June cover_Layout 1 13-06-16 12:17 AM Page 1 THE ISRAEL PHILATELIST JOURNAL OF ISRAEL PHILATELISTS INC. JUNE 2013 DEVOTED TO THE PHILATELY OF THE HOLY LAND VOL LXIV NO 3 Conversos Crypto-Jews & on Stamps GENE EISEN PAGE 100 IN THIS ISSUE The Bombing of the Patria 86 Agrat Sherutim 94 Tel Aviv 2013 98 Richard Dimbleby 76 Ed Fund Announcements David Kaplin, SIP Education Fund Director 2011 israel philatelic catalogue israel philatelist reprints The Education Fund is proud to announce the As Education Fund Director, I have periodically publication of the 2011 Israel Philatelic Catalogue reviewed the Education Fund catalog price structure of Maximum Cards, Postal Openings, Information as it pertains to the publications and shipping and Folders, Bulletins, Etc. by Sid Morginstin and Bernard handling. During May, the price structure was reviewed Perrin. A book version costs $25.00 (Order Item 446) and a number of changes are being implemented. and a CD-ROM format $15.00 (Order Item 536). The prices on some of The Israel Philatelist reprints, The catalogue is a unique compendium of collateral including Items 301 (years 1949–1959), 303, 304 and Israeli philatelic items produced by the Israel Postal 305, (years 1968–1976) have been significantly reduced Administration and dealers. The items included in the to clear out excessive inventory. So if you are interested catalogue are not extensively documented in more in hard bound copies of The Israel Philatelist from traditional stamp catalogues. The catalogue includes these years, this is a good time to purchase the reprints. Maximum Cards (picture postcards that reproduce the design of stamp with a first day of issue postmark postal Fees on the attached stamp), Stamp Information Folders and Bulletins, Post Office Openings and Posters. The Education Fund uses a flat rate for domestic (USA) and international shipping and handling. The current The 2011 catalogue contains listings for philatelic charge for domestic shipping and handling of $3.50 items issued through 2009 and 2010 and it is an per item is sufficient but the international shipping expanded update of the Maximum Folders Catalog and handling charge of, $8.00 per item, is insufficient by Sid Morginstin, Bernard Perrin and Stanley Raffel to cover our costs. The current International shipping published by SIP Education Fund in 2009. fee via USPS starts at $6.55 for a 2 oz. package and quickly climbs with heavier packages. For this reason, Foreign post oFFices in palestine we will be instituting over the coming months a major change to International shipping and handling fees: The Ed Fund recently received a generous donation International shipping and handling charges will vary of several slightly used copies of The Foreign Post by publication and will be significantly higher than the Offices in Palestine – Vol. II by Steichele. Thanks current flat rate. to this generous donation, the publication is being added back to the Ed Fund catalogue of publications new publications (Order Item 423). In conclusion, the SIP Education Fund is looking for coming soon new publications. Many of you have wonderful Israel/ israel generic sheets catalogue & Holy Land/Judaic collections. In some cases, you may have written article(s) in The Israel Philatelist about places & post oFFices with biblical name a portion of your collection and/or won awards at The Education Fund has agreed in principle to publish various juried stamp shows. In other cases, you are two new proposed works: Israel Generic Sheets interested in seldom reported topics, which are not Catalogue by Adam Caplan in collaboration with well documented. Please consider documenting these Howard Rotterdam and Places And Post Offices With items in a manuscript that can be published by the Ed A Biblical Name by Abraham Blum. No publication Fund. My role as Education Fund Director is to insure date has been set for either item. that the knowledge is never lost. ■ June * Volume 64 * Number 3* www.israelstamps.com in this issue SOCIETY 82 Membership Application 82 SIP Leadership 83 Editor’s Notes 84 Letters to the Editor 118 President’s Column 96 118 Members Awards 118 New Members Mandate 119 Chapter News 120 96 Zeppelin Cover Roberto Brzostowsk 110 The Printing Process Judaica Paulo Risi, Aladdin Adwan 100 Conversos and Crypto- Jews on Stamps i a Gene Eisen ndex oF dvertisers 107 “Benjamin of Tudela American Israel Numismatic 97 Richard A. Barson 108 The Jewish Cooperative Briar Road Company 97 Bank of Tallinn, Estonia Classifi ed ads 103 William Velvel