| Message: |
My understanding is that prisoners of war from WWII retained their free franking privilege,
which was for surface transport without special services, as long as they were considered prisoners of war. France converted some of its prisoners of war to ordinary workers, in which case, they appear to have had to pay postage on mail to Germany. There is an extensive study of post-World War II prisoner of war, Werner Boddenberg, Letzte Post der Kriegsgefangenen des Zweiten Weltkrieges (Falkensee, 2004). "Returnees" (Heimkehrer) even had free franking privileges when they were at camps or hospitals in Germany before their discharge, as described by Boddenberg. I believe that most prisoners of war had been released by 1951, but about ten thousand, I believe, were held by the USSR until 1954 or 1955. Sailors in the German Minesweeping Administration had to pay postage from 1945 until July 1, 1947. That privilege did not appear to last long, because the GMSA was converted into a civilian operation on January 1, 1948, I believe.
Benjamin R. Beede |
