MULTIPLE
AND MIXED CENSORING IN THE BANAT AND TRANSYLVANIA
-1919
This article was originally
published in English in the 'Romanian Postal History Bulletin', no. 12 /
December 1993. The updated & completed version was printed in the Romanian
'ABB' Bulletin, nr.1 (13) /
February 1996.
This version was then published
in German, in the 'AG Zensurpost Rundbrief'
Bulletin no. 87 / 1997 and can be also read here in English.
Following WW1, three of the former Austro-Hungarian territories became part
of Romania (Bucovina,
Transylvania and the Banat). The Romanian
administrations were quickly established in each of these areas giving rise to
its own local postal history. In all these new provinces civilian mail
censorship was established. Romania
had complete control of this in Bucovina and Transylvania but in the Banat, two military forces allied to the Romanians,
namely the French and Serbs, were interposed between
the Hungarian and Romanian troops. The French and Serbs set up censorship
offices prior to the arrival of the Romanians.
The brief war between Romania
and the Hungarian Soviet Republic
(April - July 1919) led to the temporary occupation of Hungary and a
few censorship offices were set up there. A table of all the known offices in
the Banat, Transylvania and Hungary
are given in the table at the end of this article.
Civilian mail was usually censored at an office close to where the letter
was mailed. Cases in which mail was censored at two or three offices are
unusual and the items are therefore more interesting.
The main focus of this article is to describe covers that have been censored
by more than one office of the same administration or those with mixed
censoring from two or three offices in different administrations. Covers with
censorship markings which are outside of Romanian territory, including
international mail are not covered.
In order to better understand how this mixed censoring came about it is
necessary to define certain areas, each with its own historical and postal
history characteristics.
1. OR (Old Romanian) zone
This relates to the Romanian territories already existing as of November 20,
1918 (Old Romania, Bessarabia and Bucovina).
Censor markings from these territories are not detailed here but combinations
between these and the other zones such as T, B, TB or MZ as described below are
possible, although they are likely to be extremely rare. The censorship offices
in Bucovina were at Cernăuti, Rădăuti,
Suceava, Câmpulung, etc; in
Bessarabia at Bălti, Bender/Tighina,
Cetatea Albă, Chisinău, Hotin, Orhei, Soroca [See RPHB
1993;4(2):8] and in the Old Romanian Kingdom at Bucuresti,
Craiova, Slatina, Pitesti, Ploiesti and others (the
majority of which used simple CENSURAT markings without place name
identification).
2. TB (Transylvania
and Banat) zone:
2.1. T (Transylvania)
zone
This area was occupied by the Romanians in successive stages (see map). On
November 10, 1918 the Romanian Army, which had been demobilized under the terms
of Bucharest Peace Treaty (March 1918) with the Central Powers, was
remobilized. On November 13, 1918 the Belgrade Armistice between the Allies
("Entente") and the Hungarians established a demarcation line between
the Romanians and Hungarians. The Romanian offensive was to stop at the Mures river (Diaz Line). After
November 16 - 20, 1918 two Romanian divisions (Infantry 7th Div. and
Hunter's 1st Div.) crossed the Carpathians into Transylvania.
In a few days they reached the Diaz line. After December 19, 1918 they advanced
further and on January the 22, 1919 the Romanian forces (now including Infantry
6th Div. and Hunter's 2nd Div.) reached a new demarcation
line imposed by the Allies before the Apuseni
(Western) Mountains (the Sighet - Zalău
- Ciucea - Zam line). These
positions were maintained until April 16,1919 when a
Romanian counter offensive led to the occupation of the whole territory (in
accordance with previous agreements with the Allies) plus a part of Hungary up to the Tisa
river.
In the "T" zone the only censor offices were Romanian. For a more
complete analysis of the rarity of censorship combinations it is necessary to
define two time periods.
-Period "a" is November 20, 1918 - April 16, 1919. 'Ta' is
therefore the territory in 'T' occupied up until the April 16, 1919.
-Period "b" is that time after April 16, 1919 until censorship was
discontinued in 1920 - 1921. 'Tb' is therefore the territory in 'T' occupied
beginning with April 16, 1919.
