TYPE: SP36-40
ISSUED: January 18, 1939
PROCESS: Photogravure
PAPER: Watermarked double cross on pyramid
PERF.: 12
DESIGNED BY: M. Sandor Petten
PURPOSE: The stamps were issued to commemorate the return of some of the territory which Czechoslovakia acquired under the Treaty of Trianon in 1920. The territory was restored under an agreement made at Vienna between Germany and Italy on November 2, 1938.
PICTURE & HISTORY: The Eszak or the North monument standing in Budapest’s Liberty Square, and one of the reminders that under the Trianon pact Hungary’s north province was lost to Czechoslovakia. This Square also contains a “south” monument’ for the provinces lost to Yugoslavia, an “east” for the provinces lost to Roumania, and a “west” monument for those taken over by Germany.
(A37) The Castle Munkacevo in the territory returned. This castle was built by Bela IV after the great Tartar invasion in 1241 as a guard to the pass thru the Carpathian mountains.
(A38) Regent Horthy, at the head of his troops, crossing the Danube to take possession of the city of Komarom, from an actual photograph.
(A39) The Cathedral of Kassa, built during the middle ages, standing in Rakoczi Square. It is illuminated each evening and is a national shrine.
(A40) Symbolical of the arrival of Hungarian troops in the reacquired territory. A Hungarian maiden in national costume pinning a blossom on a trooper, in the background inhabitants fraternize with the soldiers. The date “1938” appears in the design.
Hungary used this form of collecting money for the peoples in the returned territories, hence “Magyar a Magyarert” (Hungarians Help Hungarians) appearing in the design of each stamp. This is the first time the complete word “Kiralyi” appears in place of “Kir.”