Confinement Ponza

Confinements and other forms of restriction of the movement were usually in hard-to-reach areas. Remote islands such as Ponza were often used. 

Stationery franked with 50 cents, written by academic writer Dr Niko S. Martinović in Ponza (27.12.1942), sent from Naples railway (7.II.1943) to Cetinje (19.II.1943), censored by DIREZIONE COMANDA CONFINO / PONZA and QUESTURA DI NAPOLI.

Island Ponza, provinca Littoria (= today Latina, Lazio).

As a curiosity: On July 25, 1943, Benito Mussolini, fascist dictator of Italy, is voted out of power by his own Grand Council and arrested upon leaving a meeting with King Vittorio Emanuele. Two days after his arrest, Mussolini was sent to the island Ponza. Fearing that the Germans would discover his location, Mussolini was transferred to the island of La Maddalena near Sardinia on August 6.

1945 SPLIT, Letter from Milna

If the sender or addressee was a military person, the basic fee for shipments was free of charge. However, all additional services such as registration, express handling etc. were charged at the applicable tariffs.

1945 Split provisional issue, registered letter franked with 30 kn for the registration as the addressee was a military person, sent from Milna on island Brač (7.VI.45) to Bjelovar (15.VI.45) where it was redirected to Križevci (15.VI.45). The letter was censored in Split (censor cancellation No. 3). 

1943 SPLIT, Forgeries

If you read my article in the Acta Philatelica Nova 2015, you could see that I did not pay much attention to forgeries - this is because they are practically non-existent on the market. In the meantime, I saw one complete set that was amateurishly forged and one attempt to falsify the letter. Recently I have been asked for an opinion about the inverted overprints you can see below. 

1943 Split local issue for Dalmatia, forgeries of inverted overprint. Note that none of these values could exist with inverted overprint.

Of course, these are fakes, but they are not so amateur. At first glance, the overprint looks fine; however, the size is slightly smaller, and the properties of the individual letters are changed. Unfortunately, I only had scans, so I can not describe the other features I could see if I had stamps in my hands.

All stamps have "KRISCHKE BPP" expert mark on the back, which is also forged.

1945 MARIBOR, bicolour stamp

I found a nice example of a bicolour stamp. The most likely explanation for this is that a part of a stamp was exposed to UV light. However, it is interesting that colours perfectly match known colours of 6pf stamp - so one might believe that this occurred while printed...

1945 Maribor provisional issue, a pair of 6pf with shifted overprint. Right stamp in two colours: light purple lilac (785d) and light pink lilac (785c).

Known colours of 6pf stamp.

1945 MURSKA SOBOTA, Forgeries

Some new forgeries are being sold on eBay again. This time it is a fake overprint of 1945 Murska Sobota provisional issue. The fake is amateurish and of poor quality. It can only fool those who have not seen the original...

1945 Murska Sobota provisional issue, complete set with fake overprints.

Fake overprint enlarged.

1945 MOSTAR, No 12 - flaw on inverted overprint

One inverted sheet of No 12 exist, therefore each of the overprint flaws is unique...

1945 Mostar provisional issue, No 12 Katarina Zrinska 30/1 Kn with inverted overprint. Position 49 - typical overprint flaw "Demokrntska" instead of "Demokratska". Unique item. Ex Tiberio.

1941 BANJA LUKA, Forgeries

Recently, forgeries made with quality laser printing have appeared. Both, the basic stamp, as well as the overprint, are forged. Plain medium-sized office paper is used, and usually, there is no gum.  If you have such forgery in your hands, it is not dangerous because you can immediately see from the paper what it is about. But it is a much bigger problem if you see only the front image (e.g. on the online store) because the reproduction is pretty credible even under the scan of usual resolution. 

Genuine on the left, forgery on the right. At this resolution, the forgery seems quite credible.

Genuine on the left, forgery on the right. The high-resolution scan (4800 DPI) clearly shows the dot structure of the laser printer.

For other types of forgeries of the Banja Luka issue, see my article in Acta Philatelica Nova 2017.

1945 SPLIT, St.1 stationery from Hvar

Stationeries of type St.1 are very rare while those sent from the islands are even rarer. Only four such items are known...

