CZESLAW SLANIA, POLAND – 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF GENERAL KAROL WALTER-SWIERCZEWSKI PROOF
THIS STAMP, DEPICTING THE PORTRAIT OF GENERAL SWIERCZEWSKI, WAS DESIGNED AND ENGRAVED BY SLANIA. IN THE CORNERS OF THE STAMP ARE THE GENERAL’S DATE OF BIRTH 22.II.1896 AND HIS DEATH 28.III.1947.
THE ORIGINAL SET OF 2 STAMPS WERE ISSUED ON 28TH MARCH 1952 AND THIS BLACK PROOF, 90 gr VALUE, WAS ISSUED IN OCTOBER 1958 IN CONJUNCTION WITH A BOOK TO COMMEMORATE THE 400TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE POLISH POST OFFICE. THE ITEM ON SALE IS THE PROOF ON ITS OWN AND NOT THE COMPLETE BOOK. THE PROOF WAS PRINTED BY PWPW (THE NATIONAL PRINTER’S OF POLISH BANKNOTES AND STAMPS) IN WARSAW.
CATALOGUE NUMBERS: SG 737, MI 727, FI 589, SC 537.
THIS PROOF IS A MUST FOR EVERY SERIOUS SLANIA COLLECTOR.
THIS BLACK PROOF IS VERY RARELY OFFERED SO DON’T MISS THE CHANCE TO OWN ONE.
Karol Swierczewski grew up in a poor working class family. At age 12 he went to work at a factory in Warsaw until 1915 when, during the First World War, he was evacuated to Moscow. In 1918 he joined the Bolshevik Party, fought in the Russian Civil War as a soldier of the Red Army. During the Polish-Soviet War he fought on the Soviet side and was wounded. In 1928 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Red Army he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner no. 146, his first military award.
From 1921 Swierczewski taught in the Soviet School of Red Communars. In 1927 he graduated from Frunze Military Academy in Moscow and worked in the Red Army General Staff.
In 1936, under the name General Walter, he went to Spain where he led the XIV International Brigade, and later the 35th International Division, during the Spanish Civil War.
Following the outbreak of the WW2 (The Second World War) Swierczewski served as a general of the Soviet Army.
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