GERMAN OCCUPATION STAMPS
KURLAND
(1945)

This page was last updated
19-Mar-2023 07:37

BACKGROUND: The Kurland region is a part of present-day LATVIA, situated between The Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Riga, Semgallen and LITHUANIA. The Reich's Commissariat Ostland administered the region from its initial occupation in Jun 1941, after the start of Operation Barbarossa and until it's capitulation in May 1945.

In October 1944 the remnants of German Army Group North along with Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine units were combined to form Army Group Kurland. They were effectively cut off from any overland routes back to German or Poland by Soviet forces (4th Shock Army (Malyshev), the 6th Guards Army (Tschistjakow) and the 51st Army (Kreiser)), but Army Group Kurland withstood six major attempts to oust them up until their surrender on 8th May 1945.

All local civilian postage stamps were used up by Apr 1945 but supplies of German issue stamp were sent from the Feld post distribution centre in Libau and overprinted for local use in the region. These stamps consisted of three Hitler definitive stamps and a Feld Post parcel concession stamp all over printed 'Kurland'.

MICHEL 1 to 3
GERMAN REICH DEFINITIVE STAMPS
(Apr 1945)

On 20th Apr 1945 three existing Hitler Head definitive stamps were overprinted for use in the KURLAND pocket.

The overprints were applied by the 'Kurzemes vards' (The Word of Kurland) newspaper.



Mi 1: 6 on 5Rpf - black yellow green - More details
Mi 2: 6 on 10Rpf - dark sienna, black red brown - More details
Mi 3: 6 on 20Rpf - dark cobalt - More details

MICHEL 4
FELDPOST PACKAGE CONCESSION STAMP
(Apr 1945)

Also in Apr 1945 the existing Michel 2 Feld post package concession stamp was overprinted for use in KURLAND.



Mi 4: 12 on - - brownish red to bright brown red - More details