Mail Routing and Censorship

Mail to the Red Cross from Warsaw

Routing and Censorship – Late 1944; Early 1945

Chris Kulpinski

Re-written, May, 2009

www.PolishPhilatelicLiterature.com

Table of Contents

Introduction ………………………………………. 2

Praga Region Post Offices ……………………….. 6

Warszawa 2/02 …………………………… 6

Warszawa 04 ……………………………… 11

Warszawa 9 ……………………………… 13

Warszawa 16 ……………………………… 16

Warszawa 23 ……………………………… 18

Warszawa 26 ……………………………… 20

Warszawa 38 ……………………………… 21

Warszawa 50 ……………………………… 24

Non-Praga cancellations on Praga return addresses.. 25

Routing…………………. ………………………... 27

Censorship ………………………………………… 34 Cairo ………………………………………. 34

Beyrouth – Free French …………………… 36

Liverpool………………………………… 43

Russia ……………………………………… 45

Colored Censor Tapes …………………….. 48

Uncensored Covers ……………………….. 52

Transit Markings ………………………………….. 54

Ankara ……………………………………. 54

Beyrouth ………………………………….. 54

Gibraltar ………………………………….. 54

Geneva ……………………………………. 54

Wysokie Mazowieckie ……………………...54

Earliest Known Covers …………………………… 56

Interesting Covers ………………………………… 58

Rarity Factors ……………………………………… 61

References ………………………………………… 68

MAPS

Warsaw Administrative Boundaries ……………… 3

1974 - Article - Praga Post Office Locations…… 4

2008 – Google - Praga Post Office Locations …….. 5

Mail Routing – Warszawa to Geneva ……………. 27

TABLES

Selected Travel Times …………………………….. 62

Detailed cover Information ……………………….. 63

INTRODUCTION

This manuscript explores a little known area of Polish philately which deals with the various markings and censorships found on Polish mail in late 1944 and early 1945 to the Red Cross in Switzerland. This story cannot be told without focusing on the covers that came from the Praga section of Warsaw at this time.

By mid summer of 1944, the war effort for Germany was not going well. On the Eastern Front, the Russians were rapidly advancing, only to stop at the banks of the Vistula River.

The Vistula River divides Warsaw. The section to the east of the River is known as Praga. That part of Warsaw was liberated by Polish units fighting with the Russian Army in the summer of 1944

While the Western portion of Warsaw was leveled by the Nazi during the Warsaw Uprising, the Eastern portion was occupied by the Russians and escaped destruction. It began to establish a more normal existence, including postal communications.

On July 22, 1994, the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN) was formed under Soviet auspices in Lublin. Part of their function was to re-establish postal services.

On September 7, 1944 the PKWN in Lublin, produced its 1^st issue, “Hero’s”. (Sc.341/3; Fischer 339/341). The issue was short lived because of its crude design and printing.

A week later, on September 13^th, a 2^nd set of 2 stamps was issued in Kraków and it depicted the Polish Eagle and the Grunwald Monument. (Sc.344/5; Fischer 342/343). The 25gr. Eagle stamp was withdrawn 10 weeks later on December 31^st because the 25gr. rate was no longer a valid postal rate. The use of these Eagles was short lived and was used in a time of chaos. Covers with these stamps are choice.

Both of these stamps were issued to arouse nationalism and public pride.

The Eagle is the symbol of Poland and traditionally, on stamps, the Eagle was portrayed with a crown. Even stamps issued after WWI, portrayed the Eagle with a crown, even though there was no monarchy. With the arrival of the Soviets and Communism, the symbol of the monarchy was abolished.

The 50 gr. stamp, depicting the Monument at Grunwald was another portrayal of Polish pride and nationalism. The monument commemorates the victory of the Polish Knights of the Cross over the German Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410.

Although these stamps were used throughout Russian occupied Poland in late 1944, there is scant evidence or records of postal activity during this era. Records of post offices and other postal activities are virtually non-existent in Polish postal archives and covers are few and far between

The greatest source of evidence and actual usage comes from covers sent to the Red Cross in Geneva that were somehow saved from destruction and happen to find their way into the hands of collectors. In fact the vast majority of the covers that found their way into the hands of collectors come from the Praga section of Warsaw.

In 1944, Praga consisted of North and South Praga, an area of only several square miles, which included a number of named neighborhoods.

After the war, and especially in 1951, Warsaw annexed numerous districts and expanded and today, in the wider sense, all areas of Warsaw located on the right bank of Vistula are also known under the collective term of Praga. Besides historical Praga, they include:

Białołęka, Rembertów, Targówek , Wawer and Wesoła .

Map showing the current administrative districts and boundaries of Warszawa.

The outlined area in black shows the boundaries of the city in 1944.

In the January 1974 issue of the Bulletin of the Warsaw Philatelic Society, there appeared a short article listing 8 post offices that were opened during this period – that is, starting sometime in mid to late September, 1944. An exact date of the opening of these post offices is not known. A study of known covers determined the earliest known activity from Praga is November 18, 1944. In fact, all of the mail from the Praga area appears to be after November 18, although mail from outside the area is known to exist as early as early October 6, 1944 from Węgrów, a town some 65 km E.N.E of Warsaw.

The covers from Praga sent to the Red Cross in Geneva are the basis of information that we have in reference to the routing and censorship of mail leaving Poland. Although there is mail leaving Poland from other areas occupied by Russia, the majority is from Praga district of Warsaw.

According to the Bulletin of the Warsaw Philatelic Society, the addresses of post offices operating in Praga in the late Fall of 1944 were as follows:

Warszawa 2 at 11 Ratuszowa Street –

Warszawa 4 at 102 Radzyminska Street;

Warszawa 9 at 26 Wysocki Street, (not shown on map);

Warszawa 16 at 60 Zabkowska Street

Warszawa 23 at 25 Stalowa Street

Warszawa 26 - no address provided

Warszawa 38 at 26 Zamoyski Streetg

Warszawa 50 at 108 Grochowska Street

Presuming the addresses of the post offices are correct, I have been able to pin point all of the addresses, using Goggle Maps.

There is no evidence of mail either from Warszawa 2 or Warszawa 50 during this time period and therefore it would be safe to presume that they were not functioning, thought they were in operation in some previous time period.