Mosko˜ Doron Waide 93 120 Richard Dimbleby Gregg Philipsonf Education Fund 2013 116 92 Inside Front Cover Inside Back Cover Back Cover Forerunner Endowment Campaign 2013 89 92 Italian Cancellation/ Egyptian Stamp House of Zion 117 Roberto Bzostowski Ideal Stamp Co., Inc. 88 94 Israel Philatelic Agency 85 of North America Mosden Trading Company 116 Israel 87 Frama Vending Machine Negev Holyland Stamps 97 90 What A Much Traveled Ottoman & Near East 117 Envelope Can Tell Us Philatelic Society Yechiel M. Lehavy Regency Superior 88 94 Agrat Sherutim Arthur Harris Romano House of Stamps Ltd. 117 98 Tel Aviv 2013 86 Tel Aviv Stamps 103 Michael Bass 104 Israel Foreign Postal Website Archive Library Project 119 Holocaust Rates 86 The Bombing of the Patria Ed Kroft William M. Rosenblum 116 Robert Waldman 106 Philatelic Service Building Rare Coins The Israel Philatelist - June 2013 www.israelstamps.com 81 SIP Leadership 2013 o FFicers Assistant Treasurer Slide Programs President Executive Secretary Michael A. Bass Convention Manager Howard S. Chapman E-mail: [email protected] Howard Rotterdam E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Beneficiary Committee Immediate Past President Joseph Schwartz 1st Vice President Michael Bass E-mail: [email protected] Edwin G. Kroft E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Grievance Committee SIP C ommItteeS Paul Aufrichtig 2nd Vice President Endowment Fund Jean-Paul Danon Gregg Philipson Educational Fund E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] David Kaplin E-mail: [email protected] Editor Society Archivist Donald A. Chafetz Dr. Todd Gladstone Assistant to the President E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Vicki Galecki E-mail: [email protected] Associate Editors Membership David Schonberg Ben Wallace SIP Israeli Representative Zach Simmons E-mail: [email protected] Sharon Romano Marty Zelenietz Romano House of Stamp Sales Ltd Graphic Designer Research Committee 250 Dizengoff Street Irv Osterer Dr. Arthur Groten Tel Aviv, Israel E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Treasurer Stanley H. Raffel The Israel Philatelist Library E-mail: [email protected] A.P.S. Affiliate Unit No. 105 Jeff Rudolph Charter Member W.P.C. E-mail: [email protected] Indexed in the Index to Jewish Periodicals ISSN 0161-0074 Published 5 - 6 times a year Membership Application Donald A. Chafetz Editor Name: (Print or type): __________________________________ Contributing Staff: Address: ________________ City: _____________________ Rabbi Isidoro Aizenberg State/Province_________ Country: _____________ ZIP/Post Code: ______ Moshe Kol-Kalman Barry D. Hoffman E-mail: ______________________________ Reference: an APS Number or 2 Commercial References) Display Advertising Rates and Information available from 1. _________________________ 2. ___________________________ Stuart Freiman Signature: _________________ Recommended by S.I.P. No.: ___________ E-mail: [email protected] Parent or Guarantors Signature_________________ Applications submitted between January 1 and June 30 must be accompanied Member change of address information should be sent to: by a full year’s dues. Those submitted between July 1 and December 31 must be Stanley H. Raffel, accompanied by one and a half (1-1/2) year’s dues. E-mail: [email protected] Price per copy $4.95 from Stanley H. Raffel USA Adult USA Life Canada/Mexico All Others The opinions of the authors expressed herein Dues $30.00 $470.00 $34.00 $43.00 are not necessarily those of the society. 1-1½ Years Dues $45.00 $51.00 $64.50 ©2013 Society of Israel Philatelists, Inc. Reprinting by written permission only. Make all checks or money orders payable to “The Society of Israel Philatelist, Inc.” Mail to: Hy–Ko Products, Company, 60 Meadow Lane, Northfield, OH 44067-1415 Entered as 3rd Class Matter This application is accepted subject to review and acceptance or rejection in accordance Sheridan Press, Hanover, PA with the Constitution and By-Laws of the Society. “Notice of applications for membership PRINTED IN U.S.A. is published in our magazine, THE ISRAEL PHILATELIST, and consideration of applications is made thirty days after publication of the names.” 