Cancellations of Memelgebiet/Memel district - 11

Memel (now Klaipėda) rectangular postmark on North German Confederation / Norddeutscher Postbezirk stamp

Coadjuthen 1893 (now Katyčiai)

Galsdon-Joneiten 1920 (now Galzdonai)

Sziesze 1920 (now Šyša)

Naustubriai 1935 (former Neustubbern, Memelgebiet)

Warszawa-Vilnius Railway post 1935

This is an express letter sent in 1935 by the railway post line number 7 Warszawa - Wilno (now Vilnius, Lithuania) to Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia), Germany. I'm not sure where exactly this letter has been sent from but the sender's address is on the back and it's Slonim, today a town in Grodno region, Belarus. This TPO line 7 ran from Wilno (Vilnius) - Grodno - Białystok - then to Warszawa, so my guess is that it has been sent from Grodno then changed the line at Białystok then to Königsberg via Grajewo. Two arrival cancels on the back as well, one is Königsberg - Telegraphenamt and the other is Königsberg 5.

Joniškis 1913

Hebrew text on the back

from Янишки / Yanishki to Двинск / Dvinsk

This is a postal stationery sent in 1913 from Янишки / Yanishki (now Joniškis, Lithuania), Ков (Kovno gubernia) to Двинск / Dvinsk (now Daugavpils, Latvia). Nice arrival cancel of Двинск город.  / Dvinsk city! It has again the old manuscript looking Jewish text on the back which was the major reason why I bought this card in the first place. Prewar Joniškis had a large number of Jewish people with some fine Synagogues which were very recently restored.

Joniškis 1965

This is a cover sent in 1965 from Йонишкис / Joniškis, Lithuania SSR to Montrose, Angus in Scotland, UK. I particularly like the three sport stamps on the cover, which are the ones to commemorate the 1965 Спартакиада / Spartakiada, a major sport event in USSR.

Šiauliai 1916

Schaulen - Postamt / Šiauliai - Post office

This is a German military field post (Feldpost) card of the post office building in Schaulen (now Šiauliai, Lithuania) sent in 1916 to Bremen, Germany during the WWI German occupation. The postcard tells us only that it is a post office in Šiauliai so I'm sure about exactly which post office it is referring to but I can tell you for sure that it is not the main post office building used during the Imperial Russian time. It is most probably a building occupied by the German military not far from the railway station and used to house the field post office. The card itself has been sent from the field post of the 41st infantry division.

Linkuva 1912?

This is an Imperial Russian postal stationery sent from Линково / Linkovo (now Linkuva, Lithuania), Ков (Kovno gubernia) to Riga. From the postmark it looks like it is 1912 but I'm not 100% sure. On the bottom left of the front, there is a part of Riga arrival machine cancel with the typical three lines. Unfortunately, the card has traces of folds but the Hebrew text on the back makes it look like an Indiana Jones old manuscript! I have absolutely no knowledge of the Hebrew language though...

Lauksargiai 1941

This is a German semi-postal stationery sent in 1941 from Laugszargen (now Lauksargiai, Lithuania) to Göttingen, Germany. It has a nice commemorative cancel of "Rückführung der Volksdeutschen aus Litauen" which can be translated as the repatriation of ethnic Germans from Lithuania. Laugszargen was a town in former Memelgebiet with a railway station bordering Lithuania. When it was re-annexed by the Third Reich in 1939, it served has repatriation gate to Germany for the ethnic Germans living in Lithuania.