New 3RD Reich Germany Collector

I am interested in adding 3rd Reich Germany stamps to my collection.
Could I get some answers / suggestions to the following questions:
1. which catalogue to use? Is the Linn's online Germany worthwhile?
2. what background books to read for history perspective?
3. mint or used?
4. any general suggestions?

Any responses would be appreciated.

1. Michel is the gold standard. If you aren't looking for prices, the basic Michel listings can be found online for free. See here, for example, for 1932, with subsequent years linked at the bottom of the page. Also see my website (linked in my sig).

2. I recommend Robert Jones' Philately of the Third Reich. It's in English, has background on most stamp and postcard issues, and will actually substitute for Michel if you don't mind not having pricing data.

3. Your call. Some issues will be easier to find mint, some used. If you want all to be one or the other, go mint. The last issues of the Third Reich are not found validly used.

4. Have fun. It's a good area to collect.

I would also highly recommend joining the Third Reich yahoo group. As well as an active forum they have many tools available such as free PDF album pages for Germany & it's territories, as well as catalogue conversion numbers between Scott & Michel.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups..._STAMPS/info

Postmaster is right that Michel is by far a better catalog for any German material (Third Reich or otherwise). However, Scott might be acceptble depending on what you want to do with your collection and how you want to collect, and there are some things to consider. Scott's listings just have very basic information - color, year, denomination, and values for used and unused, and that's about it. Michel goes into much greater detail, listing quantities issued, values on cover, booklet panes and pairs, plate varieties, watermark varieties, etc. If you just want to collect one of each stamp issued by the Third Reich and you don't plan on collecting covers and booklets, etc, Scott would probably be OK. If you do want to specialize beyond just collecting one of each stamp, a Michel catalog is a necessity as Scott just plain doesn't list much beyond the basic stamps.

There are some other considerations. Michel is in German (although there is an older English version floating around), and Scott is in English. Most US-based sellers list by Scott numbers, although many do use Michel (or both). If you buy from German/European sellers, they will generally list ONLY by Michel. If you buy an album made in the US, it will likely be laid out by the Scott numbering system. As an aside, the Scott numbering system just plain sucks when it comes to German stamps and Michel is much more logical. Among other reasons, Scott lists semi-postals separately from regular issues, meaning they are listed on different pages in the catalog and generally on different album pages as well. As the Third Reich issued more semi-postals than regular issues (a lot more, in fact), this can get pretty annoying pretty quickly.

In terms of mint vs. used, Postmaster hit it pretty well already. Just be aware that it can get pretty pricy if you insist on NH for mint stamps as the premium for NH over hinged can be as much as 5-10x on some issues.

Some excellent points have made about 3rd Reich philately, so I won't rehash any of that.

As far as historical background with English language books, at one time William L. Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" was considered a most important resource. But, in the last 25 years there have been some much better accounts, in large part due to better information being made available to English- reading people.

I got rid of my European history library in a downsizing move, but there were 2 "keepers" I took with me. The first is Heinz Hoehne's "the Order of the Death's Head". This is a translation from the German, and it is not strictly a book about the SS, but covers historical information you won't find in other books about this strange period. The sources are mostly firsthand; the book is an incredible piece of research.

The second book is Pierre Aycoberry's "The Social History of the Third Reich". This is a translation from the French. It gives good macro and micro views of Germany's individuals and social groups. Not quite as good a read as Hoehne's book, in my opinion, maybe due in part to the translation.

Both of these are paperbacks, and if you interested you can probably find them on Amazon for relatively cheap prices.

As with all areas of collecting, patience and knowledge always pay off.

As sugested by PostmasterGS...Robert Jones' Philately of the Third Reich"....great reference book.. I constantly consult it for info and details. It's a bit pricey...just checked Amazon...$70...it's gone down in price from the $100 I paid for it when it first came out....free shipping as well....cheaper than buying it from the publisher.

I would be hard pressed to recommend just one book to help understand the period, but I would certainly recommend that one of your reads be Richard Grunberger's "The 12-Year Reich: A Social History of Nazi Germany 1933-1945." The author does an excellent job in showing how convoluted and often arbitrary were the power structures in Nazi Germany.

I have collected in this area as one of many interests for some time. Anyone doing so should be aware that some will misunderstand your interest. Be sure to make it plain you are collecting as relics of history.

I recall an article in the German Postal Specialist some years back about collecting Hitler photo cards. The author said something to the effect that this is not the sort of thing you will be able to exhibit in the local club show at your nearby shopping mall. There is still a lot of sensitivity even after 70 years.

Stamps makes a good point. I collect Third Reich stamps but do not place any of the stamps that show Hitler in my album. He is relegated to an envelope that I have probably mislaid.

Everyone collects in their own way, of course, but I'm not of the opinion that anything about Third Reich or its philately should be hidden, either. It's an ugly period in history, no doubt, but one that needs to be confronted.

Back to the original topic, Neal, do you plan on just collecting the stamps of Germany itself during the Third Reich, or do you also want to collect occupied territories, such as Generalgouvernement (occupied Poloand), Bohemia and Moravia (Occupied Czechoslovakia), occupied Serbia and Croatia, etc? If so, Michel lists all of those areas in one volume. Scott has them scattered across 6 volumes under their respective countries (e.g. under Poland, etc). When you encompass all those other areas, Third Reich philately can be pretty broad.

The odd thing about Third Reich stamps is that its propaganda value was not really used to the extent possible. (Think Soviets.) The stamps of the Third Reich contain lovely and rather pedestrian images and sentiments. For instance, there is a tremendous stamp that displays a simple stamp collector.

If you are just starting out and not getting too specialized yet, I would bypass the full-blown Michel specialized catalogs, as those have TOO much information. It's overhwelming. Instead, I would search out the two volumes that Michael produced in English. Between them, there's more than what is covered in Scott, yet not as dense as the specialized.

Do you/would you do the same with Stalin and Mao? They murdered 10-20 times as many. Read the Black Book of Communism (compiled by French Leftists). Tito? He's viewed as almost a nice guy yet his "labor" camps were as awful as Stalin's. The list could go on and on and on.

I am not sure that any country has/had a monopoly on despots.
Don

I haven't any Stalins or Maos. I wonder if they would get along with Hitler in that envelope to which I referred.

A picture of Hitler, Stalin or Mao isn't something I find particularly distasteful on a stamp. Such stamps are little documents of where those countries were at that point in time. However, there is a more troubling "moral" aspect to the mint issues in that their non-use basically represents a donation that was made to those regimes. An unused Hitler stamp is basically a receipt for a donation that was made to him and his party. Now, I wasn't the one to make that donation - that was done decades ago by someone far removed from me, so I don't let the moral aspect of that trouble me, but if one really wants to go down that path, that's a logical end. It would be different for me if it were new issues - I'd never purposely buy a North Korean stamp, either mint or CTO, until their current regime is gone, for example.

I'd add that I do believe some of the later issues of the Reich were sold after the war from leftover stock and thus the proceeds for those didn't actually go to the Nazis. I don't know which issues, dates, percentages, or how many stamps were sold this way, but there were certainly some. The vast majority, however, would have been sold directly by the post office of Nazi Germany, particularly the earlier issues.