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Ukrainian Delegation to the Vatican
350th Anniversary of the Union of Brest
350th Anniversary of the Union of Brest Commemorative Charity Label
On November 15, 1946 a set of charity labels designed by Mykola Asowskyj was issued in Rome by the Ukrainian delegation to the Vatican. They commemorated the 350th anniversary of Union of Brest under the articles of which Ruthenian Orthodox Church dioceses in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth broke relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church to place themselves under the authority of the Pope of Rome. There were 119,600 sets of 7 labels printed. They commemorated the 350th anniversary of the agreement between the Ukraine and the Holy See. Funds raised supported the Ukrainian Charitable Committee (U.K.D.) in assisting refugees, ex-prisoners of war and concentration camp victims at the Ukrainian DP camp in Rimini, Italy. Rather than being used for postage, they were mainly employed as patriotic labels or seals on mail by Ukrainians re-settled in Canada and the United States.
Approximately 10 000 soldiers of the 14th Waffen SS Division Galicia who surrendered to the British in May 1945 were interned at Rimini, a city on the Adriatic coast of Northern Italy. Because the veterans of the 14th were from Ukraine and the Allied powers did not recognize the legitimacy of the Soviet occupation of Western Ukraine in 1939 the veterans were not forced to return to the Soviet Union. Those who did return were sent to Siberia. The Ukrainian Relief Commission in Rome was active in helping the veterans.A British investigative commission noted that the veterans of the Division held no affinity for Hitler but were united by their aversion to Stalin and the USSR and, as a result, in June 1947 the veterans of the 14th Division were taken to England and released. Most settled in Canada, the United States and Britain.
Bibliography
"Any Idea What Is This - Russian OR Italian Bob?" Stamp Community Family. 28 Nov. 2016. Web. 10 Aug. 2019
www.stampcommunity.org/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=51826.
"RIMINI, ITALY." Between Hitler and Stalin. nd. The Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre. Web. 10 Aug. 2019
www.ucrdc.org/HI-RIMINI,_ITALY.html.
Kaczma, Olga. "Rimini Displaced Persons' Camp - in Italy." Displaced Persons' Camps. nd. Michigan Family Network.
www.dpcamps.org/rimini.html.
"Union of Brest." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 28 Jun. 2019. Web. 10 Aug. 2019.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Brest.
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