At times, I am amazed at the dedication and focus of postal workers.

I had read that as the Titanic sank, Oscar Scott Woody, the liner’s Chief Postal Clerk, along with clerks John March, William Gwinn, James Williamson and John Smith, tried unto the last to save the mail, rather than themselves.

Mi. #909-910, Sc. #B292-293

But only this morning did I learn of the last postage stamps issued by Hitler’s Third Reich. On April 21, 1945, supplies of the two stamps were delivered to six Berlin post offices. Berlin, however, was under siege by the armies of the Soviet Union. The city was basically Hell on earth. Four of the post offices were already abandoned; the fifth closed on April 25, and the last Berlin post office closed on April 28. Not surprisingly, none of the six offices were accepting or delivering mail. But that Saturday they got their fresh supply of stamps.

On May 2, 1945, the Soviet Army overran the City of Berlin. In the months that followed, German postage stamps were collected as souvenirs by the soldiers of Russia, the U.S., Britain and France, and hence examples survive today.