30:1 16 1999
OCTOBER 23, 1956

László Filep

The once taboo philatelic aspects of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight have become public knowledge. I'm referring to primarily the overprints initiated by the students of the Sopron College of Forestry and Lumbering. Twenty-one values of the then current Buildings and Occupations definitive series were overprinted with the 3- or 4-line text Hazádnak / rendületlenül...! / Sopron / 1956 okt. 22. in red or black color under the supervision of the Sopron Postal Directorate.

Recently, a 60 fillér value of the Occupations series surfaced with a different type of overprint. The stamp, which depicts a postman in the process of emptying a letter box, bears an overprint in black picturing the Kossuth-crest and the date 1956 / OKTÓBER 23. For obvious reasons, this stamp was hidden from view for 42 years. The owner attested its genuineness with a notarized document. He stated that, between 1953 and 1957, he was an employee of the Hungarian Post, a position he did not abandon during the days of the revolution. In fact, the Revolutionary Council of the Post re-confirmed him in his position. He continued the statement thus:

Because of my position, I was given one complimentary copy for my personal collection of every stamp issued in Hungary ... similarly, I acquired one copy of the overprinted 60 fillér Occupations stamp picturing a postman emptying out a letter box. This stamp was prepared by the revolutionary authorities in honor of the revolution and freedom fight. The stamp, which was not placed into circulation, was overprinted with a Kossuth-crest under which was the date 1956 október 23. ... Subsequently I placed this stamp alongside the others in my 'complimentary' examples collection. ... I assume all legal liability in stating that this example is one and the same with the stamp that I received in 1956 and attest to its authenticity by affixing my initials to its reverse side.

In actuality, the initials were placed in the selvage attached to the left side of the stamp. It's still an interesting example of the postal history of 1956.

Used with permission from the Editor