1945 Split provisional issue, stationery of type St.1, sent from the island of Hvar (28.VI.45) to a military address of 9th Division of 4th Yugoslav Army (at that time located somewhere in Slovenia). Censor cancellation No. 2, Hvar. 

1941 NDH Nacionalization - Young Peter

Usage of Young King Peter stamps and stationery in April 1941 and beyond was very scarce. Even scarier was the use of nationalized Cyril & Metod stationery in the Independent State of Croatia...

1941 NDH Nationalisation, "Young King Peter" Cyril & Metod illustrated stationery, correctly franked with 1 Din, sent from Požega (3.V.1941) to Zagreb. Stationery was nationalized with the "Država Hrvatska" provisional rubber stamp.

1945 MOSTAR, Card with oblique inscription

Special commemorative cards were issued on the occasion of the International Labour Day in 1945 with a complete set of 20 Mostar Provisional Issue stamps affixed to five yellowish toned scallop-edged cardboard cards with five-pointed star and inscription "Mostar, 1. maja 1945" in red. Stamps are cancelled with "Mostar 9" 1.V.45 canceller in black.

The cards are made uniformly and quite accurately. However, there are few with oblique printed inscription. 

1945 Mostar provisional issue, commemorative card with oblique printed inscription. Only a few such pieces are known.

1945 MOSTAR, No. 8 with inverted overprint

Only 12 stamps of No. 8 50/6 Kn Dubrovnik exist with inverted overprint. This is due to the incorrect insertion of the pieces when repairing one incomplete sheet. The following overprint positions are known so far:

• 35 and 45 as part of a tête-bêche block of four
• 65, 66, 75, 76 in a block of four
• 57, 64 and 67 as individual stamps

So there are a total of nine known positions. We can conclude that the remaining three are located close to the known ones.

Positions of nine known inverted overprints. The remaining three are most probably located somewhere near the known ones.

1945 Mostar provisional issue, No. 8 50/6 Kn Dubrovnik, tête-bêche block of four from positions 34,35/44,45. Unique item. Ex Tiberio.

1945 MOSTAR, Article

My new article has just been published...

ACTA PHILATELICA NOVA 2019

Croatian philatelic almanac

Democratic Federal Yugoslavia

MOSTAR PROVISIONAL ISSUE 1945

To order contact me at alesmarinsek67@gmail.com

1945 LJUBLJANA, Very early cancellation

Ljubljana provisional issue was released on June 7th. I have not seen a commercial shipment cancelled on June 7th or 8th. Most likely, the stamps were not available in the post offices until June 9th ...

1945 Ljubljana provisional issue, registered letter, franked with 2.5 Lire (1 Lire for the letter + 1.5 Lire for the registration), sent from Ljubljana (9.VI.45) to Osijek (16.VI.45) and redirected to Zagreb where it was censored. Very early cancellation.

1945 MOSTAR, Flaws on rare paper

The three most famous typical flaws of this issue are:

• Demokrntska instead of Demokratska (field 49)
• Jngoslavija instead of Jugoslavija (field 70)
• Jugosiavija instead of Jugoslavija (field 85)

In general, stamps with these flaws are not rare. However, if you take into account also a rarity of some types of papers, you can get extremely rare or even unique stamps. For example, only two sheets of No. 2 10/0.5 Kn on intaglio paper were overprinted. Initially, both sheets exist in the tête-bêche format. Before overprint one was separated down the middle and rejoined in normal position while the second inadvertently remained in the tête-bêche format. Therefore the overprinting of these two sheets resulted in 150 stamps with normal and 50 stamps with inverted overprint.

Position of three typical flaws on rejoined and tête-bêche sheet.

Consequently, the quantities of the three typical flaws are:

• Demokrntska normal overprint - unique
• Demokrntska inverted overprint - unique
• Jngoslavija normal overprint - unique
• Jngoslavija inverted overprint - unique
• Jugosiavija normal overprint - 2 pieces (possibly one of them in tête-bêche pair)

1945 Mostar provisional issue, No. 2, 10/0.5 Kn, a set of three on intaglio paper, each with a typical flaw: Demokrntska (unique), Jngoslavija (unique) and Jugosiavija (one of two possible). Ex Tiberio.

