A badge in tribute to the soldiers of the Home Army
Today marks the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Home Army – the largest underground military organization in Central Europe during World War II, organized to fight the German and Soviet occupiers. To mark the occasion, Poczta Polska is launching a philatelic issue commemorating Iwona Krugłowska, codename "Iwa," a Home Army soldier and employee of the Main Post Office in Warsaw.
A commemorative stamp with an artistically colored photograph of Iwona Krugłowska, from the archives of the Polish Post, is being issued in a circulation of 135,000 pieces. It was designed by Jarosław Ochendzan. In the lower right corner of the stamp is the name of the issue "80th anniversary of the founding of the Home Army" and the inscription: "POLSKA", and in the upper right corner the value indication: "3.60 zł".
" With this special issue, Poczta Polska is joining the national celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Home Army, honoring its soldiers and their fight for a free and sovereign Poland. The symbol of the Post Office's employees' commitment to the Home Army is the figure of Iwona Krugłowska, a postal worker and soldier, depicted on the stamp. Her dedication and heroism, despite the torture she endured, as well as her death at the hands of the German occupiers, deserve remembrance and the utmost respect ," says Tomasz Zdzikot, President of Poczta Polska.
On February 14, 1942, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces, General Władysław Sikorski, the Home Army was established – the largest clandestine army in occupied Central Europe. The Home Army was an integral part of the Polish Armed Forces, subordinate to the constitutional state authorities operating abroad. The underground army armed itself, trained personnel, conducted sabotage, intelligence, and counterintelligence, preparing the country for an armed national uprising that would liberate Poland from the occupiers. The Home Army's largest military operation was the Warsaw Uprising. Over 350,000 sworn soldiers served in the Home Army. One of them was Iwona Krugłowska, codename "Iwa."
Iwona Krugłowska worked at the Main Post Office in Warsaw from 1932. Her personal files, containing personal documents, discovered in the Polish Post Archives have allowed for the reconstruction of her pre-war biography and professional career at the Post Office. During the German occupation, she was a soldier in the Polish Victory Service, the Union of Armed Struggle, and then the Home Army, assigned to the 7th Department of Finance and Control of the Main Headquarters. This structure's mission was to collect, manage, and control funds flowing through the Home Army and to organize clandestine operations. During the occupation, she officially worked at the "Bar pod bokiem," which also housed a clandestine establishment. Arrested on May 18, 1944, she was tortured during the interrogation but revealed nothing. Shot in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto (carried out to execution on a stretcher because she was unable to move on her own). Posthumously awarded the Cross of Valor.
The anniversary of the founding of the Home Army, the armed forces of the Polish Underground State, is an opportunity to showcase heroes, ordinary Poles placed in extraordinary circumstances. Postal workers were also such ordinary-extraordinary Poles, because the stories of Polish Post employees are inextricably linked to the history of Poland. Looking back at us from the latest stamp is Iwona Krugłowska, a Home Army heroine, an employee of the Main Post Office in Warsaw, a telegraph operator, selfless and steadfast in her fight against the occupier. Remembering her fate, her heroism, her steadfastness, and her heroic death is our duty, " says Wiesław Włodek, Vice President of Poczta Polska.
The stamp promotion is accompanied by a limited-edition First Day Cover (FDC), an envelope issued on the first day of circulation for the stamp. It features a photograph of the "Ponury" Guerrilla Group, taken by an anonymous photographer from the Office of Information and Propaganda of the Home Army Headquarters.
About the stamp:
author of the project: Jarosław Ochendzan
number of stamps: 1
value: PLN 3.60
circulation: 135,000 pcs.
printing technique: offset
stamp size: 40.5 x 40.5 mm
paper: fluorescent
sales sheet: 5 stamps and 1 tag
Date of entry into circulation: February 14, 2022