door Documents and deeds are often boring and of little interest. But not always! Sometimes attention is drawn to a special combination, such as the document shown here. It was created on so-called formaatpapier (format paper) with an impressed formaatzegel of “50 cents ‘sGr. 1940”. In addition however adhesive stamps have been added.
It is noticeable that the pair of 50 cents (“–.50”) stamps was cancelled by pen on 1-6-1943 (which was normal practice), but next to the formaatzegel another 50 cent adhesive stamp has been pasted. This stamp was however cancelled with a short bar cancellation “Inspection Succ. And Reg./Amsterdam 9.VII.43“. The adhesive stamps clearly do not come from the same sheet of fiscal stamps.
Time to read
Our attention has been drawn, so now it’s time to read the text. It concerns a lease agreement between the (still existing) “Amsterdamsche Club voor Zweefvliegtuigen” (Amsterdam Club for Gliders), which was the lessor, and “M.B.A. Fabrieken voor Spoorwegmaterieel“(M.B.A. Factories for Railway Equipment).
Anyone who thinks that a glider is being rented out should read on. It concerns a car, a Graham Paige. Not only that is special. The renter must rebuild the car by way of a rent allowance and install a winch device. The lease commences on 1 June 1943 and is entered into for the duration of the war unless the ban on gliding is lifted before the end of the war…
M.B.A. Fabrieken van Spoorwegmaterieel
The company was originally called Maschinenbau- und Bahnbedarf A.-G. vorm. Orenstein & Koppel, and based in Berlin. In 1940 the company was renamed as Maschinenbau und Bahnbedarf Aktiengesellschaft, making locomotives and wagons, with a branch in Amsterdam. Since 1941 the company had been part of Hoesch AG. The company therefore belonged to the “National-Socialist family” and as such made use of forced/slave labor.