Concentration camp Mlini

There were a few smaller concentration camps in the vicinity of Dubrovnik all managed by the VI Army Corps. Most were intended for the internment of Jews. One of such camps was in Mlini (sometimes called Milini or Melini in Italian) where the well-supervised hotel Mlini was used due to the lack of other facilities. The camp operated from November 1942 to February 1943, when most of the internees were transferred to other camps, mostly to nearby Kupari.

Letter franked with 3,50 kn, sent from Sarajevo (7.I.43) to the concentration camp in Mlini, censored by Italian military censorship (COMMISSIONE CENSURA POSTA MILITARE / 39). From well known Goldberg correspondence. Very few postal items are preserved.

Report on the internment of Jewish in concentration camps in the Dubrovnik area. Source: campifascisti.it

(click on image to enlarge)

PhilAdria 23rd Stamp Auction

We finally got to the PhilAdria spring auction, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the same reason, the auction did not take place at the standard location but on the terrace of the restaurant.

The auction took place on the terrace of the restaurant.

It was a lovely day, especially since I saw my philatelic colleagues after a long time. Also, some collecting areas show great interest. For example, a set of Senta provisional issue was sold for 2.500,00 EUR hammer price.

1945 Senta provisional issue, a complete set sold for 3.000,00 EUR (2.500,00 EUR hummer price + 20% commission). You can check other results here.

1941 MEĐIMURJE, A "dot" overprint flaw

This is a mini-survey: if you collect Međimurje local issue, please see how many stamps do you have with the following overprint flaw: a "dot" in the lower right of the first dark square in the second row of coat-of-arms (see image).

I need a quantities per value for: 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, 1.50, 2.00 and 3.00 Din. For other values, this flaw should not exist. Please reply to alesmarinsek67@gmail.com. 

The "dot" flaw

323rd Special labour battalion

Due to the fear of anti-Italian activities, Italian soldiers of Slovenian and Croatian nationality were transferred to newly established Special labour battalions (IT = Compagnia speciale lavoratori) where they were used as workers and unskilled labour. Later, some confined prisoners, internees and political prisoners were also included in these battalions. They were stationed mostly in southern Italy, Sicily and Sardinia as there was considered to be the smallest chance of escape.

Military stationery postcard sent from the 323rd Special labour battalion at Isola Capo Rizzuto, province Catanzaro (30.7.43) to Gorizia.

1945 CETINJE, Star on the left

Large shifts of overprint can create interesting effects ...

1945 Cetinje provisional issue, Mi. No. 1, 1/10 Lire, block of four from position 4,5/9,10 with a large horizontal shift of overprint. Looks like the star is on the left.

1945 MOSTAR, Partial & reverse overprint

Partial overprint and overprint on the reverse are related and usually due to folding over of sheet edges during overprinting. Such errors are attractive and very rare.

1945 Mostar provisional issue, block of four of Ruđer Bošković stamps (Mi. 15) from overprint positions 89, 90, 99, 100 (lower right corner of the sheet). Partial overprint and overprint on reverse due to paper fold. Ex Tiberio. Certificate Vilfan, Marinšek.

Concentration camp Lipari

Lipari is an island northwest of Messina, Sicily. From 1934, the island served as a training site for Ustaša Croats. A concentration camp for civilians was established in October 1941. The capacity was around 350 internees, mostly Croats, Slovenes, Albanians and Montenegrins. The camp operates until July 1943 when internees were transferred to the camps of Coroppoli and Scipione.

Lipari island.

Stationery franked with 80 cent., sent from the concentration camp for civilians Lipari, Messina (13.5.42) to Zagreb, censored by the camp censor.

1945 LJUBLJANA, Cheque from the Kingdom

Today I sorted some of my items based on the classification given in the article "CHEQUE MONEY ORDERS IN THE PROVINCE OF LJUBLJANA 1941-1945" published by Vid Žiberna in "Acta Philatelica Nova 2018". I found one cheque money order form that is not classified in the article ...

 

1945 Ljubljana provisional issue, cheque money order for 1.480,00 Lire payable in the cash, charged a delivery fee with 80 cent., issued in Ljubljana 5.6.45, received in Devica Marija v Polju 6.VI.45, paid out 8.VI.45 and liquidated on 11.VI.1945. The use of old cheque money order forms from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia period was very rare in 1945.

