RARE 'PSI MANTOVA' STAMP issued with AMG AUTHORITY
ITALY'S LAST C.L.N. SERIES – AND FIRST SOVEREIGN
ISSUE AFTER LIBERATION OF NORTHERN ITALY
See the narratives in "1946 Stamp News"
with my translations to English (attached)
Pre-Republic "Luogotenenza" in Post-War Italy, 1945
Mantova "City-Rule" authorized by C.L.N. and A.M.G.
after fall of Fascism - 1st day of issue 27 Sept 1945
This stamp is one of the 'PSI MANTOVA OVERPRINTS' from
Italy's Pre-Republic Post-War "LUOGOTENENZA ERA" of 1945. They're 'City-Rule' stamps issued by Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale (CLN) in Mantova five
months after the fall of Fascism,
as authorized by the Allied Military Government (AMG).
Mantova
is my birth town in Italy's Lombardy Plain region, halfway between Milano
and Venice. During WWII, the region was central to Mussolini's infamous
Nazi-Fascist Social Republic, and it was involved in 18 months of bloody civil
war with Central and Southern Italy.
Liberation finally came on 29 April 1945. In
the following months, the region's philatelists realized the need to celebrate
the nation with a special issue of stamps to promote the social reunification
of Italy. Philatelists and postal workers of Mantova led the project
after obtaining the approval of AMG authorities. P.S.I. stands
for “Piena Sovranità Italiana” - Full Italian Sovreignty.
From the onset, however, Communist Partisans who had occupied the region soon
after the fall of Fascism brought plenty of trouble to Mantova's philatelists
and postal workers over the project.
The
attached images of ITALY PHILATELIC NEWS 1946 (with my
translations to English) provide lots of interesting information about this
short-lived two-day stamp series. In brief, Communist Partisans asserted to AMG
authorities that the project was promoting a resurgence of defunct Fascism. They
based their assertion on two of the 6-stamp series containing forbidden fascist
symbols in the bottom corners of the 15-cent and 35-cent stamp images.
It
was an innocent mistake caused by the lack of 15 and 35-cent base stamps without
fascist symbols, coupled with the postal printer's urgency to promote 'Full
Italian Sovereignty' before the departure of AMG from the region. So, the
postal printers "borrowed" 15 and 35-cent stamps from the
previous Fascist stocks as base stamps for overprinting.
It was a dangerous, risky mistake
that caused Italian Communist Partisans to threaten violence, even death, to
the philatelists and postal workers of Mantova, including Victor Perantoni (my
father and eBay seller), who was one of Mantova's philatelist promoters of the
PSI stamps in 1945.
What's more, in contrast to all other CLN stamp issues prior to the fall of Fascism, which celebrated liberation from Nazi Fascism, instead the PSI Mantova stamps celebrated the departure of AMG by promoting 'Full Italian Sovereignty.'
The resulting social disorder and threats of violence caused local AMG authorities to delay their departure and resolve the situation. So, they approved the Communist Partisans' request to cease the sales of PSI Mantova stamps. However, AMG also approved continued usage of PSI stamps that had already been sold.
As a result, the short life of PSI MANTOVA STAMP SALES was from 27 September 1945 - to - 29 September 1945. Only two days !!
SAVE MONEY WITH COMBINED SHIPPING FOR INTERNATIONAL BUYERS ***$$$*** CONTACT THE SELLER TO REQUEST MULTIPLE ITEMS BE INSERTED INTO A SINGLE LISTING FOR A SINGLE SHIPMENT WITH A SINGLE SHIPPING FEE. PLEASE PROVIDE ITEM NUMBERS OR SCREENSHOTS OF THE DESIRED ITEMS.