Recovery of Cieszyn — Teschen

On 11 November 1938 — Poland’s Independence Day — the post issued a single 25 groszy commemorative for the recovery of the Cieszyn (Teschen) area, often called Zaolzie in Polish. In the aftermath of the Munich Agreement, Poland had occupied the mainly Polish-speaking districts of the former Czechoslovak part of the Teschen region in early October 1938; the stamp framed that territorial change as a national restoration.

The design, by W. Boratyński and engraved by W. Vacek at the Government Printing Works, is an allegory rather than a camp scene: a Boy Scout hiking with staff and pack, reading as youth and readiness in service of the nation. Domfil lists the motif simply as Scout (938.9); Scott catalogues it as 334, Michel as 330. Face value is 25 gr; colour is dull violet; recess printing; perforation about 12½ × 13; size about 26 × 32 mm. The print run is reported at one million.

The stamp was never formally withdrawn, but after the German invasion of September 1939 it was not accepted by the occupier and dropped out of ordinary use. For Scouts-on-Stamps collectors it is a classic inter-war Polish issue: one value, one Scout figure, and a political anniversary that put the Scout image on a national commemorative.

ATA 1964 describes a Boy Scout in shorts carrying a staff among allegorical figures, on a stamp for the restoration of territory recovered from Czechoslovakia (Cieszyn / Teschen region), issued on Polish Independence Day.