The stamps of Carpatho-Ukraine, 1939-1945, Background
The National Assembly Issue
Early in 1939, plans were drawn up to hold the First Carpatho-Ukrainian National Assembly (Soim) in Khust. The date of 2 March was agreed upon and a special regional stamp, with appropriate commemorative stationery and cancellations, was designed to mark the occasion (Figure 3). The 3-koruny blue stamp, depicting the wooden church at Yasinia, was delivered to Khust by the beginning of February.
Figure 3. The famous 3-koruny blue, Carpatho-Ukraine’s first stamp, showing the Church of the Ascension (Struk Church) and bell tower in the town of Yasinia.
In actuality, the new stamp was a re-engraving of a 60-haléřů, orange red stamp from the 1928 Tenth Anniversary of Czechoslovak Independence issue. The printing sheet format consisted of two panes of 100 side-by-side. Each pane had 16 horizontal rows, with the first and last rows consisting of only one stamp at the far left along with six blank tabs. The other 14 rows had seven stamps each. The last tab at the bottom right bore the plate number, either “1” or “1A” (Figure 4).
A total of 900,000 stamps were prepared, with 300,000 forwarded to Khust and the remainder kept in Prague.
Because of its high value, the 3-koruny stamp was really only suitable for registered mailings or special delivery letters (see postal rates sidebar).
Figure 4. Printing sheet layout for the 1939 stamp.
Fearing a possible loss of its easternmost province during this charged time, the Czech government repeatedly postponed the convening of the Assembly. Nevertheless, fast moving events during the middle of the month proved to be decisive. On 14 March, Slovakia declared its independence. Geographically now separated from Prague, Carpatho-Ukraine became de facto independent. That same day, the Hungarian army crossed the Carpatho-Ukrainian frontier, seeking to annex the province.
In the early evening of the 14th, Voloshyn announced on the Khust radio that Carpatho-Ukraine had declared its independence. The following morning he handed over a handwritten decree to the Khust post office authorizing the sale of the stored stamps as the new country’s first postal issue. A telegram was sent to Prague around 10:30 am informing postal officials of the stamp release, and the 600,000 stamps at the Philatelic Section in the Czech capital went on sale later that day. Around mid-afternoon of the 15th, the 22 elected deputies met in Khust and unanimously passed a bill officially declaring Carpatho-Ukraine a sovereign republic. Voloshyn was then unanimously elected its first president.
Although the semi-military formation known as the Karpatska Sich (Carpathian Sich) put up a spirited defense to the Hungarian advance, it was inadequately armed and trained. By 4:30 pm on 16 March the Khust post office was taken and by 6 pm the entire town was occupied and the Carpatho-Ukrainian Government had fled. The National Assembly Issue was valid, therefore, for only two days. Over the next several days, the remainder of Carpatho-Ukraine fell to Hungarian forces; it became the Hungarian province of Kárpátalja until late 1944.
The short duration of Carpatho-Ukraine’s existence in 1939 – and its lone stamp release – gave rise to the myth that Carpatho-Ukraine was the one country that could be collected complete simply by obtaining the 3-koruny stamp. Such is far from the case, however, as many more Carpatho-Ukrainian stamp issues were produced after the five and a half years of Hungarian occupation ended in the fall of 1944.
The stamps of Carpatho-Ukraine, The Yasinia Local Trident Overprints
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