The Romanian Postal Service was established in 'Ta' on February 1, 1919 and
in 'Tb' on April 20, 1919.
Up until April 16, relations between the Romanian zone "T" and the
Allied occupied territories [B (Banat) and AR (the town of Arad)] were very difficult. Theoretically,
contacts were possible between the Romanians in Transylvania and the Allies in Eastern Banat, particularly along the Lugoj-llia
and Caransebes- Subcetate
railway lines and through the Muresh valley Arad-Zam to Deva railway line. In the
former case contacts were discouraged by the Serbs who hoped to completely
annex the Banat to Serbia
and in the latter contact was difficult because of the insecurity of the line
which passed through Hungarian occupied territory up until March 24,1919.
Thus, multicensored items between Transylvania,
the Banat and Arad
during the early period 'a' are of great interest and rarity. However, such
items must have clear dates of origin and receipt prior to April 16, 1919 to
qualify. A cover with an originating date between December 1918 and April 1919
is not sufficient as the mail could have been held up and then delivered after
April 16 (see Fig. 1). Practically all known items from time period
"a" fall into this category. The commonest of all
the known multiple and mixed censored covers come from time period
"b". Further, even single Transylvanian censor markings during the
early "a" period are scarcer and are worth extra rarity bonus points
compared to those sent in the later "b" period.
2.2. B (Banat) zone
This had quite a different history. It was claimed by both the Romanians and
the Serbs. Following the November 13, 1918 Belgrade Armistice accords
occupation by the Sets had taken place as quickly as November 20,1918. The Allies had wanted a buffer between the Hungarian
and Romanian troops. Later when there were some Romanian
-Serbian disagreements it was decided to insert French troops in the Eastern Banat between the Serbs and Romanians. The
Serbian administration withdrew from the Eastern Banat
in January 1919. Thus within the Banat there
were two zones each with its own postal characteristics BE (Banat East) and BW
(Banat West).
2.2.1. BE (Banat East) sub-zone
This was under French administration from January to July 1919. Beginning in
July the area came under the Romanian administration when it was occupied by
Romanian troops (Orsova, July 20; Lugoj,
July 21; Anina and Resita, July 22). No French or Serbian
permanent censoring activities took place in BE (only a temporary Serbian
censor office was located in Anina). The first
serious censoring activities in the area were undertaken by the Romanians in Lugoj soon after May 28, 1919, under the French
administration (so, two months before the establishement
of the Romanian administration in Lugoj). Apparently,
the Romanians had gained the confidence of the French for them to allow this
advance activity.
Mail sent from BE (between December 1918 and January 1919) when occupied by
the Serbs can be found with BW censorship markings (Fig. 1).
It is not yet clear where and how was censored the mail from 'BE' under the
French administration (February until May 1919) !.
Beginning with June 1919, the mail was censored only by the Romanians in Lugoj.
2.2.2. BW (Banat West) sub-zone
After withdrawing from BE the Serb administration continued in a rectangular
area of the Banat bounded by the Muresh river to the
north, a line 10 Km east of the Timisoara-Vrsac
railway track on the east, the Tisa river to the west, and the Danube river to
the south (see map). In this area few Serb censorship offices were operating.
Following the decision to divide the Banat
along ethnic lines the Serbs withdrew from the North East portion of BE to form a new Serbian-Romanian. frontier.
Until August 3, 1919 the Romanians occupied this area and immediately started
to establish censorship offices. In February 1924 a further frontier change
took place with Romania
receiving from Serbia the
town of Jimbolia
together with ten other localities while Romania
gave to Serbia,
Modos (today Yaša Tomič) and three other localities. The border thus took on the
configuration that is present today. Both Modos and Jimbolia had censorship offices.
2.3. AR (Arad
Town) zone
This had a special situation. The town together with Szeged was evacuated by Hungarian troops on
December 25, 1918 and occupied by French forces (the French Colonial 11th
Division). A French censorship office was established. On May 17, 1919, the
Romanian Hunter's 6th Regiment occupied only half of the City of Arad - this limitation
was imposed by the French. A Romanian censorship office was established. But
only on July 10, 1919 did the Arad Post Office pass under Romanian
administration. Two days later, on July 12, 1919, the whole administration of Arad became Romanian.