PRAGA REGION POST OFFICES

The following post offices have been identified as being operational in the Praga District of Warsaw; that area that was liberated by the advancing Soviets in September of 1944. Accurate information about the openings, operations, etc. is lost.

P.O. Warszawa 2/02

No covers emanating from this location are known, however Warszawa 2 transit markings began showing up on mail from both sides of the River after the Russians drove the Germans out of Warsaw on January 17, 1945. In addition, it is possible that previous writers may have mistaken a damaged Warszawa 04 as a 02. The Warszawa 02 cancellations that are known are “Warszawa 2” rather than “Warszawa 02”

Normal “04” canceller Altered, damaged or soiled “04”

The only cover that I have seen with a Warszawa 2 date stamp that was mailed from the Praga district is from Warszawa 38 and dated December 18, 1944 where it was registered and canceled. The cover lingered somewhere because it was then censored by the Polish military and stamped Warszawa 2 on June 25, 1945; nearly 200 days later.

Cover registered at Warszawa 38 with a pencil date notation – 18/XII

Back of the cover shows a Warszawa 38 U.P.T.Warszawa cancellation, Polish Military censor marking and a Warszawa 2 CDS

Registered December 18, 1944 at P.O. 38 Cancelled at P.O. 2, June 25, 1945

The covers with Warszawa 2 cancellation are all covers that are dated in 1945. If Warszawa 2 was used in 1944, it is possible that it was a staging area for mail being transited to Moscow.

On the other hand, it could have been a pre-war post office building, identified as such and assumed that it was operational in 1944.

It is most likely that Warszawa 2 was reactivated after the Germans retreated from Warsaw on January 17, 1945.

This registered cover was also mailed from Warszawa 38 on July 20, 1945. It was routed to Warszawa 2 and date stamped July 24, 1945, than on to Ankara (25.9.45) and finally Geneva (26.X.45).

Targowa St., which the sender gave as a return address is in the Praga District and is not far from Warszawa 2 on Ratuszowa St. According to the Bulletin of the Warsaw Philatelic Society, Warszawa 2 was located closer to the addressee than Warszawa 38.

The fact that the letter was posted in a P.O. further from home supports the notion that Warszawa 2 was used as a staging area for mail bound out of the country via Moscow and not a post office for normal transactions; or it may not have been active at all in 1944.

The cancellation on the left is from the former cover shown, while the one on the right is from the latter cover shown. They appear to be the same and both have 1945 dates.

Other cancellations from Warszawa 2, all dated 1945

This cover is mailed from Świecie n. Wisłą , July 9, 1945. This town is situated on the Wisła River, about 100 km south of Gdansk

The cover has a seldom seen double ring Warszawa 2 (June 12, 1945) transit cancellation.

Markings -

Świecie n. Wisłą , cancellation - July 9, 1945

Warszawa 2 transit marking – June 12, 1945

Polish military censor - 1460

Ankara transit mark –

Beyrouth transit cancel – August 28, 1945

Free French censor label, applied in Beyrouth

Brown tape, likely applied in Beyrouth because of the typical French custom of tying the label to the cover with a pencil code

Geneva receiving stamp – October 17, 1945

P.O. Warszawa 04

Warszawa 04 appears to have been one of the busiest post office; however, most of the covers cancelled at this post office are from P.O. Warszawa 16, which was just on the edge of Praga North distinct of Warszawa. The mail was registered at P.O. Warszawa 16 but the stamps were cancelled at Warszawa 04. A recent find shows a cover from Warszawa 9 being cancelled here as well.

There are not many covers that have originated at this post office – i.e have both the registration and cancellation markings of Warszawa 04

REGISTRATION MARKS

Three types of registration markings are known – pencil, metal and labels.

CDS Warszawa 04 (November 24, 1944) and a pencil registration mark.

WARSZAWA 04 (December 4, 1944) cancellation and registration mark

I have seen only 2 registration labels on covers from this time period. Registration is in pencil, on a cover dated November 27, 1944

Found on cover dated November 28, 1944

CANCELLATIONS

All cancellations from Warszawa 04 are a circular 24cm date stamp. In the earliest days of operation, the registration marks were inserted with pencil and latter a standard registration cachet became available.

A Polish article suggests that the earliest cancellations were applied from an altered German WARSCAHU NO4. Eventually the wording was changed to read WARSZAWA 04. I have not seen any such cancellations.

Hand drawing from old Polish article.

Warszawa 04 cancellations are primarily found on mail registered and forwarded from Warszawa 16

WARSZAWA 04 cancellation and WARSZAWA 16 hand registration.

Warszawa 16 very likely was the sub-station of Warszawa 04

Covers with this combination of cancellations from these two post offices are the most common.

Example of only known registered cover from Warszawa 9, cancelled at Warszawa 04.

Dated December 20, 1944

P.O. Warszawa 9

Covers from Warszawa 9 are scarce. To date, there are only three known covers. Two are shown below. The first cover was registered at Warszawa 9, but the stamps were cancelled at Warszawa 04. The second cover was registered and cancelled at Warszawa 9

REGISTRATION

Only type of registration mark known to have been used at this P.O.

CANCELLATIONS

Since covers from this post office are scarce, and we do not know when the station became active, it is difficult to ascertain how many covers were sent to Warszawa 04 for cancellation. Predicated on the registration number, it must have been at least 244.

Cutout showing the Warszawa 9 registration mark and the Warszawa 04 cancellation.

Dated December 20, 1944

Straight line date cancel; 21 Grudzien;

December 21 (1944)

At the present, it is not known in this post office ever received a standard canceller.

Censored in Cairo

Notice the return address reads

Warszawa 9

Ankara transit marking – February 22, 1945 and Geneva receiving mark – April 10, 1945. Even thought the cover was mailed in late December, it was still among the first letters to arrive in Geneva.

Letter mailed one day later, but now the post office has its own canceller. Nevertheless, the cover arrived in Geneva on May 15, 1945, 35 days after the letter mailed the previous day.

Cover from P.O. Warszawa 9, registered and cancelled with a

21 Grudzien straight line date stamp

This cover also has Warszawa 9 listed in the return address.

Ankara transit marking – March 24, 1945. Geneva receiving mark – May 15, 194

P.O. Warszawa 16

This post office was located on the eastern edge of Praga North district of Warszawa. All mail posted from this station has hand made registration markings and the stamps are not cancelled. The covers were cancelled at Warszawa 04.

