Use of Revenue Stamps in Luxembourg During the World War II Occupation

Under construction

1.0 Introduction

On May 10, 1940, the German Wehrmacht occupied Luxembourg, Belgium and Holland, taking control of the Grand Ducal government. The occupation was to last until September 10, 1944. During those 52 months, the country was increasingly 'Germanized,' with use of the German language required, Luxembourg youth conscripted into the German army, and in August 1942 the country was incorporated into the Reich as part of Gau Moselland.

Not unexpectedly, the occupation brought with it a range of revenue stamps not previously used in the Grand Duchy as well as the overprinting and surcharging of existing stamps. To date very little has been written about revenue philately during the World War II occupation, making this a field ripe for exploration and discovery. The task will be difficult since after the occupation ended the Luxembourgers destroyed many of the government papers and documents produced during this dark period in their history.

John Barefoot lists some of the WWII occupation revenues in the second edition of his Benelux Revenues catalog (J. Barefoot Ltd., 2007). Martin Erler & John Norton list only five in their Katalog der Stempelmarken von Deutschland - Band VIII: Deutsche Besatzungausgaben 1914-1919-/1939-1945 - Alliierte Besatzungsausgaben 1947-1951 (Ora Verlag, 2d. ed. 1996).

2.0  Revenues Used During the World War II Occupation

2.1  Die Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF) 'Luxemburg' Overprints 

The DAF was the National Socialist (Nazi) Workers' Party labor or trade union organization. It replaced the free and diverse Weimar Republic trade unions that Adolf Hitler outlawed on May 2, 1933, after his rise to power. Theoretically membership was voluntary, but workers in the Reich and occupied lands would have found it hard to get a job in industry or commerce without being a member.  From January 1941 onward, all manual workers had to belong to the DAF.

Members were required to pay monthly dues according to a scaled fee schedule, depending on the member's classification ("klasse") within some 20 membership groups. As in the Reich, payment of membership dues by Luxembourg workers was documented using Nazi Workers' Party dues stamps overprinted 'LUXEMBURG' in black serifed font. The stamps feature the classification number, the party emblem -- a swastika in a cogwheel -- and the words "Beitrag, Die Deutsche Arbeitsfront." They were affixed to booklets such as the German dues booklet shown below:

Stamps for all or most of the 20 classes probably were overprinted, but I have only seen those for classes 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 20. That all of them are scarce is evident, as none is listed by Barefoot or Erler.
Help me identify and add scans of the missing denominations.

0,60 RM - Class 4 (orange)

0,80 RM - Class 5 (pink)

1,20 RM - Class 6 (blue)

1,80 RM - Class 8 (yellow)

2,20 RM - Class 9 (rose)

12,00 RM - Class 20 (olive)

2.2  People's Registration Fee
[Gebühren des Landessippenamtes]

0,60 RM brown-violet
21.5 x 25.5 mm.
P. 11.5

Used to document the fee paid to the National Registry (the Landessippenamt) for documents certifying matters such as national original and marriage.  No other designs or denominations were used.

   

 Birth certificate dated November 17, 1942, at Luxemburg-Eich

Marriage certificate dated November 17, 1942, at Mamer

2.3  Gebührenmarke

During the occupation, at least some of the towns issued Quittüng uber Gebühren [Fee Receipt] stamps.

I have identified two designs used during the World War II German occupation for the Luxembourg-Ville:

1.1  Luxemburg-Stadt
 

Type 1 -- Dots around the rectangle of value

0,50 RM pale pink

Ernährungsamt Ausweis
[Scarce ID card from the Food Ration Office]
Used from 1941-1943

0,60 RM gold

Surcharged in Francs (presumably after liberation in September 1944)

1.60F on 0,10 RM pale pink

1.60F on 0,30 RM lavender

5F on 0,60 RM gold

1.2  Luxemburg-Stadt Type 2 -- Squares around the rectangle of value

0,20 RM light gray

0,60 RM orange Cancelled Standesbeamter [Registrar] in Luxemburg

2.0  Wiltz

0,60 RM pink
(key type?)

Death certificate issued in Wiltz [in German: Wilz], February 18, 1944, certifying the death of Vinzenz Mersch of Brachtenbach on February 1, 1944.

Barefoot [2nd ed.] lists Gebührenmarke for Bettembourg (p. 46) and Clervaux (p. 49).  Certainly others must exist.