Souvenir sheets

When Germany occupied Czecho-Slovakia in March 1939, its pavilion at the New York World's Fair was still unfinished. The Czechoslovak Minister in Washington, Vladimír Hurban, resisted Nazi pressure and saved it; the fair recognised only the Czechoslovak Republic, not the Protectorate, and the pavilion opened in May 1939. The sheets and cards sold there were souvenirs and propaganda for a restored state – its shop also sold numbered 50-heller stamps autographed by Edvard Beneš.

Sources: NYPL: Czechoslovak salute to America at the 1939-40 World's Fair, 1939 NY World's Fair: Czechoslovakia

The New York World's Fair ran a second season from 11 May to 27 October 1940, renamed the 'World's Fair 1940 in New York'. The PRAGA 1938 sheet received a new overprint for 1940 with a green picture of the pavilion on the label; the coat of arms was overprinted in several colours – black, red, green, blue and gold – and sheets are known with an OPENING DAY 11. V. 1940 postmark. When the fair was over, its corporation sold binoculars from the Czechoslovak pavilion to pay the customs duty.

Sources: Burda Auction: Exil a polní pošta – aukce 62, Burda Auction: Exil a polní pošta – aukce 61, Wikipedia: 1939 New York World's Fair, 1939 NY World's Fair: Czechoslovakia

The 'London sheet' was made for an exhibition of Czechoslovak stamps in London marking the 25th anniversary of Czechoslovakia, 1918–1943, during the war, when the Czechoslovak government-in-exile was based in London. On covers it was cancelled by the Czechoslovak Field Post in Britain with a green commemorative postmark 'Výstava čs. známek v Londýně / Czechoslovak Field Post / 25. výročí / 1918–1943', dated 8 November 1943. Copies signed by Hana Benešová, the President's wife, also survive.

Sources: Burda Auction: Exil a polní pošta – aukce 62, Burda Auction: Exil a polní pošta – aukce 69

The Belgian 'Lidice sheet' appeared in two language versions, with French and Flemish text. It was based on the sheet from the 1937 Bratislava stamp exhibition, overprinted and with a Belgian stamp affixed – a copy with the overprint inverted is also known. It was sold for the benefit of Lidice, the village the Nazis destroyed completely on 10 June 1942 in reprisal for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich.

Sources: Burda Auction: Exil a polní pošta – aukce 66, Burda Auction: Exil a polní pošta – aukce 68, Wikipedia: Lidice