REGISTRATION MARKS

The early markings from this post office consist of hand made registration marks. Standard rectangular registration marks appear in sometimes in 1945.

Typical hand drawn registration notations found from Warszawa 16

Standard registration mark found on cover dated December 3, 1944, but still cancelled at Warszawa 04.

Warszawa 16 was a substation of Warszawa 04.

Covers were routinely routed through P.O. Warszawa 04, where they were stamped.

CANCELLATIONS

Covers were cancelled at Warszawa 04 and we do not know when the post office received its cancellation device, but very likely not until sometime in 1945.

Cover to Geneva, dated June 4, 1945

As most covers mailed in 1945, this cover was censored by the French in Beyrouth.

P.O. Warszawa 23

This was a fairly active post office.

REGISTRATION MARKS

First pencil and than a standard registration marking was used.

Lettering – 45x7 mm

POLECONY (registered) hand stamp occasionally found on mail from this post office and #26

Occasional handwritten “polecony” markings found on mail from most other post offices

CANCELLATIONS

Straight line date cancellations were used at first, but most covers have the double ring cancellation. The moveable date device originally used for cancellation was still used to insert the date into the new canceller.

Early cover from post office Warszawa 23 with straight line moveable date device used as a cancellation, along with a red pencil cancellation.

Cover dated 26.XI.1944.

Cover has no transit or censorship markings and is unusual because of that.

Trip to Geneva took 9 months.

This cover is dated two days earlier than the cover shown on above, however, it arrived in Geneva in 4 months rather than 9 months.

· Boxed Registration – Warszawa 23

· Ankara transit marking

· Beyrouth transit marking

· French “Non Controle” – Not Censored marking

· Cairo Censorship

· March 19, 1945 Gibraltar marking

· Geneva arrival CDS

P.O. Warszawa 26

This also was an active post office.

REGISTRATION MARKS

Early registered mail from this post office was indicated with the straight line WARSZAWA 26 marking, along with a pencil notation signifying the date and registration number.

November 29, 1944

Eventually a rectangular registration stamp was obtained.

Found on cover dated December 5, 1944. It appears that with the new registration stamp, registration numbering started from the beginning.

POLECONY markings have been found only on mail from Warszawa 23 and 26.

Rubber hand stamp – wording - 35x5 mm

CANCELLATIONS

The same device used for registration was also the canceller. These cancellations are always in red or violet and difficult to read against the stamps.

Portion of envelope with Warszawa 26 straight line cancel used both to create a registration cachet and used as a canceller. Dated October 28, 1944.

P.O. Warszawa 38

The station was fairly active and produced a number of covers. The post office was located in a building owned by and next to the Wedel Candy Factory. The Wedel Candy Factory is still in existence and now owned by Cadbury.

REGISTRATION MARKS

Prior to receiving a standard registration handstamp, registration was noted by pencil, with a WARSZAWA rubber handstamp that was also used to cancel the stamps. To designate the P.O., both the word WEDEL and the number 38 were used interchangeably.

November 22, 1944 registration with notation “38”

November 25, 1944 registration with notation “WEDEL”

The “WEDEL” marking is found next to the WARSZAWA handstamp.

November 28, 1944 registration with “38”

Registration marking with both the word “WEDEL” and the number “38”, verifying that P.O. 38 was in fact in the Wedel Candy plant.

Eventually a standardized registration cachet was made available, but we do not know when.

Only known cover with both Wedel and #38 used in registration and which proves that the Wedel site was in fact Warszawa 38.

Dated November 21, 1944 – Registration # 112

CANCELLATIONS

P.O. Warszawa 38 was the only station with 2 different cancellations. A straight line WARSZAWA, the same as used for registration, as well as “U.P.T. WARSZAWA”. Both were used to cancel stamps.

Two examples of the U.P.T. Warszawa cancellation, which is 10 x 77mm

Standard Warszawa 38 registration cachet with a straight line Warszawa cancellation.

Dated December 28, 1944.

From the collection of Jay Carrigan

Examples of both type of cancellations used on the same cover from Warszawa 38

Warszawa 38, dated November 22, 1944 – Registration #128

Warszawa Wedel, dated November 25, 1944 – Registration # 227

Warszawa 38, dated November 28, 1944 – Registration #372

P.O. Warszawa 50 Although the address of 108 Grochowska St. is mentioned as the location of this post office, no known covers from this post office are known to exist.

NEIGHBORHOODS WITH PRAGA RETURN ADDRESSES,

BUT OTHER CANCELLATIONS

ANIN

Today, Anin is a neighborhood in the Wawer district. In 1944 it was a village, just on the edge of Praga South, with some semblance of a postal substation, with no cancellers or registration cachets. How many such covers exist is unknown, but very likely this is the only copy based on the low registration number.

Cover from Anin, dated in pen, December 2, 1944, with the stamps cancelled with a pen.

Even though the markings are from ANIN, notice that the return address is Praga

RADOŚĆ

Radość was official annexed to Warsaw and became a part of the Wawer district in 1951.

In 1944, it was large enough to have its own post office.

Altered German Radosc/ a über Warschau canceller, dated November 25, 1944.

Cover has Ankara as well as a rare (for this time period) Beyrouth transit markings with a

Non Controle (not censored) Free French marking.

German Radosc über Warschau registration label

Even thought the cover was sent from Radość, notice that the return address reads Warszawa-Praga

MAIL ROUTING

The exact routing and transportation of mail to Switzerland is, as of this writing, not exactly known, although it was accomplished by sending the mail in bulk to Moscow, from there to Ankara, Turkey, where it was usually stamped, then through Beyrouth, where it was sometimes back stamped, on to Cairo, Egypt where it was censored, to Gibraltar on to Liverpool and finally Geneva.. With the entry of Italy into the war, activity on Gibraltar was severely curtailed. The arrival of mail from Poland towards the end of the war most likely was unexpected. The covers, which where registered, were backstamped and forwarded to Geneva. In the spring of 1945, the covers were routed to Liverpool, England for censorship and finally to Geneva.

