Express message card
Express message cards were introduced by the Reichspost during World War II because it was difficult for soldiers to endure hearing of major bombing raids on hometowns and having to wait for news from home. The Reichspost was asked for the fastest possible notification. Representatives of the High Command of the Army , the People's Welfare , the Propaganda Ministry and the Reichspost had agreed in March 1943 on the introduction of an express field postcard , still without a form. On November 16, 1943, the Reichspost ordered the establishment of “a new branch of the German Reichspost for the population hit by heavy enemy bombing”.
The express message card allowed private mail to be sent to and from the affected city free of charge within four to ten days of the attack in order to inform relatives about the welfare as quickly as possible and, if necessary, to give them a new address . The condition was that the city had been mentioned in the Wehrmacht report, otherwise a deadline of four days applied. If the mail system itself was hit, trucks that had already been prepared were used to transport it to the nearest post office.
literature
- Gerd R. Ueberschär : The German Reichspost 1939-1945. Nicolai, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-87584-915-9 .