New 3RD Reich Germany Collector

Art, interesting comments. I can't say I entirely agree with your notion about mint stamps being a donation to the regime. If that were the case, the next logical step would be that any purchase of Third Reich postage made during the regime's life would be morally suspect. And, the fact is, the Germans and many others have had to wrestle with larger moral issues.

KGB, I don't have any moral qualms about collecting or displaying Third Reich material, mint or used. In the context of my earlier comment, a used stamp wouldn't represent a donation to the regime because a service was performed which was roughly equivalent in value to the stamp. At least in theory. And I'm not suggesting a mint Third Reich represents an intentional donation to the Nazis, but that doesn't change the fact that that's exactly what it was. If the German post office was given 50 pfennig for stamps, and the stamps were not used to frank mail, for whatever reason, the post office retained that 50 pfennig and is out nothing more than a few tiny bits of paper. Whether the buyer had the intention of donating to the Nazis or not, that's in effect what they did. I'm not suggesting that the retention of mint stamps impacted the outcome or the duration of the war, either as a whole or in any part, ended or saved any lives, etc. Just something to think about is all.

Well then obviously all mint stamps from despotic regimes need to be destroyed.

/sarcasm

Beware the slippery slope.

There are elements of our society right now that believe that all items depicting the Confederate flag should be destroyed, including the defacing of historic landmarks and works of art.

Mob mentality combined with political correctness and historical revisionism is truly frightening. Very Orwellian.

Trying to impute either intent or result due to someone's purchasing stamps is ridiculous.

It doesn't belong in philately... or anywhere else IMO.

revenue, how one spends one's money is always a moral question, I would think. And quashing moral reflection might be considered just as bad as political correctness?

art, if I remember correctly, any photo of Hitler published in Germany brought him royalties. This was the case even with stamps! (Again, IIRC.)

Are the medium olives a better buy than the jumbos? I mean, you get more per can...but they just don't have the taste and texture.

Hahahaha, book!

Absolutely, and I don't think anyone here has suggested as much. I merely made the point that if one dislikes pictures of dictators on their stamps, then the next logical step would be to have moral qualms about where the proceeds of the stamp sale went - the next step down on that slippery slope. I've got hundreds of mint Third Reich stamps in my collection, from Germany as well as occupied territories, and I never give it a second thought. If a different collector thought otherwise and didn't want to collect them, it's no skin off my teeth.

I shred my Hitler stamps when they come along, I don't recommend it, but it makes me feel good.