As overly simple as this may sound, the above hypothesis does not always hold water. There is evidence that mail, during the same time period may have been transported through different routes, and if not, than it by passed censorship, until it reached Liverpool. There is evidence of covers being censored in Beirut, then Cairo, then some secret location where the mail was again opened and sealed with a non-descript orange label, though we do not know why or where.2

With only a few exceptions, all registered covers have Geneva receiving CDS’s. There is very little consistency as to length of the journey or censorship of the mails. However, we do know that the first covers arrived in Geneva on April 10, 1945. Some of these covers were mailed as early as November 2, 1944 and others as late as December 22, 1944. Other covers, mailed during the same time period arrived as late as October 23, 1945.

Mail sent after January 17, 1945 was occasionally though not consistently, censored in Beyrouth by the Free French even though Ankara was never by-passed as a transit city. The trip, could take as little as 4 months and as long as a year. Average trip for letters mailed in the Fall and winter of 1944 appears to have been 5 to 6 months.

A mystery remains as to which Warszawa post office acted as the staging area for the bulk mail being transferred through Moscow.

It is possible that Warszawa 2 was the drop point for mail bags from the other post offices. If so, it did not function as a place from which civilians could post their mail, as there is no evidence of mail with a Warszawa 2 cancellation prior to the Spring of 1945.

It is also possible that Warszawa 4 was the staging post office due to mail from Warszawa 9 and Warszawa 16 being routed through that station, as well as the fact that few letters originated from there.

In general, it appears that during this period – late 1944 - each post office went through its own transition period in reference to cancellers and other devices. Everything from pencil markings to stylish cancellations are known to exist. To the extent possible, these are shown below.

It is also interesting to speculate as to conditions and the urgency, or lack of, in those times; especially in relationship to the amount of time it took for the mail to reach its destination. In some instances it took the mail one year to make the trip, and the average was 5 to 6 months. Why so long?

Pondering this subject, I have come to the following observations –

It appears that overall, there wasn’t that much mail from any given post office in the Praga area of Warsaw, so it lay in a mail pouch until such time as it was taken to the staging area for shipment out of the country. It could have been several days or even weeks at various locations..
Mail was then gathered and routed, very likely through Moscow, via train or truck, to Ankara. It is possible that there was no direct route, so the mailbags had to be unloaded numerous times, where they remain until reloaded on a train or truck towards Ankara. I don’t know if trains ran daily. The bags could have languished for weeks at some depot.

To support the theory that mail was routed through Moscow is the cover shown on the following page, and which has a Russian transit marking.

· In Ankara, the mail bags were finally unloaded, and the contents transferred. The mail had to be taken out of the mail bags to be stamped. Maybe the Soviets wanted their mailbags back.

From Ankara on to Cairo via Beyrouth but how? Air or ship, although rail or truck is more probable. In Cairo the mail was usually opened and censored, than sent on to Geneva, via Gibraltar and later Liverpool, England.
Once the mail passed through Ankara, the rest of the trip was relatively quick, approximately 6 weeks to the offices of the Red Cross.
The question arises as to why a few covers exist that have the French Non Controle (not censored) hand stamp. Why was it necessary to identify that fact? The mail always transited through Beyrouth, but was never handled until sometimes in June, 1945.
In addition, some of the covers I have seen transiting and being censored in Beyrouth have been also censored in Cairo, and sealed with regular censor tapes, while other covers have undistinguished plain brown or orange tape sealing the cover, with indications of various censors in various areas censoring the cover, but not identifying them selves as to country of origin. More on that in the appropriate sections.
Finally, there seems to be no consistent application of censorship and though the majority of covers were censored, there are many unknowns.

Earliest Known Covers

Biłgoraj - October 2, 1944

Węgrów - November 6, 1944

Warszawa 2 – no postmarks, other than transit markings after January 17, 1945

Warszawa 4 - November 21, 1944

Warszawa 9 – December 21, 1944

Warszawa 16 – November 21, 1944

Warszawa 23 – November 9, 1944

Warszawa 26 – October 28, 1944

Warszawa 38 – November 20, 1944

Warszawa 50 – No known covers

Predicated on registration numbers seen on earliest covers, it is very likely that there maybe earlier dated covers; however, they have as yet not surfaced.

Mail Routing – Warszawa to Geneva

Mail Routing – Warszawa ~ Moscow ~ Ankara ~ Beyrouth ~ Cairo ~ Gibraltar ~ London ~ Geneva

Although it is not exactly known how the mail was transported, very likely it was moved by rail or truck from Warszawa to Moscow, rail or truck from Moscow to Ankara, through Beirut to Cairo; from Cairo to Gibraltar by sea or air through Liverpool and finally by air to Geneva.

It is also possible, that except for 2 occasions, (March 19^th and 20^th, 1945) the mail never went through Gibraltar.

We know that Gibraltar was a stop along the way in the beginning, because of mail that was handled by the post office and stamped a “Registered” on the 19^th and 20^thof March. From there, the next marking was a Geneva receiving mark.

Although we know, because of markings, that the mail traveled via the indicated route as far as Cairo, the route to Geneva very likely went through Liverpool, England.

Subsequently covers began to appear bearing English censor tapes. It is very likely that these tapes were applied in Liverpool because large contingents of Polish troops were stationed there and it would seem obvious that there were Polish speaking censors assigned to that area.

I present you with a dilemma – 5 covers, all from Warszawa 23 and all mailed within a 2 week period. ALL 5 HAVE DIFFERENT MARKINGS AND ARRIVED ON DIFFERENT DAYS IN GENEVA. The later mail was sent, the sooner it arrived, and on one case, arriving 3 months earlier than a cover sent two weeks earlier (Covers #1 and #5)

#1 – Warszawa 23 – November 15, 1945

Geneva – August 20, 1945 British censor tape

Warszawa 23 – November 25, 1945

Geneva – July 17, 1945 British censor tape

Warszawa 23 – December 1, 1944

Ankara transit marking - April 17, 1945

Geneva arrival – June 12, 1945 British censor tape

Warszawa 23 – December 1, 1944

Geneva arrival – July 15, 1945 British censor tape

Warszawa 23 – December 2, 1944

Geneva – May 15, 1945 Via Cairo

Further evidence of routing through Liverpool is the machine cancellation on this cover.

Rare unregistered cover, undated from WARSZAWA 26. No other markings than a Polish military marking (not shown) and a machine transit marking from Ankara dated July 29, 1945, a censor tape from Liverpool and a mute Postage Paid machine cancel with a “V” for victory cancel applied in Liverpool after censorship.

Because this letter was unregistered, it did not deserve all the extra censorship and markings and because it was not registered, it may have taken as long as 12 months to reach Geneva.

