GERMANY, THIRD REICH
SCOTT B292-B293
ISSUED 20 APRIL 1945
IN BERLIN, GERMANY
It has been 65 years since Hitler's Third Reich issued its last postage stamps, before it was finally crushed under the overwhelming weight of Soviet and Allied forces. These stamps were issued on April 20, 1945; the Soviets launched their final thrust into Berlin the following day. Germany would finally surrender unconditionally on May 7, 1945.
In "Philately of the Third Reich", author Alf Harper wrote that these two stamps were actually issued as part of a never to be completed set of five stamps honoring various Nazi party formations. These stamps honored the SA and SS (an earlier released stamp honored the Volksturm, or People's Army; the last two unissued stamps were for the NSKK and NSFK).