82 www.israelstamps.com June 2013 - The Israel Philatelist On a personal side, this will be my last report as Editor’s Notes Advertising Manager. I have been performing this Donald A. Chafetz function for the last 8 years (since 2006) and feel that it is time for someone new to step in and take a fresh The society's convention was held May 3-5 in look at the function and provide leadership moving conjunction with the Boxborough 2013 show. The forward. I intend to get the collections done for this dealer bourse had a large number of dealers including year and resign my role by September 1, 2013. Ed Rosen and Sid Morginstin. I was busy most of the membership chairman – ben wallace weekend judging the exhibits, but did have time to visit the SIP table and meet with a few of our members 2012 was a slow membership year; only 12 new which I always enjoy. Now that the Boxborough show members joined. Almost all of the new members is over, I plan to step down as judge, since I feel it is joined via our website and paid the additional Paypal time for someone else to assume the role. fee to join. website update – vicki galecki Vicki has been kind enough to provide a folder with the various committee reports. Here are some of the Our Society website, www.israelstamps.com is over major points. five years old. We went live in March of 2008. We’ve come a very long way in a relatively short time. The the israel philatelist way to make the website better and charge it with a Last year, due to my school workload and some new vitality is through active usage by the members. personal issues, I was only able to provide members On the site you can open a discussion or trade forum with five issues, i.e. no December 2013 issue. For 2013, thread, communicate with other members, download everything is back to normal and members should a slide presentation, purchase a book with your Visa receive six issues. or Paypal account, renew your membership dues and even make a contribution to the Endowment Fund, I would like to thank everyone who provided articles check the calendar for coming events or details on .A special thank you to my proofreaders and graphic Chapter meetings in your area. Of course, the calendar designer: David Schonberg, Zach Simmons, Marty will only be as good as the dates and events entered. Zelenietz and Irv Osterer. Please send your meeting, local stamp show and event information to [email protected] for executive secretary – howard chapman inclusion in the calendar. I would like to take this opportunity to remind all endowment Fund – gregg philipson Chapter Presidents that whenever you have a change in the President of your Chapter, including address We are honored to welcome Gregg Philipson of Austin, changes, the information should be sent to Vicki Texas as our new Endowment Chair for 2013. Gregg Galecki at [email protected]. kicked off a very successful Endowment Campaign for 2013. The Endowment Fund continues to advertise All members should be sure their current e-mail in The Israel Philatelist. The 2013 Endowment Fund address is sent to Vicki Galecki at [email protected]. campaign was launched with a mail campaign and a Having the e-mail address of each member enhances beautiful appeal letter from Gregg Philipson in the our ability to serve our members. October 2012 Israel Philatelist. Contributors will continue to be recognized in the 2013 journals. advertising manager – stuart Frieman We continue to get intermittent new requests from The primary goal of the fund is to build up the advertisers but there has been a marked decline in ad Endowment Fund so the interest income pays for revenue in the last few years. The rate of decrease is the website and modernizing programs, which in slowing. That said the advent of the Internet and the turn guarantees the future of the Society. Through a changing nature of our hobby will require that the generous loan from the Endowment Fund in 2012, the society make some major decisions in the next few Web Archive Library project was able to proceed. ■ years about how to handle its journal and outreach. The Israel Philatelist - June 2013 www.israelstamps.com 83 denominated in 25p and 50p. You also point out the Letters to the Editor issuance of other denominated airletters (110p and 150p). There were also airletters denominated in 100p and 120p during the relevant periods about which I am Don and will continue to publish. In the latest Israel Philatelic (April 2013) issue and in Your e-mail allows me to comment on an important the Israel Foreign Postal Rates (p. 70) article there is a point for readers . Airletter rates for different countries table of Airmail Rates. Perhaps I have misunderstood were not automatically just those shown on the the listing but as an aerogramme collector I would denominated airletters. Letters may have required the have expected the Aerogramme rates to have been addition of