Documents Table
Finding Aid
Descriptive summary
Title: Postal artifacts of German occupied Holland during World War II
Owner: Tim Gale
Dates: 1939-1951
Creator: Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Extent: 3,443 as of 1/3/2024
Repository: Arnhem Postal History, Inc. and the private collection of Timothy Gale
Languages: Dutch, German, English, French
Reproduction and use:
No restrictions on access.
No restrictions on use.
Preferred citation: (Identification of item), (Identification of file), Selected records from the Arnhem Postal History Project, website
Editor's Notes
For consistency and accuracy in creating and adding to the database, some general format rules were followed. Objects in the database following a naming pattern of CollectionPostmark locationPostmarkDate. For example, a postcard mailed from Arnhem on September 21, 1944, as part of the Operation Market Garden Collection would be named XVIArnhem092144. In the event multiple items are named alike, the second item would be XVIArnhem092144A.
If a postmark is illegible and related correspondence had a location, that was the one used. Illegible numbers for dates were replaced with XX.
Dates follow the American convention of month/date/year.
Names are corrected to include as much information as possible. If the sender or addressee is referred to by only the surname or a first and the letter provided a full first name, the full name will be in the database. For companies and organizations, small differences are corrected for consistency. Names that are a best guess are annotated with an asterisk (*)
If a place name has changed, the difference is noted.
This is intended to be a living collection and we welcome feedback. Please contact the Arnhem Postal History Project if you have a correction or more information at info@rabbitholes.com.
Scope and content of collection
Selected records from postal artifacts from German occupied Holland between 1939-1951. The archive contains philately examples, private correspondence, prisoner letters, official correspondence, humanitarian organization reports, and tourist postcards sent to and from Holland during the Second World War. There are also examples of correspondence sent to and from France, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States.
System of arrangement
Records are arranged by topic, generally chronologically. They are grouped by larger topic area, such as The Evolution of the Holocaust in Holland, and more specific topic areas. Many of the artifacts are applicable to multiple topic areas and are searchable as such. The major groupings are:
I – Pre-World War II – Mobilization
III – Severed Connections 1940 – Volume 1
IV – Severed Connections 1940– Volume 2
V – Severed Connections 1941/1945 – Vichy France/Pearl Harbor – Volume 3
VI – Delayed Delivery 1940 – Volume 1
VII – Delayed Delivery after 1940 – Volume 2
II – Pre-War Refugee Camps and Attempts to Leave
XXI – Red Cross Volume 2 – 1944 – 1946 – Post War Enquiries
XXX – Transit Camp Westerbork – Volume 1
XXXI – Transit Camp Westerbork – Volume 2
XXXII – Dutch Camps – Concentration Camps – Prisons
XXXIII – The Price of an Apple / A Rembrandt for 25 Lives/ Sibella Katz
XXXIV – Kaufmann / Cardozo / Lippman-Rosenthal Bank
EHH – Materials from the exhibition Evolution of the Holocaust in Holland
VIII – Undercover Mail
XX –Red Cross – Volume 1
XXVI – POW mail
XXVII – Forced Labor – Volume 1
XXVIII – Forced Labor – Volume 2
XXIX – WWII Dutch Stamp Issues
XLIV- Anti-German Satire and Propaganda
XVI – Operation Market Garden including Prelude and Aftermath – Volume 1
XVII – Operation Market Garden including Prelude and Aftermath Frundberg, Fallschirm Armee, Flak Unit - Volume 2
XVIII – Operation Market Garden including Prelude and Aftermath – Commemorative covers – Volume 3
XIX – Battle of the Scheldt
XXXVI – APO’s – Dutch Military in Foreign Service – Volume 1
XXXVII – APO’s – Dutch Military in Foreign Service - Volume 2
XXII – Mail to and from liberated areas and restored connections post-war
XXXVIII – Final days / Hunger Winter / Special Mail transport – Volume 1
XXXIX – Final days / Hunger Winter / Special Mail transport Volume 2
XL – Post War Mail: Restrictions and Restoration of Service Part 1: Severed Connections May/July 1945
XLI – Post War Mail: Restrictions and Restoration of Service Part 2: Boy Scout Mail – Netherlands Air Force
XLII – Post War Mail: Restrictions and Restoration of Service Part 3: Not Permitted due to Regulations, Severed/Restored Connections August/December 1945 and later
LIII – Emergency handstamps Volumes 1 and 2
XLIII – N.B.S. Domestic forces – Bakker Archive (Prince Bernhard)
XLV – Allied Censorship – Volume 1 – 1945 through August 1946
XLVII – Military Authority
XLVIII – Post War Camps
XLIX – Post War Documents
L – Post War Mail: Handstamps – registration – free franking
IX – German Regulations and Orders – Volume 1
X – German Regulations and Orders – Volume 2
