Postage stamps 1939

The Protectorate's very first stamps, before the overprints: a 1 K Masaryk portrait, on sale from 13 April 1939, and a 30 h airmail from 22 April, both prepared for the post-Munich republic, hence the hyphenated inscription 'ČESKO-SLOVENSKO'. By the time they appeared, that republic was gone, which is why StampWorld lists them under both the Protectorate and Czechoslovakia.

Sources: Infofila: Galerie známek – Protektorát 1939, Wikipedie: Seznam poštovních známek Protektorátu Čechy a Morava

After the German occupation in March 1939 the Protectorate came about so suddenly that there was no time for new stamps, so from 15 July 1939 Czechoslovak stamps were sold overprinted 'Böhmen u. Mähren / Čechy a Morava'. The genuine overprints are made of tiny dots rather than solid lines – which is how they are told from forgeries.

Sources: Stamp Encyclopedia: Bohemia and Moravia, Stamp Collecting World: Bohemia and Moravia 1939

After the overprints and stopgap issues this was the Protectorate's first large pictorial series, issued in stages from 29 July 1939 with the bilingual inscription 'Böhmen und Mähren / Čechy a Morava'. It shows castles, landscapes and towns – among them Zvíkov, Karlštejn, Prague, Brno and Olomouc. It was designed by K. Vik, B. Heinz, J. C. Vondrouš and V. Silovský and engraved by Bohumil Heinz and Karel Seizinger – the same artists who had worked for Czechoslovakia.

Sources: Wikipedie: Seznam poštovních známek Protektorátu Čechy a Morava

The Protectorate's newspaper stamps appeared on 25 August 1939 with Jaroslav Benda's dove in nine values from 2 h to 1 K – Benda's dove and the same values had already been used on the Czechoslovak newspaper stamps of 1937. They were printed by letterpress, imperforate, in sheets of 100, and the issue is known for the large number of printing plates used. They were valid until 31 March 1943.

Sources: Burda Auction: Protektorát ČaM – Novinové, F. Beneš / POFIS: Protektorát Čechy a Morava 1939–1945 (katalóg, PDF), Wikipedie: Seznam poštovních známek Československa 1918–1939

The stamp for business printed matter was made on 1 December 1939 from the 10-heller newspaper stamp with Benda's dove: it received a black letterpress overprint 'GD-OT', the abbreviations of the German Geschäftsdrucksache and the Czech Obchodní tiskopis. It was issued imperforate in sheets of 100 and was valid until 31 July 1941; the print run was never published.

Sources: Burda Auction: Protektorát ČaM – OT, Doruční, F. Beneš / POFIS: Protektorát Čechy a Morava 1939–1945 (katalóg, PDF)

The Protectorate's triangular personal-delivery stamps were designed by A. Erhardt and issued on 1 December 1939 as two 50-heller stamps, printed in photogravure with the triangles paired head to tail. The blue one was stuck on by the sender as a surcharge when the item was to be handed only to the addressee in person; the red one was stuck on and cancelled by the delivering post office when the addressee himself had asked for this. From 1 October 1940 the fee rose to 1 K, so covers from then on carry two stamps. They were valid until 19 April 1941.

Sources: Burda Auction: Protektorát ČaM – OT, Doruční, F. Beneš / POFIS: Protektorát Čechy a Morava 1939–1945 (katalóg, PDF)