postage stamps to effect the correct rates. included. Israel issued its first aerogrammes on July For example, in this June issue of The Israel Philatelist, 2, 1950 and the imprinted stamps (25 prutot and 50 you will see an airletter to Canada dated March 26, prutot) reflected the tariff for the different international 1953. It was uprated to 55p, the specific rate to Canada zones. The 50 prutot tariff was raised to 55 prutot regardless of the fact that the new 55p airletter had not on May 4,1952 and a new uprated aerogramme was yet been issued at that time. You refer to May 4, 1952 issued on that day. The next uprated aerogramme was as the issue date for the 55p airletter- by that time the 110 prutot issued on October 5, 1952 and again 150 airletter rate Canada had climbed to 110p! prutot aerogramme on October 5, 1952 (galloping inflation!). Further changes were made to the tariffs I am grateful for your inquiry because the airletter and aerogrammes were constantly issued reflecting section in the Canada chart published in April 2013 these changes. should be amended to show the 50p rate for the period prior to February 1, 1952 and 55p for the February – Interestingly Israel was the first country in the world March 1952 period. If you have any published tariffs for the use the word (and spelling) AEROGRAMME on its the different international zones for the pre February airletter sheets to comply with UPU regulations. 1952 period I would be most grateful to receive a copy as it will help with the many articles I have been If I have misunderstood Ed Kroft’s listing then cancel compiling for future publication. my letter but if there is some substance to my query then please print if suitable. Always happy for further feedback as it increases all of our knowledge bases and makes us more informed Best wishes, collectors. Thanks very much. Tony Goldstone ■ Best regards Thanks Tony, Ed Kroft ■ I greatly appreciate the excellent feedback and it is great to know that someone is reading the postal history articles I put together. Rates for airletter/ Hi Don, aerogrammes or Igeret Avir (to transliterate the Hebrew) are an important part of early Israel postal The February Israel Philatelist arrived here yesterday. history as your e-mail suggests. The Japan to Israel piece (p. 9) is more of a puzzle than it appears: the postmark is most likely for 1975, not In the articles I have been publishing I have made 1949 – Japanese postmarks are dated by the year of reference to published airletter rates of which I am reign of the sitting emperor, and “49” would indicate certain. In the issue on Canada, I exhibited an example the 49th year of the Showa era, or Hirohito’s reign. But of an airletter which had been uprated from 25p to the stamps are late 1940s issues. Hmm... 50p I am not certain that this was the published rate in the fall of 1950. However, I am certain of the rates Marty Zelenietz ■ from February 1, 1952 forward. You correctly point out that airletters were first issued in July 1950 and were 84 www.israelstamps.com June 2013 - The Israel Philatelist news From the ISRAEL PHILATELIC AGENCY Visit Israel Prestige booklet with stamps, information and stunning pictures highlighting the wonderful and diverse places to visit. National Trails Australian Light Horse Endangered Species Beersheba 1917 From the Desert to the Arctic Joint Israel - Australia issue Joint Israel - Greenland issue To purchase these items contact a local dealer or write to: Israel Philatelic Agency of North America, Dept. 1P-11 161 Helen Street South Plainfi eld, New Jersey 07080 Ph: 908-548-8088 E-mail: [email protected] 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. The Israel Philatelist - June 2013 www.israelstamps.com 85 The Bombing of the Patria Robert Waldman, Staten Island, NY By Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938, the handwriting was on the wall for the Jews of Germany. Anyone who had funds and could fi nd a country willing to let them in was seeking to emigrate. Prior to the “fi nal solution”, the Nazis were eager to show that no country wanted to accept large numbers of Jews. Adolf Eichmann organized the Committee for Sending Jews Overseas that chartered three ships in Romania; the Milos, the Atlantic and the Pacifi c. These ships were to carry Jewish refugees to Palestine without permits to enter the British Mandate. b ritish position Of course, the Nazis knew of the British White Paper of 1939 that limited Jewish immigration to 15,000 per year and the unoffi cial policy of not even allowing