|
May 30, 1950. Letter from Poland to Holland, with postmarks containing propagandistic slogans against the use of the atomic bomb.
The translation of the Polish and French texts reads:
We demand the absolute prohibition of the atomic bomb. The government, who will use it first, will be condemned as war criminal by whole mankind !
|
|
Poland belonged to one of the first countries using postmarks for political purposes during the cold war between the East and the West. In 1950 (since May 13) about 1200 post offices in Poland recieved the above handstamps and machine postmark slogans for use on outgoing sendings. The aim was to agitate against a possible armament with atomic weapons and to promote the idea of a world free of atomic bombs. The letter is an interesting example of early use of these postmarks.
Later on more countries, belonging to the eastern as well as the western hemisphere, took part in the so-called "postal war".
Full details about postal items of the so-called "postal war" are given in the excellent " Catalogue of Postal War 1948 - 1994 " by Dedo Burhop and Jan Heijs.
|
