28-09-2025, 12:23 PM
Here's a stamp that was issued in 1985 to commemorate the end of WW2. Well, not really.
It commemorates the 40th anniversary of the integration of German expellees, also known as Heimatvertriebene (German citizens who were displaced from Eastern Europe after World War II). The design is minimalistic, featuring stylized, interlocking shapes in the colors of the German flag (black, red, and gold), symbolizing unity and integration.
The text "40 Jahre Eingliederung heimatvertriebener Deutscher" [40 Years of Integration of Displaced Germans] and was meant to highlight the social and political effort to assimilate these individuals into West German society after the war. The integration of millions of displaced Germans was a significant aspect of postwar German history, as it required extensive economic, social, and political resources.
This is not the first stamp to do this ... there were stamps earlier in the Cold War on the same theme.
What is interesting about all of the stamps with this theme is that they were sometimes in the middle of a Postkrieg [Postal War] when covers using the stamps were either not accepted or the stamps were blacked out by the East German postal authority.
The topic of German expellees was a sensitive issue, as it touched on the postwar displacement of ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe, areas that were then part of Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union. From the Eastern Bloc perspective, this subject was politically charged and, in some cases, viewed as a challenge to postwar borders and territorial settlements.
Returning or defacing the stamp to indicate disapproval was part of a broader strategy by Eastern Bloc countries to control the narrative surrounding postwar history and German territories, and to reject any Western narrative that could be interpreted as irredentist or revisionist. As a result, mail bearing this stamp could encounter issues when sent to or through East Germany and other Warsaw Pact nations, reflecting the ongoing political and ideological tensions between East and West Germany during the Cold War.
For example, here is a cover in my collection, with your stamp, that was refused delivery.
It commemorates the 40th anniversary of the integration of German expellees, also known as Heimatvertriebene (German citizens who were displaced from Eastern Europe after World War II). The design is minimalistic, featuring stylized, interlocking shapes in the colors of the German flag (black, red, and gold), symbolizing unity and integration.
The text "40 Jahre Eingliederung heimatvertriebener Deutscher" [40 Years of Integration of Displaced Germans] and was meant to highlight the social and political effort to assimilate these individuals into West German society after the war. The integration of millions of displaced Germans was a significant aspect of postwar German history, as it required extensive economic, social, and political resources.
This is not the first stamp to do this ... there were stamps earlier in the Cold War on the same theme.
What is interesting about all of the stamps with this theme is that they were sometimes in the middle of a Postkrieg [Postal War] when covers using the stamps were either not accepted or the stamps were blacked out by the East German postal authority.
The topic of German expellees was a sensitive issue, as it touched on the postwar displacement of ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe, areas that were then part of Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union. From the Eastern Bloc perspective, this subject was politically charged and, in some cases, viewed as a challenge to postwar borders and territorial settlements.
Returning or defacing the stamp to indicate disapproval was part of a broader strategy by Eastern Bloc countries to control the narrative surrounding postwar history and German territories, and to reject any Western narrative that could be interpreted as irredentist or revisionist. As a result, mail bearing this stamp could encounter issues when sent to or through East Germany and other Warsaw Pact nations, reflecting the ongoing political and ideological tensions between East and West Germany during the Cold War.
For example, here is a cover in my collection, with your stamp, that was refused delivery.
Hugh MacDonald, Wolfe Island
Member: BNAPS. PHSC, Auxiliary Markings Club, Postal Stationary Society, British Postmark Society,
AMG Collectors Club, China Stamp Society, France and Colonies Philatelic Society
ArGe Deutsche Feldpost: 1914-1918 e.V.