Theresienstadt Parcel Admission Stamp

Theresienstadt Parcel Admission Stamp

During World War II in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the Gestapo used Theresienstadt as a ghetto for Jews from Czechoslovakia, as well as many from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Denmark

On 10 July 1943, authorities in Bohemia and Moravia began issuing this stamp for use on packages sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. If a resident of the ghetto wished to receive a parcel, he could fill out a request every two months. The request would be forwarded to the Jewish Council in Prague, who would then send a notice to the proposed sender of the parcel containing the admission stamp and instructions on its use.

Upon receipt of the parcel, the inmate could send a pre-printed card acknowledging receipt of the parcel

Theresienstadt Camp

Genuine Stamp

1. The background lines are straight and unbroken.
2. There should be 3 dots here.
3. The tower roof has 3 white lines. Note the number of windows.
4. This should be a discernible dot and dash.
5. These markers have 6 dots.
6. Lines are made up of short dashes.
7. The engraver‘s initials “FC” are here

Genuine in brown

Genuine Misperf

Used ones with genuine postmarks.

Many used ones have fake cancels.

The notice to the proposed sender of the parcel containing the admission stamp and instructions on its use.

Forgeries

Typical forgery which will apply to most variations

1. Parallel lines are broken, the lines tend to be thicket and uneven. Clouds tend to be darker with pronounced dark areas between them.

2. Series of 3 dots only partial or missing entirely

3. Up to 4 visible horizontal lines in spire in genuine – this is also an inking issues and may not be visible. The lower structures on the right should also have visible windows.

4. Item a single blotch instead of a distinct dot with a dash underneath as in the genuine

5. Wrong number and alignment of dots in markers, particularly the left one which should show 6 dots

6. Dashes throughout the stamp that are more like heavy dots, this is a main feature of the forgeries , often these lines are vertical as well as horizontal

7. Initials "FC" often hard to see or missing.

Other Forgeries

Forgery Block

NOTE - many of these stamps are signed by Gilbert. Often fakes of his signature are found.

Proofs

Forgeries

Red Cross Souvenirs

The Red Cross delegates were given a guided tour in which they followed a red line on the ground and were not permitted to speak to most of the inhabitants.  Upon the conclusion of the visit, the delegates published positive reports of the visit.  The Germans were ecstatic, going so far as to produce a propaganda film about the visit.

As part of the propaganda effort, souvenir sheets of the Theresienstadt Parcel Admission Stamp were produced for distribution to IRC delegates on official visits. These sheets were found in remainder stocks post-war. They can be found in black, brown, and dark green, and were numbered sequentially

Forgeries

RC BLOCK FORGERY TYPE I ( Black Stamps)

The paper is grayish instead of white, the details in the printing vary considerably.

The numbers are printed in black instead of red and are preceded by "No." which is not the case on the- genuine blocks. Also, the type style of the numbers varies,

This forgery exists imperforate and perforated , while genuine blocks are always imperforate

BLOCK FORGERY TYPE II

The paper is grayish instead of white and the printing varies considerably from the genuine blocks. There is an “ink blob" on the upper right stamp above the tree at right.

The numbers vary in type style from the original

RC BLOCK FORGERY TYPE IIA

This forgery has the missing number. These blocks are often offered as “proofs.”

RC BLOCK FORGERY TYPE III

Printed on yellowish paper, the color of the stamps is much darker than on the genuine blocks. Some of the details arc blurred. These forgeries are numbered in the color of the biock while the genuine, brown and green biocks are numbered in red.