Refugees On Stamps

Many countries have issued stamps calling attention to the plight of refugees; do you have any such issues? Do you know of any refugees who survived their ordeal to become famous in their new home countries?



The United Nations Respect For Refugees issue of 2000 is based on a mural by the Armenian artist Yuri Gevorgian, known in the art world as "Yuroz." Because of his political views, Yuroz became a refugee from Soviet Armenia for 7 years before emigrating to the United States.

Einstein? How refugee a refugee did you have in mind?

Ten years after the war, my brother was still helping a Vietnamese refugee family and asked: "It has been awhile. They've got a restaurant in LA. The kids are all in school. When do we stop calling them 'refugees'?"

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Kris Rascher - Great idea for a topic! My first contribution:

Here are images of the three semi-postal (charity) stamps in a set depicting refugees (respectively: a child, a man and a woman), and the United Nations' World Refugee Year (1959-1960) uprooted oak tree emblem, designed by Belgian artist Jean Van Noten (1903-1982), engraved by Jean De Bast (1883-1975), and issued by Belgium on April 7, 1960 to publicize World Refugee Year, Scott Nos. B660-B662.

- nethryk

Hi Ikey, Your question is indeed a good one; Einstein was born in Germany but had a Swiss passport since 1901 and had received the Nobel Prize in 1921. He took a position at Princeton in 1932 and it was at that time that he decided not to return to Germany. He was not a refugee comparable to the hundreds of thousands we see in the news each day, mostly young families risking their lives to escape utter destruction and persecution with only a pack on their backs. Had Einstein stayed in Germany, his fate may have been even worse. But he was such an internationally active pacifist and helper of refugees that I think he should be included here. The Swiss stamp shows him as a young man during his Swiss years (I did not find it on the Einstein thread, which I think should be revived!). And yes, those who risked their own lives to help others, deserve a place here, don't you think?
(Nethryk, the Belgian set fits perfectly, thanks. K.)

If we're including rescuers, how about Nicholas Winton?

https://www.change.org/p/a-stamp-fo...holas-winton ... the petition for a UK Royal Mail stamp

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-...ire-34040667 ... news of that petition's success

But the Czechs got there first:

Tribute to Sir Nicholas
Catalogue number : 0860
Type of stamp : Commemorative postage stamp
Date of issue : 02.09.2015
Face value/Price : 13.00 CZK
Print sheets : 50 stamps
Size (mm) : 40 x 23
Graphic designer : Zden#283;k Netopil

Long ago Moses led refugees from slavery and oppression out of Egypt to freedom. The Red Sea parted for them to pass safely (child's drawing, 1994). Moses was their leader (Moses with the commandments by Michelangelo, issued for the artist's 500th birthday). A set of 4 stamps issued by Israel showing the Exodus.
(Hi, Ikey, Your Sir Winton couldn't be more timely! We'll watch for the British stamp.)

Kris, Greetings:

That might be the first time I've heard the 'mixed multitude' that came out of Egypt referred to as 'refugees'. After all, it was their deity that brought down the plagues (something sufficiently unique that we still talk about it, more than 3,000 years later), and they were all travelling towards a single, specific destination (not all refugees are so particular).

Still, 'refugees' is not a bad fit, especially when you consider the Amelekites.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Edited to add: Now that I think about it, they were refugees ... on the way in to Egypt ... fleeing from a famine in the Land of Canaan ... on the way out of Egypt, not so much.

Hi Ikey, The UNHCR "Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees" of 1951 and its amendment of 1967 can easily be found on the web and the section beginning "...owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of..." might have applied even way back then. I'm leaving it up to specialists and scholars to determine historical background, but it's fun to speculate, isn't it?
I don't know how many hundreds of thousands of Hungarians fled their country during the uprising of 1956, but the Austrian post raised money for them by overprinting stamps, making them semipostals. Switzerland issued a cinderella. In 2006 Island commemorated the arrival of Hungarian refugees.

Kris Rascher - You're welcome! Let's keep 'em coming.

Here are images of the two similar stamps in a set depicting a mother and child among a crowd of refugees, and the World Refugee Year uprooted oak emblem, designed by Finnish artist Pentti Rahikainen (1928- ), engraved by Birger Ekholm, and issued by Finland on April 7, 1960, Scott Nos. 368 & 369, Facit Nos. 521 & 522.

- nethryk

Here's several first day covers related to the World Refugee Year stamp from a few different countries.

One of the elder stamps referring to refugees is the semipostal for the support of people of French descent who had to flee from war-torn Spain (1938). Marianne welcomes them home.



Those FDCs and the Finish stamps are great! The uprooted tree as well as the sheltering hands were used as symbols for the International Year of Refugees and it's nice to have them all together. The Danish reads "Contribute to the Danish Refugee Fund". I'm not able to read the Arabic/Urdu. (This sketch of Jean Cocteau's is so full of compassion.) Thanks Battle and Nethryk. K

In 1943 France issued a stamp in support of civilians who had been bombed out of their cities such as Dunkerque. Most refugees were then "internally displaced". The surcharge on this semipostal was considerable. Amazing that high-quality stamps continued to be printed in the middle of the war.

I don't know how many hundreds of thousands of Chinese had to flee their war-torn cities in the early 1940s. Is there anyone out there who is able to read the original text and then the overprint? The set of 6 was issued in 1944, but I don't know of any without overprint.

This set of semipostals was issued by Formosa/Taiwan in 1954 in support of the Relief Fund for Chinese Refugees from communist North Vietnam. Perhaps the bridge represents the waters they had to cross. Does anyone out there know more about this issue, in case my info is not accurate?

In the early 1960s many Chinese fled from Red China to Formosa/Taiwan. The island is highlighted next to the characters on the right. (Does anyone know who the artist was? K.)

Here are images of the six stamps in a set publicizing World Refugee Year, printed by photogravure, and issued by Indonesia on April 7, 1960, Scott Nos. 488-93. In addition to the uprooted oak tree WRY emblem, the designs include a mother and child, a family fleeing a destroyed city, and a pair of hands protecting a person.

- nethryk