Machine transit marking from Ankara dated July 29, 1945

Thought not part of this study, but as a help to others who will be studying these transit routes, I present the following cover.

Mailed from Ex-POW Camp Murnau on Bavaria on August 17^th, 1945 to the Red Cross in Geneva, this cover was transported though Ankara, where it was machine cancelled 17.12.1945 – 4 months later before it arrived in Liverpool, where it was censored prior to being forwarded to Geneva.

Fact for future historians – Camp Murnau was in the American Zone. Question – why was the cover routed through Ankara and Liverpool?

CENSORSHIP

CENSORSHIP OVERVIEW

By early 1945, it was obvious that the war was winding down however, however, censorship continued and it appears carried out in a haphazard manner. Censorship was inconsistent; some mail was opened and resealed, while other mail was just stamped as censored, without being opened. Covers exist without any markings, as well as various colored censor tapes, with no indication where the letter was opened.

Covers are found censored in

· Cairo ~ the majority of the covers were censored in Cairo

· Beyrouth ~ few covers exist that were censored by the Free French. Several of those covers censored in Beyrouth were also censored in Cairo

· By Polish military beginning in November, 1944

· Liverpool ~ ALL mail that did not have a Gibraltar “registered mail” stamp, was censored in Loverpool

· A small number of registered covers were not censored

· Covers that were NOT registered were censored only in Liverpool

CAIRO CENSORHIP

Virtually all registered covers that ere were censored in Cairo have Gibraltar “Registered Mail”, with either March 19^th or 20^th dates. Censorship was fairly consistent, though we do not know what some of the censor marks mean and why they were applied. Works by authors knowledgeable in this area do not provide adequate answers.

With very few exceptions, the covers mailed in 1944 were opened and censored, then resealed with a tape. The tape was tied to the cover by 2 different Censorship Dept. cancels, of which one was always #107.

Although the following censor ID numbers are known on Polish covers –

(6, 9, 10, 13, 18, 40, 41, 43, 45, 48, 72, 76, 81, 84, 107 and 120), the numbers range from 1 to 120.

Although it appears that the Egyptians censored the mail, in reality it was under British direction.

In addition, various other Egyptian censor marks are found, but they do not appear on all covers.

This is the only know copy of this particular censor tape on covers to the IRC from Poland.

Why was this letter censored twice?

BEYROUTH CENSORSHIP

French censorship of Polish mail did not begin until June of 1945; however, I include it in this monograph because of the earlier NON CONTROLE marking on mail from Warszawa and therefore the spillover of censorship on Polish covers to the Red Cross and an unexpected French censored cover from Węgrów, dated November 6, 1944.

Although censorship was prevalent the Levant since July of 1941, Polish mail enroute to Geneva, via Cairo, was not censored until the British took de-facto control of Lebanon and therefore censorship operations in June, 1945, which makes the following cover very interesting.

This cover is from Węgrów and dated November 6, 1944.

Węgrów is about 75 km E.N.E of Warsaw.

This is the only cover I’ve seen that is censored by the French in Beyrouth prior to British

assumption of control. It is either an anomaly and in reality, this cover should not have been touched by the French, however, it may be that since this cover was not from Warszawa, it took a different routing.

It is interesting to note that mail that was censored in Beyrouth in the summer of 1945 was from areas outside of Warszawa.

The cover is censored by both the Free French in Beyrouth and the English in Cairo. The cover arrived in Geneva with the first batch of mail, on April 10, 1945

Ankara transit date - illegible

Beyrouth CDS – February 7, 1945

Gibraltar transit date – March 20, 1945

Geneva arrival date – April 10. 1945

Several covers, prior to British assumption of control, somehow found themselves isolated in Beyrouth, have a Beyrouth transit marking, but also have a French NON CONTROLE hand stamp on the front of the cover, signifying that the letter was not censored. I have only seen three such covers.

Cover was mailed from Warszawa 23, November 24, 1944 and transiting through Ankara on February 6, 1945.

The cover has a Beyrouth CDs dated February 14, 1945, as well as a "NON CONTROLÉ” (Not Censored) handstamp. It was censored in Egypt, passing thought Gibraltar on March 19^th and arriving in Geneva on April 10, 1945.

Beyrouth transit marking – February 14, 1945, before the British assumed de-facto control

►►►

Originating in Warszawa 16, cancelled at Warszawa 04 on December 12, 1944, transiting through Ankara, February 6, 1945; Beyrouth on February 13, 1945 where it received the "NON CONTROLÉ” designation; censored in Cairo; March 19, 1945, Gibraltar transit marking and arriving in Geneva on April 10, 1945. A fast trip for those times.

◄◄◄

Beyrouth transit marking – February 13, 1944

Except for the cover shown above, no covers mailed prior to January 17, 1945 (when the Germans retreated from Warsaw) are known to have been censored by the French, however, letters transiting through Beyrouth after the British assumed control in June of 1945 were now censored and sealed with French tapes and tied to cover with French coded dates and censor I.D’s.

Whereas previously applied transit markings read ANKARA on virtually all mail, now transit markings were sporadic. Some covers have a Beyrouth CDS, some an Ankara CDS and other covers have no transit markings, but were still censored in Beyrouth.

Covers that were examined by the Free French have a “Controlle” tape which is tied to the cover with a pencil notation, and a circular censor mark. Not all censored covers have a Beyrouth cancellation.

French CONTROLE censor tape

The turbulent European colonial history of the Levant, spearheaded by the French, resulted in various phobias resulting in interesting censor markings in 1945.

Various circular and semi-circular handstamps containing a Croix de Lorraine (Cross of Lorraine) and the initials C.P. (Censure Publique – Public Censor) were used to mark censored civil mail. Other covers have S.C. (Securite Civile).

Free French individual circular hand stamps come with different identifying markings within the circle in various sizes around 22 to 27 mm. There are about a dozen different, but similar styles of censor marks.

Although censorship points existed in Beyrouth, Damascus and Aleppo, and each used a different design of handstamp, the circular handstamps shown on the left were used in Beyrouth, where mail from Poland was censored.

More specifically in the matter of French censorship, the French went to great pains to date and identify most items if not once then twice, if not more. In addition, individual censors had to “sign” their work with a 7 digit signature. This was usually done with pencil, in code, tying the censor tape to the cover with numbers. These numbers contained the individual censor I.D., a date and routing code. Why the French developed such a complex system is not known.

