Developing A WWII Story Involving Stamps And Doing Some Research. I Need Some Expert Help!

Apart from the Jewish censors in the ghettoes, all other censors would be German hence they may not have been familiar with colloquial idioms in other languages. Their main concerns would be be in keeping military info secret - somthing like "There's a battalion of soldiers parked outside the town" would not have gone down well. Similarly, making sure that life appeared nice & rosy was important. Statements like "We're being deported" and "They're massacring us" would not get through whereas "It's hot today" & "We are returning to nature" (that one one a ghetto postcard) slipped through without the censors noticing what was actually being talked about. They weren't above ripping stamps off letter & cards to see if there was anything written underneath.

You should check out the following: http://www.militaryphs.org/

There are many relevant articles in the TRSG journal, for example "German POW camps in the US". Check it out here:
https://www.trsg-usa.com

Now, that would make for an interesting part of the story

Wow, I'm amazed at the volume and quality of the info you all shared! I've carefully read through each post and will check out all the links shared. Thanks so much, guys!

I have no direct knowledge of the procedure, but I strongly suspect that the prisoners never got actual possession of the stamps, but rather they were applied by the Germans. No reason to remove a stamp for inspection because there was no chance for anything to happen.

Not too dissimilar to mail regulation in US prisons and jails requiring metered mail or embossed envelopes.

Also I see no evidence of Red Cross involvement with the POW mail or the stationery for POW mail. Red Cross letterhead is common with soldier mail, but not those interned. If someone has an example, please show it.

I have no doubts whatsoever that John Becker is correct about the stamps.

There are contemporary reports of drugs being smuggled into US prisons under the postage stamp.

As to POWs or concentration camp inmates smuggling a message out of camp under a stamp, one would have to wonder what message they might send that they would need to smuggle.

For example, would they want to tell their families that they were starving?

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http://www.metropostcard.com/war7d-mail1.html ... last paragraph of a long & interesting article about war postcards
http://www.metropostcard.com/war7d-mail2.html
http://www.metropostcard.com/war7d-mail3.html

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

The 3-part article linked above by ikeyPikey does mention Red Cross cards distributed to prisoners, BUT it does not show an example, and it is an article about WWI, not WWII. Thus not directly relevant to the original question.

I would still like to see a WWII POW card/letter on something other than an official prisoner form.

Byawk, I managed to find a source of information which will likely put a smile on your face:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peo...196232.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peo...mation.shtml

Here's one:
https://goscf.com/t/57502

There are no Red Cross markings generally during World War II. Here we know it got to Germany as German censors examined and marked the cover. But how could it get there with countries at declared war? No merchant ship would dare go to an enemy port just to deliver mail. Neutral ships were going to and from their ports so how was mail to get from the neutral country to the other combatant? The only intermediary between sides with a few exceptions was the Red Cross. The same deal as in WW1. Some other organizations had mail boxes in neutral countries like Portugal that forwarded mail.

I had Japanese-American relatives "interned" in WW2 (Topaz, in Utah). They were able to receive and send mail to relatives in Japan. Delivery was directly to/from the Red Cross, not via US mail or even via camp authorities. They reported that received mail was delayed months. I didn't ask them about censorship but I assume it was done. I have no examples of that to offer. I also assume that after release, all contact with Japan was lost as the Red Cross had no simple way to forward mail to individuals. addresses.

I have a few of the red cross covers with US stamps mailed from Europe but I don't remember if they are circa WW1 or WW2. I'll post them later tonight.

These are awesome answers and links! Boy, am I getting smarter! :)