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Hello Joe - Having just founded a Danzig Study Group, I think I should answer your query !
The Free City of Danzig faced severe economic difficulties in the 1930s. The Senate negotiated a deal whereby some 180 families on unemployment benefits were resettled in Magdeburg, thus easing the Free city’s social budget. The experimental village settlement named “Danziger Dorf” in the northern outskirts of Magdeburg on the Ebendorfer Chaussee was built in 1936, and the families emigrated in 1937. The German National Socialists no doubt derived useful propaganda from this assistance to ‘German’ Danzig – note the prominent swastika in the 25Pf stamp. Sales of the commemorative stamps and subsequent 1937 Trade Fair miniature sheet would also indirectly have raised valuable revenue for the Free City.
Best wishes
Giles |
