Vilnius
(Lithuania)
"VILNIUS" Overprint on Russian Definitives
Russian Definitives of 1938-1939 Overprinted "VILNIUS"
Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa, was launched on June 22, 1941. Two days later German forces took possession of Vilnius. Seven Soviet definitives from issues of 1938 and 1939 and two commemorative issues from 1938 were overprinted "VILNIUS" at the Spindulys Printworks (located in Kaunas) and the stamps were issued on July 16, 1941 for use in southern Lithuania in the Wilna (Vilnius) area. After the establishment of the German civilian administration in September 1941, German definitives depicting Hitler overprinted "OSTLAND" arrived to replace these stamps. They are not listed in the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue but they are found in the Michel Deutschland Spezial Katalog and listed as #10-#18.
Handstamp for the philatelic journal FILATELISTA from
"WARSZAWA" (Warsaw in Polish) on back of stamps
Bibliography
"FILATELISTA WARSZAWA handstamp on VILNIUS overprints." Stamp Boards. 14 May 2017.
Web. 14 May 2017. http://stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=77155.
"Lithuania." Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue. 2016.
"Ausgabe fur das sudlitauische Wilna-Gebiet." Michel Deutschland Spezial Katalog. 2004.
"Vilnius." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 2 May 2017. Web. 13 May 2017.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilnius.
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