modern Polish city of Gdansk rose from the ashes of Danzig at the end of the war.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday December 3rd: ‘Gibraltar 1850-1911’. Meet at 7:30pm at Hanwell Fields Community Centre. The Banbury Stamp Society is on-line at ‘www.banburystampsociety.co.uk’, or contact John Davies on 01295 255831.