The Azad Hind Stamps are a set of Cinderella stamp

Cinderella stamp

In philately, a cinderella stamp has been defined as "Virtually anything resembling a postage stamp, but not issued for postal purposes by a government postal administration..." The term also excludes imprinted stamps on postal stationery.- Types :...

s in six different designs produced in 1943 in Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 for Subhas Chandra Bose's Azad Hind (Indian National Army

Indian National Army

The Indian National Army or Azad Hind Fauj was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. The aim of the army was to overthrow the British Raj in colonial India, with Japanese assistance...

). The Indian Postal Department includes these six unused Azad Hind Stamps in its commemorative book India's Freedom Struggle through India Postage Stamps.

Background

A concept of Subhas Chandra Bose, the stamps were designed by Werner and Maria von Axster-Heudtlass who created many German issues between 1925 and 1949, and show themes depicted on ten denominations.

The stamps

The designs are

• 1+1 Anna
  Indian anna
  An Anna was a currency unit formerly used in India, equal to 1/16 rupee. It was subdivided into 4 Paise or 12 Pies . The term belonged to the Muslim monetary system...
  
   design depicting an Indian Sikh
  Sikh
  A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
  
   soldier firing a German MG34 machine gun.
• 1/2 Anna, 1 Anna and 2+2 Annas design, which shows a plough
  Plough
  The plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
  
   and a peasant plowing a field in the background.
• 2½, and 2½ + 2½ Annas design, which shows an Indian woman spinning cloth on a charkha.
• 3+3 Anna design depicting a nurse comforting a wounded soldier.
• 8+12 and 12 Anna + 1 Rupee
  Rupee
  The rupee is the common name for the monetary unit of account in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and formerly in Burma, and Afghanistan. Historically, the first currency called "rupee" was introduced in the 16th century...
  
   design depicting breaking chains on a map of India.
• 1+2 Rupee
  Rupee
  The rupee is the common name for the monetary unit of account in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and formerly in Burma, and Afghanistan. Historically, the first currency called "rupee" was introduced in the 16th century...
  
  , which show three INA soldiers—one clearly a Sikh, the other two presumably a Hindu and a Moslem—with the flag of Azad Hind.

All stamps were printed by photogravure

Photogravure

Photogravure is an intaglio printmaking or photo-mechanical process whereby a copper plate is coated with a light-sensitive gelatin tissue which had been exposed to a film positive, and then etched, resulting in a high quality intaglio print that can reproduce the detail and continuous tones of a...

 in sheets of 100 at the "Reichsdruckerei", the Government Printing Bureau in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. A million copies of the lower denominations were produced, with a further half million of the higher values, except for the 1 + 2 Rupee stamp, of which only 13,500 were printed in three color varieties.

Each value was printed in a different color. The 1 + 2 Rupee stamp was designed as a multi-color design.

A complete set includes several color varieties of the Mi. VII 1 Rupee + 2 Rupee design.

Catalogue listing

The German Michel catalog lists the seven semipostal

Semipostal

A semi-postal stamp or semipostal stamp, also known as a charity stamp, is a postage stamp issued to raise money for a particular purpose and sold at a premium over the postal value...

s first (Mi. I-VII); the surcharge was for the administration

Invasion and Occupation of the Andaman Islands during World War II

The Japanese occupation of the Andaman Islands occurred in 1942 during World War II. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands , are a group of islands situated in the Bay of Bengal at about 780 miles from Kolkata, 740 miles from Chennai and 120 miles from Cape Nargis in Burma...

 of Andaman

Andaman Islands

The Andaman Islands are a group of Indian Ocean archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal between India to the west, and Burma , to the north and east...

 and Nicobar Islands

Nicobar Islands

The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean...

 then under Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese control. Next come the three regular postal issues with no surcharge (Mi. VIII-X). A set of 21 stamps currently exist, both perforated (10 mm × 12 mm) and unperforated.

Sources

• "Pastimes; Stamps" by Barth Healey in the New York Times, 3 December 1989.
• "Indian Legion Stamps and Postal History" in Introduction to Foreign Legion Stamps and Postal History.
• Michel Deutschland-Spezial 1998, Schwaneberger Verlag GmbH, Munich, 1988.