that number to enter Eretz Israel. There were about 3,600 refugees on these ships. In September 1940, the ships departed from Tulcea, Romania and they arrived separately in Haifa Harbor beginning on November 19, 1940. British warships escorted them as they entered Palestinian waters. The British had decided not to allow the refugees off the ships but, instead, to intern them on the island of Mauritius. The Pacifi c arrived fi rst followed by the Milos a few days later. Jewish refugees from these ships were transferred to a larger ship, the Patria, to make the trip bomb was detonated on November 25, 1940 causing to Mauritius. The Patria was a liner designed to carry a large hole in the ship. The Patria sank in about 15 no more than 805 passengers, including crew, but the minutes. How such a small bomb could have caused British had the ship reclassifi ed as a troop transport so so much damage is best explained by the ship being that they could put 1,800 people on board. in very poor condition. There were about 1,770 people on board at the time of the explosion. About 270 were On November 24th, the Atlantic arrived in Haifa. Jewish killed and about 172 injured. International pressure groups were desperately looking for a way to keep the was exerted upon the British and they allowed the refugees in Palestine. The Haganah decided to disable survivors of the Patria to remain in Eretz Israel. The the ship so that it could not leave port. A small bomb remaining refugees were interned on the island of was smuggled aboard in a worker’s lunch bag. The Mauritius for the remainder of the war. 86 www.israelstamps.com June 2013 - The Israel Philatelist d . r kopFstein One of my most important covers, which I purchased at auction, is from the Jewish Agency for Palestine and is addressed to Dr. Felix Kopfstein on board S.S. “Patria” in Haifa’s harbor (Figure 1). Dr. Kopfstein was born on May 3, 1886 and was a noted lawyer, jurist and also a German Jew. The anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws ended his career as a judge. Unfortunately, Dr. Kopfstein did not survive the Holocaust. According to Jewgen, he died on December 14, 1940. p atria cover It is franked with Palestine Pictorial 2 and 5 mils stamps. The stamps are postmarked “HAIFA 16 DE 40”and “JERUSALEM 28 DE Figure 1 40”. On the left front side of the cover there is a British censor label reading “PC 22. OPENED BY CENSOR. 71/7133,” Stich type B104G. On the back, there is a purple censor handstamp “PALESTINE OPENED AND PASSED BY CENSOR. No. H4,” Stich type B104B. Since the Patria had sunk, the Figure 2 letter could not be delivered and the address is crossed out. The following notes are found on the front of the cover (Figure 1): 3. Penkower, Monty Noam, The Jews Were Expendable: Free World Diplomacy and the Holocaust; University of ■ Written in Hebrew the word “German” Illinois Press, Urbana, 1983 ■ A pencil, notation “vernu” (reason) 4. Stich, Dr. H. F., W. Stich and J. Specht, Civil and Military ■ “left” and “return to sender” Censorship During World War II Postal History; ■ The cover is handstamped twice in purple, Vancouver, B. C., Canada. “UNDELIVERED FOR THE REASON STATED ON THE 5. www.jewishgen.org/ COVER” 6. www.jewishmag.com/46mag/patria 7. www.zionism-israel.com/dic/Patria ■ On the back (Figure 2), is a purple rectangular box with o - o - o -o the reason stated for non-delivery “left”. There is also a faint purple handstamp “RETURN TO” with an arrow pointing to the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem. Do any of our readers have a cover addressed to the Patria in Haifa’s harbor? Bibliography 1. Steiner, Dr. Erich Gershon, The Story of the Patria; Holocaust Library; New York, 1982. 2. Ofer, Dalia, Escaping the Holocaust, Illegal Immigration to the Land of Israel, 1939 – 1944; Oxford University Press; New York, 1990 The “Frama” vending machine – first used in 1988 The Israel Philatelist - June 2013 www.israelstamps.com 87 Buying & Selling Israel, US, British Commonwealth From Generation to Generation We Buy It All! We are the leading buyers of U.S. better grade material and quantity items, British Commonwealth, Israel, Russia, Vatican and other Foreign material - Please off er. COLLECTIONS, ACCUMULATIONS, DEALER'S STOCK, SINGLE ITEMS IN LARGE QUANTITIES , ETC. IDEAL STAMP CO., INC. (Sam Malamud) 161 Helen Street South Plainfi eld, New Jersey 07080 Ph: 908-548-8088 FAX: 908-822-7379 Member over 40 years Member over 40 years E-mail: [email protected] 88 www.israelstamps.com June 2013 - The Israel Philatelist