Boing Boing

Boing Boing

Share this post

Boing Boing
Boing Boing
Hitler Death Head stamp: how spies infiltrated Nazi mail system
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

Hitler Death Head stamp: how spies infiltrated Nazi mail system

Ellsworth Toohey
Nov 07, 2024
∙ Paid

Share this post

Boing Boing
Boing Boing
Hitler Death Head stamp: how spies infiltrated Nazi mail system
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
1
Share

Forgeries of German postage stamps printed by U.S. Government in the 1940s. The original text Deutsches Reich ('German Empire') was maintained for the standard forgeries, but was changed to Futsches Reich ('Ruined Empire') on the

In the dying months of World War II, American spies waged a unique battle against Nazi Germany — not with bullets and bombs, but with letters and stamps. Operation Cornflakes, a psychological warfare campaign, turned the German postal service into an unwitting delivery system for anti-Nazi propaganda. The plan: Allied bombers would strike German mail trains, and in the chaos that followed, they would airdrop counterfeit mailbags filled with forged letters among the scattered wreckage. As German postal workers dutifully gathered the debris, they would unknowingly collect these planted mailbags, sending Allied propaganda straight into the homes of German citizens through their own postal system. The operation earned its breakfast-themed codename because most German mail was delivered early in the morning, just as citizens were sitting down to their morning meal.

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Boing Boing to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Happy Mutants LLC
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More