These stamps were the final issue by the Third Reich government, a few days short of Allied victory in World War II. On April 21, 1945, these two stamp designs were released to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the Nazi Party’s rise to power. The stamps were only available because Allied forces had already occupied most other parts of Germany.
The day the stamps were issued, Berlin was totally surrounded by the Allies and the Battle of Berlin was underway. For this reason, The stamps only made their way to six post offices in the city. Out of those six, it’s believed only two distributed them. the other four had been abandoned or closed between April 21 and 28. German philatelic experts believe these stamps exist solely in mint condition today.
