Lithuania C48

     In 1932 Lithuania issued two stamps with a map of Lithuania, Klaipeda and Vilnius. Although the stamps are airmail stamps and not semi-postals the Scott catalog indicates that they were “issued for the benefit of Lithuanian orphans.” The map on the stamps is not a map of things as they were, but rather reflects Lithuania’s view of how things ought to be. The dark center is how things were: Klaipeda had been a German area, the Mermel territory, occupied by Lithuanians since the 1923 Klaipeda Revolt. Vilnius was claimed by the Lithuanians as their capital but had been appropriated by the Poles. It was returned to Lithuania by the Russians for a short time. Kaunas was the center of Lithuanian culture and population in the 1920’s and 30’s. It was also the main industrial center in Lithuania.
     The map reflects the claims of Lithuania for a unified country in the 1930’s which included all three areas. This claim included the brown and blue areas.