YEAR OF ISSUE: 1985 ISSUED BY: POCZTA NIEZALEZNA (INDEPENDENT POST) TPP CATALOGUE NUMBER: 636A ISSUED IN GREEN ON CREAMY WHITE PAPER NO GUM THE WORDS MATKA BOSKA A.K. (TRANSLATED: OUR LADY OF THE A.K.). THE A.K. ADOPTED THIS IMAGE OF OUR LADY OF CZESTOCHOWA AS THEIR PATRON TO PROTECT THEM IN THEIR STRUGGLE AND FIGHT AGAINST THE NAZI GERMANY OPPRESSORS WHO RAISED MANY PARTS OF WARSAW, POLAND´S CAPITAL CITY, TO THE GROUND DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR (WW2). The Armia Krajowa (abbreviated AK), or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Zwiaek Walki Zbrojnej (Union for Armed Struggle). Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces. It was loyal to the Polish government in exile and constituted the armed wing of what became known as the \"Polish Underground State.\" Estimates of its membership in 1944 range from 200,000 to 600,000, with the most common number being 400,000; that figure would make it not only the largest Polish underground resistance movement but one of the three largest in Europe during World War II. It was disbanded on January 20, 1945, when Polish territory had been mostly cleared of German forces by the advancing Soviet Red Army. The AK´s primary resistance operations were the sabotage of German activities, including transports headed for the Eastern Front in the Soviet Union. The AK also fought several full-scale battles against the Germans, particularly in 1943 and 1944 during Operation Tempest. They tied down significant German forces, diverting much-needed supplies, while trying to support the Soviet military. The most widely known AK operation was the failed Warsaw Uprising. The AK also defended Polish civilians against atrocities committed by non-German military organizations, such as the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Lithuanian Security Police. Due to its ties with the Polish government in exile, the Armia Krajowa was viewed by the Soviet Union as a major obstacle to its takeover of the country. There was increasing conflict between AK and Soviet forces both during and after the war. Considered a model of heroic resistance in modern Poland, Armia Krajowa has occasionally been the subject of controversy. It was portrayed more critically in the Soviet Union (which saw the Underground State as an enemy) and some post-Soviet states (primarily Lithuania and Ukraine, where military groups who cooperated with Germans against the Soviets and/or were trying to separate from Polish control also clashed with the Polish resistance). The Black Madonna of Czestochowa (Polish: Czarna Madonna or Matka Boska Czestochowska, (Latin: Imago thaumaturga Beatae Virginis Mariae Immaculatae Conceptae, in Claro Monte) is a revered icon of the Virgin Mary, holding baby Jesus, housed at the Jasna Gora Monastery in Czestochowa, Poland. THIS PROPAGANDA STAMP WAS ISSUED BY THE POLISH UNDERGROUND SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT AS A DIVERSIFICATION STATEMENT AGAINST MARTIAL LAW WHICH HAD BEEN DECLARED BY THE COMMUNIST AUTHORITIES IN POLAND. IT IS A VERY RARE AND COLLECTABLE ITEM . THE UNDERGROUND MEMBERS WHO ISSUED THIS STAMP RISKED A LOT, BECAUSE IF CAUGHT THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPRISONED WITHOUT TRIAL. THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO OWN A UNIQUE PIECE OF HISTORY. IT IS A MUST FOR EVERY SERIOUS HISTORIAN AND COLLECTOR OF THIS PERIOD AND WILL MAKE AN INTERESTING ADDITION TO YOUR COLLECTION. General Wojciech Jaruzelski announced the introduction of martial law in a speech first broadcast on radio and television at 6:00 am on December 13, 1981. In order to isolate members of the opposition (from the Solidarity movement), 52 internment centers were created. A total of 10,132 internment orders were issued against 9,736 people during the period of martial law.