XI – German Regulations and Orders – Daily Life – Volume 3
XII – German Regulations and Orders – Volume 4
XIII – Censorship Volume 1: Cologne 1940 - 1944
XIV– Censorship Volume 2: Königsberg / Berlin / Frankfurt
XV – Censorship Volume 3: Munich / Hamburg / Vienna / other
XXIII – Feldpost
XXIV – Dienstpost Niederlande – Volume 1
XXV – Dienstpost Niederlande – Volume 2
XXXV – German Propaganda
LI – Postcards – Volume 1
LII – Postcards – Volume 2
LIV - Miscellaneous
Indexing terms
Letters
Postcards
Official communication
Government reports
Red Cross Inquiries and Responses
Publications
Envelopes
Postage Stamps
Newspapers
Pamphlets
Posters
Personnel Records
Operational Reports
Geographic name:
Netherlands--History--20th Century
Topical Term:
World War, 1939-1951--Red Cross (missing persons, relief efforts)
World War, 1939-1951--Banking
World War, 1939-1951
Personal Correspondance
Survivors
Censored letters, documents, forms
Holocaust
Folder list
| Group Number | Folders | Name | Date Range | Content Description | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | I, III-VI | 4/8/1939-8/12/1945 | These folders include artifacts representing pre-war Holland through the height of German occupation. Includes letters and postcards that demonstrate return to sender examples and censored correspondence by German, Great Britain and Dutch authorities. | 383 | |
| B | II, XXI, XXX-XXXIV, EHH | Evolution of the Holocaust in Holand | 02/11/1939-7/19/1946 | This folder contains artifacts related to the Evolution of the Holocaust in Holland. These folders include correspondence on attempts to leave, Red Cross inquiries, and items related to the transit camp at Westerbork. Correspondence related to notable Dutch Jewish families, the Lippmann Rosenthal Bank and individual stories of the Holocaust are part of this folder, along with artifacts related to the exhibit The Evolution of the Holocaust in Holland | 314 |
| C | VIII, XX, XXVI-XXIX, XLIV | Effect of the Occupation on Daily Life | 5/29/1940-12/19/1945 | This folder illustrates life under German occupation at the height of the war. Included in this folder is the first of several volumes of Red Cross letters, used to inquire about missing persons and for limited correspondence to and from writers in Allied countries. There are several examples of letters to and from soldiers in prisoner of war camps as well as correspondence related to forced labor in Holland, Germany and German occupied countries. This folder also includes examples of Dutch stamps issued during the period. Examples of propaganda, both anti-German and against the government in exile. | 479 |
| D | XVI-XIX, LV, BOA | Operation Market Garden Including the Prelude & Aftermath | 9/02/1944-01/26/1945 | This folder contains letters and postcards from the period leading up to and during Operation Market Garden, records of participants in the battle and family correspondence from the affected areas. Also in the folder is a collection of commemorative stamps and postal covers. A collection of items related to the subsequent battle of the Scheldt is also included. The folder BOA is items that are in the exhibit False Hopes and Lasting Thanks: The Battle of Arnhem and not found in other folders. | 505 |
| E | XXI, XXXVI-XLII, LIII | Hunger Winter, Final Days of Occupation and Liberation | 10/18/44-6/05/45 | These folders hold postal examples from the end of the German occupation and from Dutch citizens serving with the Allied armed forces. Several examples show correspondence from concentration camps, and letters transported by private car. There are also some examples of mail during the "Hunger Winter." There are some censor examples from Germany, Netherlands, and Canada. There are also official letters from the Red Cross. | 562 |
| F | XLIII, XLV-L | Post-War | 7/23/1942-8/28/1947 | This folder contains artifacts related to Dutch resistance forces and the period immediately post-war in the Netherlands. | 314 |
| G | IX-XV | German Regulations and Censorship | 5/11/1940-6/6/1944 | These folders contain censored correspondence by German authorities and one example of a 'Return to Sender.' These letters are sent during the height of German occupation. The folder also holds correspondence and documents on regulation of postal services and censorship during the occupation. | 502 |
| H | XXII-XXV, XXXV | Feldpost, Dienstpost, German Propaganda | 8/3/1933-12/10/1945 | This folder holds examples of the use of field post offices and service mails set up during the occupation. Further, it contains examples of German propaganda used to try to influence public opinion. | 384 |
| I | LI-LII | Postcards | N/A | This folder includes picture postcards (unused) from the period. | TBD |
| J | LVI | Autographs | N/A | This folder contains autographs of notable people associated with the period. | TBD |
| K | LIV | Miscellaneous | TBD | This folder holds both philately and cultural artifacts that do not fall into the other subject areas. | TBD |