RARE NSDAP Third Reich Nazi German National Socialist Antisemitic Voting ID Card Postcard

Original 1938 Anschluss Plebiscite Voting ID – Vienna Austria – 3 Stamps & Special Cancels

Very interesting original Third Reich-era voting identification document (Wahlausweis) issued for the historic April 10, 1938 “Volksabstimmung und Wahl zum Großdeutschen Reichstag” — the plebiscite concerning the annexation of Austria and simultaneous election to the Greater German Reichstag.

The vote was conducted shortly after German forces entered Austria in March 1938 and was intended to provide retrospective political legitimacy for the Anschluss. The Austrian government notes that the annexation had already been enacted on March 13, with the plebiscite following on April 10.

This particular example is especially attractive because the address side has been philatelically enhanced with three period German stamps and multiple special Vienna cancellations, making it an excellent crossover piece for collectors of Third Reich documents, Austrian Anschluss history and German postal history.

Front / Address Side

The document is addressed to a woman whose handwritten name appears to be Luise Müller.

Visible details include:

• Printed “Gemeindeamt” voting identification format
• Voter entered in the Stimmliste under No. 71
• Vienna address
• Three German postage stamps
• 6 Rpf “Ein Volk – Ein Reich – Ein Führer” propaganda issue
• 6 Rpf portrait definitive
• 12+38 Rpf red portrait semi-postal
• Large commemorative Vienna “10. April 1938” cancellation
• Additional 20 April 1938 Vienna cancellation
• Purple boxed voting confirmation reading:

“Volksabstimmung für Groß-Deutschland
am 10. April 1938
– Abgestimmt –”

Translation:

“Plebiscite for Greater Germany
on April 10, 1938
– Voted –”

The presence of the “Abgestimmt” marking is significant because these Wahlausweis documents were presented at the polling place, stamped when the person voted, and returned as evidence of participation. Contemporary examples and archival documentation confirm this procedure.

Reverse Translation

“Plebiscite and Election to the Greater German Reichstag on April 10, 1938.”

Voting Identification

“For the person named in the address.

Voting time on April 10, 1938 is from 8 o’clock in the morning until 5 o’clock in the afternoon.

This voting identification card is to be presented for stamping when casting the vote. It will be returned as proof that the vote has been cast.

Go to the ballot box early!

The Mayor.”

• Context: Used to vote on the ratification of the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany, which was heavily rigged and used as a tool of political intimidation and disenfranchisement.
• Exclusion Clause: The bottom paragraph explicitly bars Jewish people and those defined by the Nuremberg Laws as Mischlinge (persons of mixed Jewish ancestry) or married to Jewish individuals from voting, ordering them to return the card to the municipal office under threat of severe punishment.

Historically Important Discriminatory Notice

The bottom of the document contains a particularly significant piece of period text illustrating the racial laws and exclusionary nature of the 1938 voting process.

Translated, it essentially states that anyone who was excluded from voting, was classified as Jewish, descended from at least three “fully Jewish” grandparents, or was classified as a Mischling with at least two Jewish grandparents and married to a Jewish person was required to return the voting identification to the municipal office and refrain from voting, under threat of severe punishment.

This was not merely boilerplate language: archival material from Austria’s Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance confirms that Jews and other groups were specifically excluded from the April 10 plebiscite.

Historical Background

The April 10, 1938 plebiscite occurred less than a month after the March 1938 annexation of Austria. It was conducted together with the election to the Großdeutscher Reichstag. The ballot asked voters to approve the already-completed union of Austria with Germany while simultaneously supporting the regime’s Reichstag list.

This example is particularly desirable because it appears to have actually gone through the voting procedure, retaining the “Abgestimmt” voting confirmation, handwritten voter information, period stamps and commemorative cancellations.

Condition:
Original used condition with expected age toning, handling, folds/creases, ink marks, edge and corner wear. The stamps and cancellations remain well displayed. There is an old penciled collector/dealer price notation on the reverse. Please examine all photographs carefully for exact condition.

A fascinating original 1938 Vienna Anschluss voting document combining political history, social history, Austrian history and Third Reich philately in one artifact.

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YB3 series