Between May 17 and July 10 a French - Romanian
arrangement existed to censor mail in Arad
with two offices operating at the same time. Their activity was regulated by
General Tournadre's (French zone occupation chief)
decree of May 23, 1919 which said "...letters and telegrams coming from or
destined to the Romanian occupied zone (i.e. 'T') will be submitted to Romanian
censorship control. Letters and telegrams coming from or destined for all other
areas (practically this was BW and BE) will be submitted exclusively to French
censorship control. This decree will become effective beginning noon May 25,1919'.
This document is of great importance in understanding mixed Serb - French or
Serb - French - Romanian mixed censorings. The French censoring period in Arad is January l - July
10, 1919. The Romanian area of Arad
is therefore considered in the "T" zone for half the city as of May
17th and for the whole city from July 10th.
3. MZ (Occupation of Hungary)
zone
The occupation occurred in three stages.
3.1. MZ1 was the area between the Hungarian -Romanian border and the Tisa river. It was organized as
'The Military Occupation Zone in Hungary'
led by a 'Governor' in Debrecen.
The occupation was for eleven months from May 1, 1919 through to March 1920.
After Bela Kun's Red Army attack of July 20 the
Romanian offensive led to the capture of new territories to the west of the Tisa:
3.2. MZ2 includes the area between the Tisa and the Danube rivers including
the capital of Hungary, Budapest. This area was
occupied by Romanian troops for four months, August 4,1919
until November 23,1919.
3.3. MZ3 was the area west of the Danube up to the surroundings of
the city of Györ.
This occupation lasted for only three months, August to October 1919. No
Romanian censorship for civilian mail is known for this area.
THE CENSOR POSTMARKS COMBINATIONS:
A. UNINATIONAL MULTIPLE CENSORING.
This refers to double censoring from the same postal administration.
A.1. Romanian double censor markings.
These can appear in more different circumstances:
Double censoring (by
both sending and arrival offices). As far as I know, there are no regulations
for the re-censoring of the mail in 1919-1920, this apparently happened because
of irregular circumstances. Examples of double censoring in OR or MZ are unknown to me, if they exist they are extremely
rare. One can usually see double censoring from 'TB' zone, for an example:
postmarks from Blaj + Odorhei
(July 1920), Zalău + Oradea (July 1920) or Lugoj
+ Buzias-Băi;
Supplimentary censoring of the mail coming from 'MZ' or 'Tb' and transiting Oradea (which seems to be
a transit office for this kind of mail). In this case, the first
censoring is from 'MZ' (practically only from Debrecen)
or 'Tb', the second censoring is from Oradea.
Examples: Simleul Silvaniei
+ Oradea (July 1919), Debrecen
+ Oradea (July
1919).
Supplimentary censoring of the external mail: in
this case a censor marking is from the sending or arrival office in 'TB'
(examples from 'MZ' are unknown) the other censor marking is from Bucharest (which was the
transit office for all in- and outcoming external
mail).
A.2. Serbian double censoring.
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There is only one possibility involving censoring offices from today's Romania: TIMIŞOARA
and SÂNNICOLAUL MARE, see an example here.
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A.3. French double censoring.
These cannot exist as there was only one office in operation at Arad.
B. MULTINATIONAL MIXED CENSORING.
These are determined by mail passing from one occupied zone to another. Such
documents are truly historical and of high interest.
B.1. Double Censoring.
B.1.1. Serbian-French Censoring (S-F or F-S).
Here one finds a combination between a Serb office in BW and a French one in
Arad. These
covers occur in the following ways.
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Mail that circulated between BE or BW and Arad (after May 25 censored
according to General Tournadre's decree as
described above, see #2.3).
The mail sent from BE (an area whithout permanent
censoring offices) went to one of the BW Serbian censorship offices prior to
being forwarded to Arad;
this happened particularly during the period December 1918 to January 1919.
Some of the BW censorship towns such as Nagy Kikinda
/ Kikinda, Versecz / Vrsac (see Fig. 1), Nagy Becskerek
/ Vel.Betschkerek (today Zrenjanin),
Pancsevo / Pancevo are
outside of present day Romania;
however, because of the sending office in BE, such covers are fully
interesting for Romanian Postal Historians.