Example of a censors “signature”.

Another date coding method was the application of a four number code

The two covers above have the same number code – R 1812.

These four number codes are date related and signify some time period i.e. receipt of cover, transfer to another location, or the forwarding date.

Ironically, they were sent from Poland on the same date, however from different locations –

Top Cover – from Warszawa 16 via Warszawa 2 on June 4, 1945

Bottom Cover – from Torun on June 4, 1945

An interesting feature is that most of the mail censored in Beyrouth came from towns other than Warsaw and from areas that were previously occupied by Germany. I do not know if these covers took a different route to get to Beyrouth.

An even more interesting feature is that ALL mail censored in Beyrouth is again examined elsewhere, sometimes in Cairo, but usually the only indication that the cover was re-opened is a colored tape, which was used to resealed the cover. This topic is further covered under the section “Colored Censor Tapes”

Registered cover from Swiecie n.Wisłą, dated June 9, 1945.

Note the pencil numerical inscription and the circular C.P. censor mark tying the censor tape to the cover

Note the pencil censor inscription on the brown tape. It is possible that the notation is NOT French, but is made to appear as if it is.

Cover transited through Warszawa 2, June 12, 1945, Ankara, August 8, 1945,

Beyrouth, August 28, 1945 and arrived in Geneva October 17, 1945.

Only a few covers have both the Ankara and Beyrouth transit markings

Cover from Torun, dated June 4, 1945 and transiting though Ankara.

Although the cover was censored in Beyrouth, there is no Beyrouth transit mark. The cover was first censored by the Polish military and then in Egypt.

LIVERPOOL CENSORSHIP

Censorship at Liverpool was carried out if a cover was not censored elsewhere. This usually applied to all covers

Censor tape is found with various numbers.

There are numerous Examiner ID #’s. I have seen 12115, 1682, 1761, 2128, 3334, 5843 and 7830. Of the two known types of censor sealing labels known,with P.C. 90 designation being the most prevalent.

Censor label found with various numbers and sometimes in red

There are no markings on this registered cover from Radość (December 19, 1944) and the only evidence of censorship is the sealing censor tape applied at Gibraltar.

Cover was mailed from Warszawa 38, censored by the Polish military and the British in Liverpool. The cover was not registered; therefore there is no Geneva receiving cancel.

RUSSIAN CENSORSHIP and TRANSIT MARKING

Covers with Russian markings of any type are seldom seen. It was not the normal procedure to have the Soviets handle each piece of mail on its route to Ankara.

Somehow, the few covers that do exist with Soviet markings are an anomaly in that they somehow were “lost” or misdirected. When they were returned to the system, they were appropriately marked, as seen from the different examples shown below.

Cover sent from Warszawa 26 to Red Cross in Geneva, via Wysokie Mazowieckie. Russian CDS gives the date as December 12, 1944. The cover was not censored in either Beyrouth or Cairo, but was censored in Gibraltar, as evidenced by the British censor tape. The cover was received in Geneva on June 13, 1945.

This scan was taken from the internet and I could not get a scan of the face of the cover

Scan taken from the internet. Reverse of cover from Warszawa 38 with a

January 19, 1945 Soviet censor’s date.

The Soviet cancellation tying the stamp to the cover is from the Military Postal sorting Points unit of the Red Army Field Post System. The cancellation, though difficult to read clearly states “Voen. Pochta” – Military Mail.

The other cancellation is not readable.

At the present, there is no way of identifying the location of that unit.

This marking substantiates the theory that mail was routed through Moscow. Somehow this and a few other covers fell out the mail bag, figuratively speaking, or otherwise misdirected on their way to Ankara.

Cover from Warszawa 16 and cancelled at Warszawa 4 on December 2, 1944.

No transit markings except the Russian censor marking –“Voennaya tsenzura SSR/ Censor 64/M, which was located in Moscow (M).

There is no evidence that the letter was opened

Received in Geneva August 25, 1945, a trip of 9 months.

COLORED CENSOR TAPE

In addition covers are found with an orange, pink and brown sealing tape. It is not known where or by whom these tapes were applied, but positioning of the tapes indicates that these few covers were opened AFTER they were censored in Beyrouth.

Since these covers have non-standard Egyptian censor markings, it is likely that they were again censored by the British in Egypt. What is interesting is that these games of clandestine censorship were being played AFTER the war was over.

Notice that the orange sealing tape is over the French Controle tape

Cover mailed from Łodź, and dated June 1, 1945. The cover was censored by the Free French in Beyrouth (French Censor Tapes) and again censored in Egypt. The circular M/32 and the two triangular marks were applied in Egypt.

Warszawa 2 transit marking, June 3, 1945

Orange tape covers the French censor tape

Cover mailed from Łomza and dated July 18, 1945, censored by both the Polish military and the Free French in Lebanon. Double circle RM marking was applied in Egypt.

Warszawa 2 (July 23, 1945) transit marking, Beyrouth CDS (September 5, 1945) and a Geneva receiving mark (October 25, 1945)

Cover mailed form Włochy and dated July 15, 1945 and censored by the Free French in the Levant (Syria & Lebanon). Circular RM marking was applied in Egypt.

Beyrouth transit marking (September 5, 1945) and Geneva receiving mark (October 25, 1945)

Cover from Poznan, with an illegible date stamp, censored by the Polish military - #1561, no Ankara or Beyrouth transit markings, with French censor tape and censor markings, Cairo censor marking (M/63 and triangular 13), along with an orange censor tape

Cover from Poznan, dated July 4, 1945, censored by the Polish military, Cairo censor markings with a pink censor tape. There are no transit markings whatsoever on this cover.

Registered cover from Swiecie n.Wisłą, dated June 9, 1945.

Two Warszawa 2 transit marking – one June12, 1945 the other several days later

Ankara marking – August 7. 1945

Beyrouth – August 28, 1945

Geneva - October 17, 1945

Although the brown tape is tied to the cover with a pencil notation, it is not consistent with other French codes and therefore may have been applied elsewhere and penciled as a subterfuge.

It is interesting to speculate where this cover was opened and re-sealed with a brown tape, which cover the white censor tape which was applied in Liverpool.

Registered cover is from Warszawa 16, cancelled at Warszawa 04, 3.XII.44

Cover from Poznan, dated July 4, 1945 and censored by the Polish military.