1945 MARIBOR, Letter from Kranj

1945 Maribor provisional issue was also valid in the Gorenjska (Oberkrain) region...

1945 Maribor provisional issue, registered letter, franked with 42 pf (12 pf for letter and 30 pf for registration), sent from Kranj (28.VI.45) to Ljubljana (30.VI.45). Very rare - only a few exist.

Confinement Padova

Confinement is a way of internment where an individual was forced to stay in a particular place, mostly under the control of the local Police Headquarters (Italian = Questura). 

Typically, confinement postal items were sent by ordinary mail, but in some cases, the mail was travelled directly between two Police Headquarters and dispatched to the postal service at the destination.

Letter, franked with 50 cent., sent from Padova (13.IV.43) directly to the Police Headquarter in Ljubljana, verified by police (cachet R. QUESTURA / LUBIANA, manuscript Verificato and signature), dispatched to the post office Ljubljana 1 where it was censored (censor 14 and 25) and sent to the addressee (19.4.43).

Note: I do not have enough information on confinement and postal usage and I do not know the literature on this field, so I ask all who come to know this to contact me on alesmarinsek67@gmail.com.

Yugoslav army in Austria

Some units of the Yugoslav Army were stationed in the territory of Austria months after the end of the war...

Letter from a soldier of the 36th Division of the 3rd Yugoslav Army sent from the position in Austria (20.VI.45) to Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia (4.VII.45). Censored by the military censor.

In general, soldiers were not allowed to disclose the location of the military unit. In this case, however, it can be seen that the soldier wrote "Austria", and that the censorship did not mask that.

1943 HVAR, Partisan mail

Under the 1941 Rome Treaties, Hvar officially remained part of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), though it was actually occupied by the Italian army. Following the Italian capitulation in September 1943, the National Liberation Committee briefly took control of the island. This ended on January 19, 1944, when the German 118th Jäger Division (738th Regiment) invaded. Postal records from this turbulent period are scarce, and surviving items are exceptionally rare.

 Letter from the Episcopal Ordinary, sent from Hvar (11.XII.43) to Humac Donji, Nerežišće, island of Brač, censored by partisans on Hvar. This is the only such letter that I have seen so far.

1945 SPLIT, Rare cancel Tijesno

Tijesno (today Tisno) is a small city located partly on the Tisnjan peninsula and partly on the island of Murter (see on map).

1945 Split provisional issue, a fragment of a letter, sent from Tijesno (7.VI.45), franked with 50kn (20kn for letter and 30kn for registration). Very rare cancel Tijesno.

1941 BANJA LUKA, Unique letter

The stamps were overprinted in 'Jović Printing Works' in Banja Luka on 18.04 or 19.04.1941 and delivered to the post office. They remained on sale until 23.04.1941 by which time the entire stock of 1000 stamps of each value was sold. Formally, the Banja Luka provisional issue was valid until 30.04.1943 and on the entire territory of the Independent State of Croatia. All known postal items, except the one, were sent from Banja Luka...

 

1941 Banja Luka provisional issue, express registered letter, franked with 22.50 kn and 1 din, sent from Zagreb (24.IV.43) to Banja Luka (25.IV.43). The only known express delivery letter and the only letter using the issue posted outside Banja Luka. Certificate Ercegović, Vilfan, Marinšek.

Confinement colony of Pisticci

Pisticci concentration camp was the first Italian confinement colony established as a center of agricultural work (centro di lavoro agricolo). The total capacity was 1000. Internees and detainees were exclusively male, mostly Slovenian and Croatian civilians as well as some Greeks and Poles.

Postcard sent from confinement colony of Pisticci region Matera (28.6.42) to Ljubljana, censored by the administration of the colony. 

1945 LJUBLJANA, An early postcard

After the liberation of Ljubljana in May 1945, all postal traffic was suspended until June 6. Postal items from the first half of June are rare. According to the directive, all shipments in the Ljubljana region should be censored at the post office Ljubljana-1. However, despite the fact that most shipments were from this region, Ljubljana censorship did not work, so censorship was carried out in transit or at the final destination.

1945 Ljubljana, postcard sent from Ljubljana (10.VI.45) to Sviljanac Serbia, free of charge as the sender was a military person, censored in Zagreb. Very early item.

The front side of the postcard - Ljubljana at night.