Mail circulated between BE or BW to the Romanian occupied areas (T, MZ)
that passed through Arad
(and here censored by the French) but did not receive a Romanian censorship
marking at arrival.
The maximum period for finding such Serbian - French mixed items is during
the six months between January and July 10, 1919.
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B.1.2. French-Romanian censoring (F-R or R-F).
This can be found on mail circulated between Arad (French censoring) to the Romanian
occupied territories (T, MZ):
This combination is very unlikely prior to April 16, 1919 (period 'a') as
previously explained, see #2.1.
Between April 16 and May 25 the
combination is possible but has not yet seen.
After May 25th and until July 10, 1919 the
combination should not be found because of the clear delineation of
responsibilities between the French and Romanians in Arad (the French were not allowed to censor
mail from or to Romanian territories, see #2.3). However, one does find such
covers from the first days of July 1919. This was towards the end of the French
occupation in Arad,
when, from unknown reasons, the mentioned decree was not followed (did the
French censoring office cease its activity prior to July 10, 1919
??). An example is a cover mailed from Vajdahunyad
/ HUNEDOARA in July 1919, censored here by the Romanians and then being
received in Arad
where it received a French censor marking. Another example can be seen here. In
any case F-R covers are very rare.
B.1.3. Serbian-Romanian censoring (S-R or R-S).
These may appear in several different circumstances.
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Combinations between Serb markings from BW and Romanian ones from T are
quite unlikely during the "a" period and possible during the
"b" period (see an example here).
Combinations between Serb markings from BW and Romanian ones from OR are
unlikely during the ‘a’ period, and possible, but not yet seen during the ‘b’
period (they have to be very rare).
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Combinations between Serb markings from BW and Romanian from Lugoj (BE) were possible only for 2-3 months (June-July
1919). We know until now only the combination Timisoara + Lugoj
- see Fig.2.
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Combinations between Serb markings from BW and Romanian ones from MZ are
possible too, but we know up to now only the mixture Timisoara + Măru Rosu (Măru Rosu
functioned until July 1919 (?) in Mezöhegyes – MZ1,
then it was moved to Arad). See an example here.
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After August 1919 the only S-R combination possible, in what is the Romanian
Banat today, is between Romanian offices (particularly Timishoara)
and the Serb censor office of Jimbolia (see Fig.3),
which was at that time in Serbia but was later, in 1924, ceded to Romania.
Combinations with other Serbian markings from the Yugoslavia
of today (Subotica,
Pancevo etc.) are seen frequently but are not the
subject of this article.
B.2. Triple Censoring
This can appear on mail sent from BE or BW (with Serb markings from BW) that
passed through Arad
(French censors) and then passed to the Romanian zone north of the Mures river where it was handled by one of the
Transylvanian offices (see Table and Fig.4). Examples: Timisoara
(Serbian postmark) + Arad (French postmark) + Divizia I Vânători (Romanian
postmark) or Timisoara + Arad + Mariaradna
(May 1919).
Mail originating in OR or MZ with triple censoring
are possible but have not been seen to this date. The period for triple
markings to exist is only four months from April 16 to July 10,1919. For period "a" such combinations are
improbable.
Abbreviations used:
AR: Arad French zone
R: Romania
BE: Banat-East zone
S: Serbian
BW: Banat-West zone
T: Transylvanian zone
F: French
Ta: Occupation of T up to April 16, 1919
H: Hungarian
MZ: Hungary occupation zone
Tb: Occupation of T after April 16,1919
OR: Old Romania + Bessarabia + Bucovina
TB: Transylvania + Banat (Former Hungarian territories united with Romania).
(c) Grecu
Dan 2000-2003.
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Double censoring (by
both sending and arrival offices). As far as I know, there are no regulations
for the re-censoring of the mail in 1919-1920, this apparently happened because
of irregular circumstances. Examples of double censoring in OR or MZ are unknown to me, if they exist they are extremely
rare. One can usually see double censoring from 'TB' zone, for an example:
postmarks from Blaj + Odorhei
(July 1920), Zalău + 
Between April 16 and May 25 the
combination is possible but has not yet seen.
