Ukraine was a wild place after World War I. Germans during the war broke it off from Russia to weaken it and perhaps to have Ukrainian foodstuffs go west instead of east. They left a Cossack Hetman in charge but there had been a cadre of Ukrainians ready to break away. Russians, whether White or Red did not want to lose Ukraine so the area was soon visited by the Red Army and Denkin’s White Army. Maybe if President Petliura can align with Poland there will be hope. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
I mentioned that Ukraine was a wild place. Well the independent Ukraine ordered this stamp issue from Vienna when it was the legitimate government. By the time the stamps were ready, the forces of this government no longer held Kiev so were not officially issued. There is talk that some got out from rebel held post offices but not enough for this issue to be recognized as a legitimate stamp issue. Later in the 1920s there were even more Ukraine fake stamps issued by an Italian stamp dealer allegedly for famine relief.
Todays stamp is not real but the person on it was. He was Symon Petliura the head of the Ukraine Republic during the time it was ruled by a directorate. Don’t feel too bad for President Petliua’s stamp being fake. They still are worth $2 on ebay and that is more than the legitimate stamp issued for him by modern Ukraine in 2004, which is only worth 50 cents. He won’t be getting any new stamps in the Ukraine. As with several other eastern Europeans of the era, his legacy is under attack by those who allege Antisemitism.
Symon Petliura was born in Ukraine of Cossack origin. He was a teacher and opinion journalist who participated actively in what were called Hromadas. These were secret societies of prominent Ukrainians that came forward after the Crimean War to promote the idea of a separate Ukraine apart from Russia. These tended to be halfheartedly persecuted by the Czar who thought of Ukraine And Belarus as Little Russia.
When the Kerensky revolution happened in Russia Ukraine first broke away as a socialist republic. As The Germans defeated Kerensky’s army they then installed a pro German government lead by a Hetman, a Cossack Royal title, see https://the-philatelist.com/2019/10/25/ukraine-1920-calling-all-hetmen/ . When support for this dried up after German defeat, a new non socialist government came in by coup under Symon Petliura. The place was really quite the vacuum for neighbors. The Red Army of Lenin invaded as did the Czarist White Army under Denkin, see https://the-philatelist.com/2019/02/04/white-south-russia-1920-fake-stamp-issued-by-the-black-barron/ . New nation Poland also invaded. None of these armies were strong after all the war that came before but they created enough chaos that the agricultural fields that the area so relied upon did not get planted. Petliura in desperation made a deal with Poland that traded some territory in Galatia for a Polish Army on his side. He briefly with their help was back in Kiev but the Red Army was gradually getting more organized and soon the force was pushed back into Poland. As Russia became the Soviet Union, hopes of a new invasion of Ukraine faded and the Soviets demanded of the Poles that they turn over Petliura to them.
Simon Petliura was able to escape to Paris. There is talk of Antisemitism. He would have denied it and his regime employed several Jewish government ministers. Assuming he wasn’t, that might have changed if he had survived the events of May 25th, 1926. He was approached outside a Paris bookshop by a anarchist and Yiddish poet named Sholom Shwartzbard. Shwartzbard penned poetry under the pen name “the Dreamer” but Petliura was not dreaming when he was shot 5 times. Shwartsbard was arrested and confessed but the jury acquitted based on his defense that the Ukrainian nationalist deserved it for old anti Jewish pogroms. Several streets in Israel are named for Schwatzbard where he is known as the avenger. Weird that Ukraine doesn’t protest this.
Well my drink is empty and so I will have to wait till tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.