Stamp on the occasion of the 138th anniversary of General Kazimierz Sosnkowski

Poczta Polska prepared a special philatelic emission "General Kazimierz Sosnkowski (1885–1969)". The stamp was put into circulation on November 19, 2023 - on the 138th anniversary of his birth. The solemn presentation of the stamp took place on November 22 this year. at the headquarters of Poczta Polska in Warsaw.

Kazimierz Sosnkowski was a Polish military commander and politician, an independence activist, and from July 8, 1943 the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. General Józef Piłsudski described him as " a soldier with an open mind, great abilities, accustomed to measuring state forces in various efforts and to assess phenomena of a nature not strictly military."

Black and white photograph of General Sosnkowski, from the collection of Mrs. Halina Babińska, was used for the design. General Sosnkowski is on it in a British uniform with Polish buttons with an eagle in the Crown and the distinctions of the general of arms on the shoulder pads. Above the left pocket, the honorary badge of the pilot (so -called Gapa) is visible, given to him by the commander of the Polish Air Force, General Mateusz Iżycki on May 26, 1944. Below are the baret of orders, decorations and medals of Polish and foreign, and on them a suspended Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari of the V class. In turn, the uniform's pocket has a badge of the 1st Brigade of the Polish Legions "For faithful service", which, then, Col. Kazimierz Sosnkowski received from the hands of Józef Piłsudski on August 6, 1916. On the left sleeve the "Poland" patch was visible on the Polish Armed Forces soldiers under the British command. Below is an embroidered reconnaissance sign of the 2nd Polish body in the form of a shield, on which the Warsaw Mermaid is located on the red background.

On the occasion of the emission, General Sosnkowski's photograph was specially colored by Mirek Szponar. Along the right edge of the stamp is the inscription: Poland and the name of the emission. In the upper right corner there is a value designation. The stamp is printed using offset technique, on fluorescent paper, in 39.5 mm x 31.25 mm format. The circulation is 144,000.

Interestingly, the stamp was printed in a special Tête-Bêche . It is a technique that assumes that a pair of stamps is printed so that one of them is turned upside down in relation to the other. The emission colors of "General Kazimierz Sosnkowski (1885–1969)" are: blue, yellow, black, red, silver and silver 2.

The emission is also accompanied by an envelope on the first day of circuit (FDC) with a date stamp. The FDC envelope has an eagle and patterns of general snakes, and on the date name for emissions and a model of general snakes.

The broadcast was created in cooperation with the Military Historical Office.

About the stamp:
Project author: Jarosław Essendzan
Number of stamps: 1
Value: 3.90 PLN
Edition: 144,000 pcs. In the Tête-Bêche
Print technique system: offset
format stamp: 39.5 x 31.25 mm
Paper: fluorescent
sales sheet: 12 stamps in the system in
this system: 19.11.2023