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You are here: Home / Provisional Postmarks / Semeliškės (also Semeliškiai, Samiliškės) 1921-1922

Semeliškės (also Semeliškiai, Samiliškės) 1921-1922

July 28, 2010 By Vytautas Doniela

Semeliškės (also Semeliškiai, Samiliškės) is a township ca. 20 km west of Trakai. In World War One, during the German encirclement of Vilnius, Semeliškės was passed through in early September 1915 by infantry of German XXXX. Reserve-Korps.

After the German withdrawal from Russia at the end of 1918 the area was occupied, in early January 1919, by units of the Red Army which in turn were pushed out by Lithuanian troops on April 27, 1919.  During the Polish expansion motivated by Marshall Pilsudski’s vision of a greater federated Poland, in October 1919 Semeliškės came under Polish rule. But the area was retaken by Lithuanians in July 1920 and remained on Lithuania’s side of the Demarcation Line separating Lithuania and Poland.

It is not clear whether Semeliškės did have a postal facility during the czarist period. It is certain it did not have one during the German occupation. A Lithuanian postal agency (agentūra) was set up in 1921 or 1922, later to be upgraded to post office status.  As yet, nothing is known about its early personnel.

Earliest Lithuanian stamps available were the Sėjėjas Issue. In the absence of a regular postmarker, cancelling at the the agency was done in manuscript showing the place, its status as “P.A.” = pašto agentūra, and date. No other provisional markings have been noted.

A standard calendar-type postmarker was provided by mid-1922. The next postmarker bore the spelling “Semeliškiai“, and in subsequent postmarkers the place-name was changed to “Samiliškės”.

Known provisional markings:

Cancelling by MS place with “P.A.” and date:
Date incomplete single, Sėjėjas 50 [colln. Doniela]

Filed Under: Provisional Postmarks Tagged With: provisional cancels

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