The other markings were applied in Cairo.

No transit markings.

Cover from Torun, with illegible date stamp, however it is censored by the Polish military (#1462),

as well as in Cairo.

No transit markings, but a light pink censor tape.

The Red Cross insignia on the reverse was applied in Torun.

UNCENSORED COVERS

In all, very few covers were NOT censored and uncensored covers are rare.

Registered and sent from Warszawa 23, on November 26, 1944.

Blue pencil mark indicates the cover registered.

Geneva receiving mark – August 20, 1945 - 269 days in route.

Warszawa 4 and dated November 24, 1944

Blue pencil mark indicates the cover was registered.

Geneva receiving mark – August 20, 1945 - 267 days in route

Registered and dated November 28, 1944 from Warszawa 26

Geneva receiving mark dated October 29, 1945; a trip of 306 days

It is obvious that censorship toward the end of the war was inconsistent and at the discretion of the censor. However, there is a lot of commonality among the covers.

What is common amongst all these covers is as follows:

Except for a very few, all covers are registered
The transit mark from Gibraltar is ONLY found with the dates of March 19^th or the 20^th, 1945. Very few covers have this transit mark. ALL of these covers arrived in Geneva on April 10^th, 1945 and they were the first covers to the Red Cross.
British Censor tapes are found only on covers not censored in Cairo
Every cover censored in Cairo has 2 oval Censorship Dept. marks, but #107 is always one of them, tying the censor label to the cover.
Censoring of mail from Poland by the Free French in Beyrouth did not begin until late June, 1945.

TRANSIT MARKINGS

ANKARA

From the covers studied, there does not seem to be consistency in the handling of the mail. Covers mailed from P.O.26, on the 28^th of October arrived in Geneva on different dates, one on the 13^th of June and the other on the 29^th of October.

On the other hand, covers from different stations, cancelled on different days, transiting through Ankara on the different days, being censored in Cairo, one of them being held up in Gibraltar, arrive in Geneva on the same day after a 5 month trip.

Covers exits, though not many, without any transit or censor markings, other than a receiving stamp applied in Geneva.

The vast majority of mail in this study is roughly from a 8 week time period – from early November to the end of December, 1944.

Although there are some covers with Russian markings (See section on Russian markings), the first evidence of the routing is Ankara, where the covers were stamped with the same Ankara handstamp – ANKARA 23.

Most, though not all mail has a ANKARA transit marking

Sometimes in mid-1945, possibly after the end of the war, machine cancels were used.

1945 Ankara machine transit cancellation

BEYROUTH

Bi-lingual ~ French/Arabic Beyrouth (Beirut in English) circular date cancellation. With the one exception noted in the section on Beyrouth censorship, this markings is found only on covers mailed from Poland in 1945.

It is not even found on all covers censored in Beyrouth.

GIBRALTAR

Gibraltar transit marks are dated either March 19 or 20, 1945. All covers with these dates arrived in Geneva on April 10^th, 1945.

Covers with these two dates arrived in Geneva on the same day –

April 10, 1945.

GENEVA RECEIVING CDS

WYSOKIE MAZOWIECKIE

Russian cancellation from Soviet occupied Polish town of Wysokie Mazowieckie.

Extremely rare evidence that mail from Praga was being routed through Moscow.

This cover provides evidence that mail was routed through Moscow.

The cover, mailed to Geneva from Warszawa 26, went through the Polish town of Wysokie

Mazowieckie, which at the time was part of Russian occupied Poland. The town is between Warsaw and Bialystok. However, it is not on the main route between these cities, which only makes the marking more interesting. It is the only cover I have ever seen with a Russian transit marking.

EARLIEST KNOWN COVERS

Covers mailed outside the Praga area of Warsaw during this time period are rare; however, the

earliest international mail is from areas outside Praga.

This cover is registered and the stamps cancelled at Biłgoraj on November 2, 1944. Biłgoraj is located in the southeastern part of Poland, about 100 km south of Lublin; an area recaptured by the Russians prior to the official end of WWII.

This is the earliest known cover from Poland after Soviet “liberation”.

Although the cover is registered, there are no transit markings on the reverse, but the letter was censored in Cairo. There is a Gibraltar transit stamp – March 19, 1945 and the cover was in the first batch of mail to arrive in Geneva on April 10, 1945.

Earliest Known Covers

Biłgoraj - October 2, 1944

Węgrów - November 6, 1944

Warszawa 2 – no postmarks, other than transit markings after January 17, 1945

Warszawa 4 - November 21, 1944

Warszawa 9 – December 21, 1944

Warszawa 16 – November 21, 1944

Warszawa 23 – November 9, 1944

Warszawa 26 – October 28, 1944

Warszawa 38 – November 20, 1944

Warszawa 50 – No known covers

Predicated on registration numbers seen on earliest covers, it is very likely that there maybe earlier dated covers; however, they have as yet not surfaced.

SOME INTERESTING COVERS

Cover mailed from Warszawa 16 dated June 4, 1945,

but transiting through Warszawa 2 on the same day.

Censored by the Polish military and the French in Beyrouth,

though there is no Beyrouth transit cancel.

Sender of the cover is a soldier, attached to the General Berling Polish detachment, fighting with the Soviets and taking part in the liberation of the country.

Return address reads: Poczta Polowa No.16129 (Field Post No. 16129)

Mailed from Warszawa 26; date unknown and

censored by the Polish military and the British at Gibraltar.

Cover is a truncated commercial envelope. Portion of a preprinted return address is visible:

Biuro Sprzed…, Warszawa 1…

There are no Ankara or Beyrouth transit markings on this cover.

RARITY

Although some covers are rarer than others, all covers from this time period are scarce. Most of these covers are registered, and if registration is any indication of the number of covers mailed, it is likely that there were less than 3,500 covers in all, from the beginning of the postal service (dates unknown) until January 17, 1945, when the Soviet forces crossed the Visła River. Who knows how many covers have survived?

