Polish Workers

1968: 5th Polish United Workers Party Conference, Warsaw (Design - F Winiarski)

The Proletarians sit for their portrait looking quite relaxed in this painting by Felicjan Szczesny-Kowarski(1890-1948) which must have been one of his last works because it is dated 1948.

If you form a political movement then a manifesto is required and here indeed is 'The Manifesto' by Wojciech Weiss (1875-1950) considered the most important of early 20th Century Polish artists, this too was one of his last paintings (1950).  As you can see this stamp is not in the best of conditions but no matter for

1968: Polish Paintings (Design - A Heidricht)

the same year his painting made another appearance in a set dedicated to Polish paintings. This stamp was printed photogravure whereas the others are offset on chalk paper. You decide which is preferred.

Here we have Strike by Stanislaw Lentz portraying the revolutionary events of 1905. Lentz was fascinated by the labour movement and portraits of it became his key subject from 1900-1915, 'Strike' was painted in 1910. He was influenced by the Dutch tradition of collective portraits and nothing in the painting distracts the viewer from observing the emotions shown. I like the font on these stamps, the PZPR (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza) is the Polish United Worker's Party.  V zjazd is of course 5th meeting. You've got to love a language that uses a lot of Zs.  All the paintings can be seen in the National Museum in Warsaw

1988: 40th PZPR Anniversary (Design - J Wysocki)

Stamps for the Polish Worker's Party were a regular occurrence and they are nicely varied in subject matter but this is the only other one I have.

1921: Peace Treaty with Russia (Design - B Wisniewski)

Until the later part of the 18th century the Kingdom of Poland was one of the largest in Europe but was conquered and partitioned between Prussia, Austria and Russia.  Poland ceased to exist as an independent country and of course this led to revolutionary events such as that portrayed in 'Strike'. The Russians poured troops into the area to regain control but those turbulent years for Europe eventually ended and stamps of Poland re-appeared in 1918, the peace treaty with Russia celebrated on the above stamps with a sower and a rainbow of hope.

1922: Silesia Plebiscite Issue

Another worker but this time a miner from the mineral rich area of Silesia, I like the Arts and Crafts vibe of this stamp but possibly a world away from reality of mining life. Maybe he is off to vote. The plebiscite of 1921 was for the 1.2 Million citizens of Upper and Lower Silesia to vote whether to join Poland or Germany.  It was policed by French, British and Italian troops and although there was violence and unrest the vote itself was peaceful.  The vote divided on ethnic lines for Germany in the west and Poland in the east and it was indecisive. A wry smile by me as we are living through a divisive vote in the UK at the moment however unlike here there was decisive action in Silesia by the Inter-Allied Control Commission and the League of Nations who divided the country between upper and lower Silesia between Germany and Poland, a compromise. Things didn't end there for there was still unrest but after World War 2 Upper Silesia was ceded to Poland.  Linn's Stamps News have a fascinating and snappy overview of those turbulent years here and they suggest the plebiscite issues make an interesting collection, pity I only have one lone stamp.

Sunday Stamps II prompt this week is the Letter P - here for Poland, PZPR, Paintings, Proletarians and Plebiscite - See It On A Postcard