The Fate of Western Hungary 1918-1921 - Corvinus Library ...

handling of issues, as decreed by the independence decision, attaches the
required 37 samples of each value of the overprinted stamps and considers this
official notification of the issuance of the stamps.
We await confirmation of our report.
Pál Prónay
Supreme Commander” 430
The 5 th Rebel Army, fighting under the command of Iván Héjjas in Moson
County, issued its own series of stamps on October 10, with black overprinted
text announcing Hungarian Uprising Northern Army 1921. When the
overprinted stamps got into circulation, Lt. Szendey reported that the number of
stamps printed would be adequate for about 20 days. Hence, György Hir, on
receiving the report, issued another directive (G ü. 10./1921) authorizing 1 st . Lt.
Károly Verő to design three new stamps and have the draft drawings available
for review in three days. The new Western Hungary stamps were ready on
October 11. They were printed in Vienna (!) with the printing of ‘Lajta-Banate
Post’ in various colors and 11 denominations. Some sources contest the
October 11 date as Prónay recalled it as October 5. The first large shipment
from the Viennese firm of Paulussen and Partner was sent on November 9, and
in circulation after November 11. On November 17, the Vienna authorities
seized the printer’s stock and charged the company with fraud and treason. 431
The Friedrich rebels issued their own stamps on October 12 with the
overprinting: Nyugat-Magyarország Orszvé. / Westungarn Orgland. The
Friedrich group issued a proclamation on September 30 in Kismarton in which
it stated that a month earlier, on August 30, the National Defense Organization
(Országos Védelmi Szervezet, ORSZVÉ) was formed. It also stated that it
assumed authority of the Western Hungary area intended for annexation. The
organization made it fairly clear that its goal was to recall Charles IV to the
Hungarian throne. With the issuing of the stamps, it sought to strengthen its
financial position. The stamps were ordered on September 27 from a printing
press in Budapest, which arrived in Kismarton on October 12. Postal authorities
in Kismarton notified the executives of Hungarian Mail and Telegraph the next
day of the release of the stamps into circulation. The stamps were in use for a
limited time only, around Kismarton and Nagymarton, as immediately before
the second coup d’état attempt of Charles IV, the numerically superior forces of
Iván Héjjas attacked the Friedrich rebels, forcing them to retreat to
Nagymarton.
Mail, parcels and periodicals with rebel stamps affixed were accepted by the
430 Jászai, 1927, op. cit., p. 161.
431 The Austrian Attorney General suspended proceedings against the printer on January
17, 1922 since, at the time of printing, Austria had not extended its sovereignty over
Western Hungary, making the case without foundation.
169