--- title: Himmler-head forgery of the 6-pfennig Deutsches Reich stamp url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/himmler-stamp-forgery-1943/ description: A British forgery of the violet 6-pfennig Hitler-head definitive with Heinrich Himmler's face in place of Hitler's, shown here in its two printings… section: Collection --- [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/) [![Himmler-head forgery of the 6-pfennig Deutsches Reich stamp](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/himmler-stamp-forgery-1943.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/himmler-stamp-forgery-1943.jpg) # Himmler-head forgery of the 6-pfennig Deutsches Reich stamp A British forgery of the violet 6-pfennig Hitler-head definitive with Heinrich Himmler's face in place of Hitler's, shown here in its two printings (December 1942 with finer lines, April/May 1943 with wider lines). It borrows the look and authority of an official Reichspost issue to suggest that Himmler was preparing to succeed Hitler. A PWE memorandum of 5 April 1943 covers sending 400 of the stamps, with postmarks and censorship strips, to Stockholm so that they could enter the post with no visible British origin. - **Date:** 1943 - **Period:** [Second World War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=wwii) - **Made by:** UK Political Warfare Executive (black propaganda forgery) - **Region:** [Western and Central Europe](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=western-central-europe) - **Country:** [United Kingdom](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=united-kingdom) - **Medium:** [Stamp](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=stamp) - **Issuer type:** [Intelligence](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=intelligence) - **Regime:** [Churchill Government](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=churchill-government) - **Leader:** [Winston Churchill](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=winston-churchill) - **Audience:** [Enemy civilians](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=enemy-civilians) - **Purpose:** [Deceive or deny](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=deceive-deny) - **Themes:** [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Media and information](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=media-information) - **Event:** [World War II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=world-war-ii) - **Techniques:** [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/) [Narrative laundering](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/narrative-laundering/) - **Regime:** [Churchill wartime government](https://propagandaarchive.org/regimes/churchill-government/) - **Leader:** [Winston Churchill](https://propagandaarchive.org/regimes/churchill-government/#winston-churchill) - **Source:** Impersonated Source falsified: fake personas, outlets or documents - **Source:** [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Propagandaf%C3%A4lschung_Himmler_Typ_I_und_II.jpg), retrieved September 27, 2026 - **Rights:** Public domain (UK Crown copyright expired; PD-UKGov) British Government (Political Warfare Executive), 1942-43. Image via forgery.de, Wikimedia Commons. ## Text on the object Original (German) · read from the image, not independently checked ``` 6 6 DEUTSCHES REICH 6 6 DEUTSCHES REICH ``` English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader) ``` 6 6 GERMAN REICH 6 6 GERMAN REICH ``` Both printings shown in the image carry the same printed text (the denomination '6' twice and 'DEUTSCHES REICH'); only the portrait and the fineness of the engraved lines differ between the two. [← China Fights On](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/china-fights-on-united-china-relief-1943/) [Matchbox label, Japanese wartime propaganda in Malay: "Tentoe dapat kemenangan" (Victory will surely be won), No. 3 (c. 1943) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/japanese-java-propaganda-matchbox-1943/) ## Using the same techniques - [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (0037 · Testimonial, Transfer) - [Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130/) (0130 · Transfer) - [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/) (1070 · Transfer, Card stacking) - [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities) - [Consult of the doctors on the grave illness of the Grand Sultan (Consult vande medicijnen inde swaere siekte vanden grooten Sultaen)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/consult-of-the-doctors-sick-sultan-antwerp-1683/) (1683 · Transfer, Bandwagon) - [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (1746 · Name-calling, Transfer) - [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (1791 · Name-calling, Transfer)