The stamps of Carpatho-Ukraine, 1939-1945, Background
The stamps of Carpatho-Ukraine, 1939-1945, The National Assembly Issue
The Yasinia Local Trident Overprints
Hearkening back to 1918-19 when trident overprints were the norm on stamps of newly independent Ukraine, some citizens of the town of Yasinia decided to create their own version during the time of Carpatho-Ukraine’s short-lived independence. On 14 March 1939, 43 Czechoslovak stamp issues and two souvenir sheets were overprinted with a rubber handstamp showing a trident (Figure 5; designated Type I, it is rather similar to Odesa VIa or some of the Podillia trident overprints from Ukraine 20 years earlier). Still on that same day or on the following day, 39 Czechoslovak stamp varieties were overprinted with a distinctive Type II metal device that not only displayed a trident, but also the words “СЛАВА УКРАЇНІ!” (Glory to Ukraine!) in a half circle under the trident (Figure 6). Some postal cards were also overprinted with either the Type I or Type II tridents. All of the overprinting was carried out with black ink.
Figure 5. Type I. Figure 6. Type II.
Exactly who produced the Yasinia overprints has not been determined. A likely source is members of the military organization Karpatska Sich, some of whose recruits were stationed in Yasinia at this time. The Yasinia stamps were not officially authorized issues by any means, despite the fact that some of the overprinted stamps are known seemingly used with a Yasinia circular date stamp of 14 March 1939. These “used” stamps were most likely created on a “canceled-to-order” or “handback” basis.
The Yasinia local stamps were not prepared in any great quantities and are fairly difficult to track down. They thus provide quite a challenge for collectors of philatelic ephemera.
A Change in Regimes
Carpatho-Ukraine was occupied by the Red Army in October of 1944. The Czechoslovak government-in-exile exercised civil authority for a brief period, but by early 1945, it had moved on to Košice in Slovakia (which had also been freed from Hungarian rule). This body produced some local issues (40 items) in Khust and authorizing documentation is known. Czechoslovak “Sympathy Issues” were also prepared in Mukachiv (81 items), Berehove (31 items), and Teresva (113 items), but precisely who was responsible for their issuance is unclear (Figure 7).
Figure 7. Local issues of late 1944.
Very few covers demonstrating usage of these local stamps have survived from Khust and Mukachiv. Some from Khust are possibly genuine, but virtually all from Mukachiv were philatelically prepared. The authors are unaware of any covers from Berehove or Teresva. Because of their dubious nature, these local issues are not dealt with in this Handbook.
Meanwhile, a network of local political organizations had evolved to become the “National Council of Carpatho-Ukraine,” known as the NRZU (after the Ukrainian initials for “Narodna Rada Zakarpatskoi Ukrainy”). Eventually, the Soviet military authorities entrusted the civil administration of Carpatho-Ukraine to the NRZU. This autonomy extended to postal matters. Under NRZU auspices, two overprinted issues and three definitive issues were produced and distributed throughout Carpatho-Ukrainian territories.
All Carpatho-Ukraine stamps from this time period lack an indication of the currency. At one time, it was thought that the Soviet, Hungarian, and Czech currencies were allowed to circulate at equal value. Current thinking is that only the Hungarian fillér / pengő currency was in circulation. It is also plausible that the currency designation was omitted since it represented a symbol of the Hungarian occupation. This article will indicate denominations as either “f” (fillér) or “P” (Pengő).
Carpatho-Ukrainian Postal Rates
The Czechoslovak postal rates in force in mid-March of 1939, at the time Carpatho-Ukraine declared its independence, were as follows:
Local letter (to 20g) 60 haléřů
Domestic postal card 50 haléřů
Domestic letter rate (to 20g) 1 koruna
Domestic Registration 2 koruny
Domestic Special delivery 2 koruny
Foreign postal card to neighboring countries 1.20 koruny
Foreign postal card to other countries 1.50 koruny
Foreign letter to neighboring countries (to 20g) 2 koruny
Foreign letter to other countries (to 20g) 2.50 koruny
Foreign registration to neighboring countries 2 koruny
Foreign registration to other countries 2.50 koruny
Foreign special delivery (express) 5 koruny
Unfortunately, the postal rates in Carpatho-Ukraine following liberation from Hungary are far less clear. The Hungarian expert Béla Simády (1984) provided the following list of rates:
Local letter 40 fillér (0.40 pengő)
Domestic postal card 40 fillér (0.40 pengő)
Domestic letter 60 fillér (0.60 pengő)
Foreign postal card 1 pengő
Foreign letter 2 pengő
Registration 1.40 pengő
Although, this information is useful, the franking on a great many covers still goes unexplained. In particular, there are many court letters and official correspondences of the NRZU that are franked with 10 fillér and 20 fillér, which causes one to assume the existence of special rates (printed matter?) for those classes of mail.
Furthermore, five years later, Simády (1989) stated the following in regards the 1945 tariffs: “I have no exact data about the then-valid rates, but the franking of letters shows a very colorful picture.”! Obviously, this subject presents opportunities for additional research.
If one discards the blatantly philatelic covers, the above rates “fit” about 50% of the covers known. The foreign rates seem to be consistently applied, but there are many exceptions to the domestic (including local) rates.
The stamps of Carpatho-Ukraine, The Uzhhorod Provisional Overprints