Simnas is a town in Suvalkija, 25 km west of Alytus. In World War One, after Russian forces had been completely evicted from East Prussia, Simnas was entered by German 5. Garde-Infanterie-Brigade on February 16, 1915.
After the German army withdrew from Russia at the end of 1918, one of the vanguards of the Red Army was halted further east at Alytus in mid-February 1919, and Simnas was spared further fighting.
In the czarist period, Simnas had had a post office (Simno) but none during the German occupation. A mandate, as įgaliotinis, to open a Lithuanian P.O. was given to Feliksas Kasperavičius effective from July 22, 1919. A recent postal graduate, Elena Petrikaitė, was appointed as helper 2 days later.The following year, on August 1, F. Kasperavičius was given another assistant, Elena Smatavičaitė from Alytus.
For stamps, Simnas was supplied with Fourth Berlin Issue, followed by the Sėjėjas Issue etc.
In the absence of a regular postmarker, cancelling was done by means of a boxed cachet for money orders. Usually though not always, the date was shown by pen on the line intended for the serial number. So far, it is not certain whether there had been an earlier mode of cancelling, e.g. by manuscript only.
By late 1920 Simnas was provided with a standard calendar-type postmarker.
Known provisional markings:
Cancelling by means of a rectangular cachet:
1919, mostly 1920 singles, Berlin IV 10, 15, 20, 40, 1a [colln. Liesis]
1919, mostly 1920 singles, Berlin IV 10, 30, 40, 60, 1a [colln. Bubnys]
1920 singles, Berlin IV 10, 30, 40 [colln. Doniela]
1920 singles, Berlin IV 10, 20 [colln. Wilson]
1920 single, Berlin IV 15 [formerly Matuzas]
1920 single, Berlin IV 40 [formerly Norton]
1920 single, Berlin IV 40 [colln. Lapas]
1920 single, Berlin IV 1a [colln. Brazdeikis]