The last two printed stamps of the Third Reich have stimulated the imagination of the philatelic community for decades and to this day. Little is factually certain, but all the more speculation. The fascination of these stamps is less due to the stamps themselves and their content than to the accompanying circumstances in the final phase of World War II. In this context it is of course a coincidence, almost irony, that the two worst organisations of the Nazi era, the SA and SS, are represented by depicting individuals in the corresponding uniforms.

In order to describe the circumstances surrounding the two stamps, what is known of certain facts should first be examined. In the official gazette 10/1945 of the Reich Post Ministry dated January 30th, 1945, the issue of 5 stamps was announced in the decree 31/1945. Four of them were to be dedicated to the following NSDAP party formations: SA (Sturmabteilung/Storm Troopers), SS (Schutz-Staffel/Protection Squadron), NSKK (National Socialist Motor Vehicle Corps) and NSFK (National Socialist Aviation Corps). In addition a stamp “Volkssturm” (“People’s storm”) was to be issued. It is also stated that the stamps were to be delivered to the post offices of groups A-F by March 15, 1945. The respective “first day” was to be announced at the postal counters and through the press.

The stamps, as can be seen from the inventory of the main postage stamp warehouse of the Vienna State Printing Office, were printed there. This also applies to the NSKK and NSFK stamps, which were never officially printed. There only exist a few specimen cards and few printed specimen stamps. The inventory of the main postage stamp warehouse of the Vienna State Printing Office shows that the SA and SS stamps were both perforated and imperforated (it is not known why a partial edition of the sheets remained imperforated).

It has been proven that SA/SS stamps were printed at least on March 15, 1945 and March 27, 1945. From here the ground of the facts is left and everything else is based on assumptions, (contemporary) testimonies from first and second hand and from unsecured information. The “Volkssturm” stamp was printed separately from the other stamps; printing began on or very close to January 30, 1945. The exact date of first issue is not known, but is on February 10, 1945 or shortly thereafter.

The information about the circulation fluctuates between 2 and 5 million for both SA/SS stamps together (in general it is difficult to determine the amount of cir-culation for many stamps of the Third Reich, often this can only be approximated indirectly). How many of them remained imperforated is unknown. Partially perforated stamps are likely to be “made” from stocks of imperforated printing sheets after the war. Again undocumented and therefore “guesswork” from second hand are data that lie between 25,000 and 5 million stamps that were “delivered” from Vienna. The SA/SS stamps are said to have reached Berlin. The stamps are assumed to have arrived there sometime before April 20, 1945. Assumptions are based on an overpass in a truck, but there are also other options, such as an airplane or the Reichsbahn (the state’s railway).

However, there is no documentation of a transfer of the stamps to Berlin, apart from 2 covers from Pegau (near Leipzig) from April 10, 1945, the authenticity of which has not been verified. In Berlin, the stamps are said to have been sold by a number of Berlin post offices. The “first day” is placed on April, 20, or April, 21, 1945. To this end, stamps or covers with the stamps are said to have been (cancel to order) stamped by these post offices. There are also claims that letters with the stamps were carried and delivered within Berlin. Again, there is no documentation of the arrival of the stamps at Berlin post offices, nor is there any record of inventory of their sale through the appropriate counters. Neither are there any documentary indications for the delivery of such letters. In this regard, however, there are clear indications that at least in some of the post offices that were supposedly selling, a sale was impossible due to the war damage to the corresponding post office buildings.

In the end, the Berlin “story” of the stamps is based on statements from contemporary witnesses first or second hand, but these cannot be verified by any research relevant material, since non exists to this day. It is an open question to what extent the contemporary testimonies, then (many) years after the events, are credible, they cannot however be “mistaken” for a “fact”. In contrast, there is a publication that identifies all SA/SS covers as post-war productions. Subsequently, to this day, cancelled SA/SS stamps and covers with these stamps are not certified by the German Stamp Certifier Association. And this will not change either, should “irrefutable” documents not turn up that prove a sale of the stamps over post office counters or documentation turning up which proof the transfer of those stamps from Vienna to Berlin.