Scarcity Value

Warszawa 2 – No known covers

Warszawa 4 - ……………………………………………. 8 – 4% of covers examined

Warszawa 9– ……………………………………………. 10 – only 2 examined

Warszawa 16 with Warszawa 04 cancellation –………….. 2 – 33% of covers examined

Warszawa 23 – ………………………………………….… 2 – 25% of covers examined

Warszawa 26 – ……………………………………………. 2 – 27% of covers examined

Warszawa 38 – ……………………………………………. 5 – 12% of covers examined

Warszawa 38 with WEDEL marking – ……………………. 10 – only 2 covers examined

Warszawa 38 with #38 marking …………………………… 10 – only 3 covers examined

Warszawa 50 – No known covers

NON CONTROLLE MARKING ………………………….. 10 – only 3 examined

Notes –

P.O. 4 – although all mail from P.O. 16 was cancelled at P.O. 4, very few covers originated from that post office.

P.O. 9 – I am aware of only 2 covers from this P.O., although the highest registration # is 265

P.O. 16 – Most covers are from this P.O., where they were registered, but were not cancelled.

P.O. 23 & 26 – About equal in activity, though slightly less than P.O. 16.

P.O. 38 – It appears that the “Wedel” and “38” marking was used for a short time. The post office was located in building own by and next to the candy plant and a small number of letters mailed from that location, have the “Wedel” plant identification.

Covers from Warszawa 9 are very rare. The only covers I’ve seen with Warszawa 2 are transit markings. I have never seen a cover from Warszawa 50 and know of only two from Warszawa 9.

Warszawa 04 may have been a busy station, but few letters originated from that site.

SELECTED TRAVEL TIMES TO DESTINATION

P.O. Departure Arrival Length of

CDS CDS Trip (Days)

26 10/28/44 06/13/45 215

Bilgoraj 11/02/44 04/10/45 159

23 11/09/44 04/10/45 152

26 11/12/44 04/10/45

9 11/21/44 05/15/45 177

16/4 11/21/44 05/15/45 175

16/4 11/23/44 04/10/45 138

26 11/23/44 09/11/45 292

23 11/24/44 04/10/45 137

16/4 11/24/44 04/10/45 137

4 11/24/44 08/20/45 271

23 11/24/44 04/10/45 137

26 11/24/44 04/10/45 137

23 11/25/44 07/17/45 225

16/4 11/25/44 04/10/45 136

38 11/25/44 04/10/45 136

4 11/25/44 04/10/45 136

23 11/26/44 08/20/45 269

4 11/27/44 04/10/45 134

4 11/28/44 06/13/45 197

26 11/28/44 10/29/45 305

26 11/28/44 12/01/45 368 ~ longest journey

16/4 12/02/44 06/13/45 223

16/4 12/02/44 05/22/45 201

26 12/05/44 05/22/45 198

16/4 12/01/44 04/10/45 131

16/4 12/02/44 06/02/45 183

4 12/04/44 05/15/45 193

4 12/09/44 07/20/45 253

23 12/09/44 05/22/45 196

23 12/14/44 04/10/45 117

Radosc 12/19/44 07/17/45 201

38 12/28/44 08/18/45 264

23 01/03/45 07/20/45 260

26 01/10/45 08/04/45 239

Lublin 03/14/45 ??

Lodz 06/01/45 10/19/45 110

16 06/04/45 10/26/45 114

Chorzow 06/07/45 10/29/45 114

Swiecie 06/09/45 10/17/45 130

Wlochy 07/15/45 10/25/45 103

Lomza 07/18/45 10/25/45 100 ~ shortest journey

Examination of the available covers shows that the first covers arrived in Geneva on April 10^th, 1945. The covers with this arrival date come from numerous Warszawa post offices; the earliest being November 2^nd, 1944 and the latest was mailed on December 21, 1944. All of these early covers have a Registered Gibraltar // March 19, 1945 or March 20, 1945 transit marking. These two dates are the only Gibraltar transit dates known.

Other covers, mailed during the same time period arrived as late as August 20, 1945.

Below is a breakdown of departure and arrival dates of selected covers.

Covers mailed between and the dates shown Geneva Arrival Date

November 2 and December 14, 1944 April 10. 1945

November 21 and December 4, 1944 May 15, 1945

December 2 and December 9, 1944 May 22, 1945

One cover mailed on December 2, 1945 June 2, 1945

One cover mailed November 28 June 7. 1945

October 28 and December 2, 1945 June13, 1945

November 25 and December 19, 1945 July 17, 1945

One cover mailed on December 9, 1944 July 20, 1945

One cover mailed on December 28, 1945 August 18, 1945

November 24 and January3, 1945 August 20, 1945

One cover mailed June 1, 1945 October 19, 1945

One cover mailed on June 9, 1945 October 17, 1945

July 15 and July 18, 1945 October 25, 1945

One cover mailed June 4, 1945 October 26, 1945

One cover mailed December 1 December 15, 1945

Only registered covers, which are the majority, have various transit markings. Unregistered covers, as a rule, have no markings, but they are all censored.

DETAILED COVER INFORMATION

The following 4 pages are detailed observations of about 100 covers, showing commonality among them and are here for those readers interested in perusing the subject further.

Outlined in red are the covers that were stamped in Gibraltar on either the 19th or 20^th of March. They were the first covers to reach Geneva, all on April 10^th, 1944, regardless of from where or when they were sent.

Notes to abbreviations –

?? means that the cover has a Ankara transit marking, but it is illegible.

Non-Cont. is the abbreviation for Non Controle

Under the Ankara heading, on the 4^th page – via W/2 indicates that the cover was routed through Warszawa 2

Under the Gibraltar heading, the word Tape indicates that the cover was censored. Covers with the dates March 19^th or 20^th, were not censored.

Empty spaces indicate there is no marking from that particular area

REFERENCES

Carrigan, Jay, www.jaypex.com, My Collections

Gruszczk, Winston, Warsaw Post Offices Under Enemy Fire in Late 1944, Polonus Bulletin, May-June 1981, Whole No. 386.

Kulpinski, Chris, Warsaw Mail to the Red Cross Routing and Censorship – Late 1944. Polonus Bulletin, Summer, 2009 Whole No. 535

Robertson, William C., Free French Censorship in Syria, The Civil Censorship Study Group, 1990

Zimmerman, David, Jr. Free French Censorship in the Levant, The Civil Censorship Study Group, 1980

______ Secret Instructions for the Use of Postal Censors, A declassified United Kingdom document dealing with civil censorship in the Middle East during WWII.

Valuable assistance and insights were also provided by members of the Civil Censorship Study Group; Chuck LaBlonde and John Pollard.