The Censorship of Romanian Picture Postcards, 1943-1949...

7/28/2019 The Censorship of Romanian Picture Postcards, 1943-1949...

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THE CENSORSHIP OF PICTURE POSTCARDS(1e13-1949...)By Dan-Simion Grecu, Deva, Romania

We *ill djscuss here a verl little known aspect ofposta.L history. namely that ofproofing (examining,censoring) the images depicted on the plcture postcards. We have only a feu'primary bibliographicalrefbrences written on the subject, and they are all based on the afiicles ofthe late Mircea Telegulr.However nothing has been written on the details, legislation, and different periods involved. This willbe largely described in the author's catalogue on 'Censorship and connected areas during 1930-1964'(this when it is in a satisfactory fbrm - the final date ofissuance ofthis document isn't yet that clear)r Mirc$ Telcgut, Dennis Watson - Ro,?d,idl' aen{)tship af t'ost Caftl Piclr/r. S.P.A Joumal 1982 - 1983. pag. ljlMi rcea Tlegu1 - Ro/ra,{ ia'., Cen rat.\hip of Postcatd P;./,/e.r, R?S nr l/1983,p 7. as $ellas the respecljve chapicrs ofd]e both Teleg t-Tlielk caralogues of 1987 and 199j.Ronanian Poslal Hislorl Bullelin ?001: 1.12 (Whole No +l)


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This catalogue will contain a great amount ofregulation lnformation (Laws, Decrees, archival notes,etc), but unfo.tunatell' it will be ali in the Romanian language. The task oftranslating more than 150A4 pages ofpure text (nearly hallofthe catalogue's estimated number ofpages) is well beyond theauthor's abilities) Therefore, for foreign readers. a series ofafiicles will be published (in RPIIB and inIITe Getnan AG Zentutpo.tt llt tdbtief) in order to glve the essentlals for a better understanding of thedifferent covered areas (postal & press censorship, but a.lso prison 1nail, intemment camps, refugees,deponees, lorced labor camps, etc )As lar as the Picture Postcard (PPC) censoring is concerned, here are some ofthe basic lbcts:Forerunners.The first knol\'n examples ofcensoring the PPC images are {iom the '30's, possibly related to thePicture Postcotil's Monopollt Law (issued with the Decree no 4390/l93l,publishedrnMOr no 9/l2 1 l9:12). u'hich stated:Wfurnl5 dq:s lblla\,)tn,q the publtshtng a-fthit LcDr, dll namiachrers. dtpasit'aties and sellets art ob!igetl toslhnit their PPC.I lbt.frxnhng vith d 2 Lei Ctlnue Stamp.The Law (which wasn't generally lollowed) didn'texplicitly rei'er to imate censoring, however as a resultofthis \{onopoly La,,r al1 the pri\ate-made PPCs(specially those issued for fund-raising purposes) hadto bear the approval ofthe local authoritles (Prefects'or Police Chlef Commissioners). Usually this approvalwas printed with the postcard itself(see lig 1, theupper prinred text Aom the postcard's back reads Vizul de noi: Prelectlll :ud.: Seen b) us: thePrefecl (t thc ca nl, plus his signature), however cases when it was stamped on each postcards rvithrubber hand cancels are also knorvn (always followed by the signature ofthe Prefect or Police Chiel).Durlng the WW2 the lvlilitary Censorship asked to have the control over the images ofthe PPCSoffered for sale, in order to avoid tlie insertion olsecret const.uctions or military details Theregulation lor this sitLration has not yet been found, however this can be deducted fiom the Order no.3:105A,/ l4 11 19,12 ofthe Central Nlilitary Censorship towards all the Prefectures ofthe country:One notices that in commerce there are PPC, which are prejLrdicing Propaganda interests. by virtue ofusing inadequate images or poor technical execlLtion. We ask you to order your subordioate ofEces togive a 'good fbr printing'visa for PPCs, but only foliowing the individual approval from thePropaganda Direction ofthe Ministry ofNational Propaganda. The Ministry visa will be put on thesame sample alreadv stamped by the usual censoring services.Occasionally one can lind in 1942 'samples' ofthese PPC submitted to approval, bearing the censormarking ofthe local Censoring Office.Period 1 (M.rch - ? 19,t3)i The Local Censorship.: Monitorul Oficiai (The Omciel Gazelle).r The 'Prefect togedrer with tle iustitution of PrefecllLra l{ere at the head ofeach coun0 (department) uotil the 'j0's andagain from 1990Romanian Postal Histor] Bulletin 2003; i,l:2 (Who1e No. 4l)

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It seems that all previous measures were unsatisfactory, thetelore a special regulation was issued inNlarch 1943, which is the beginning ofthe PPC censorship properly. This was issued under the maskof a new'Nlonopoly Law' (taking into account that the old Regulation of 1932 had had no practicaleffect), but this time \!ith clear indication of image censorship. This was Law -tvo. 170 fot the PicturcPostcdld's Monolrol)) (issued with the Decree no 740 / 20.3 1943, published in M O no. 68 /22.3.1943):Art. I Ihe Bht ta print anLl sell picnlre postcarch oJ ary kind [ ] is d nonopol! aJ the stne. *raltgh theLIinistry ofNdtional Ptopaganda I JAft III A comm \1ion .fltnned by a delegate of the Minisnr- of Natjancll Prcpagan.la, a delegdte of theMini!tyofNatxnai Culntre dnd a clelegate ofthe Ndttonal TraveLlint Olfice, wjLl Llacide ltpon the PPC| sunabiho^Jbtprinting I JArt ,'. The naniilctlu ers. depovtaties anrl teLler': ofPPCt are obLiged to subnit far stantPing. dt thc NationaLSenice o-fCen:;orshtp neat lhe ilinist\, ofNalional Propagancla, ar, in llle cattnlry, al the catntyPrcfecturer.hithin 3A cl':!!t franr the clale ol tssuing oJ this Deuee Ldtt. dll lhe PP(:! in theit posse\jok. Theaboye dltthoutte.\ vtll reJect /rom sktntpthg lhe PPCs .-hiclt are injttrtous lo lhe sxlte interest!. the subnilletlPPCsttcrybesolcl du ng 3 ]nontht. bqinninghith lhe d!:tte alissting afthis Decrce LawSo. the stamped PPC could be sold between 22 3-22.6.1943.In ptactice. this limitation was difficult tolollow, as. lbr example. ln the county ofHunedoara the deadline.for submitting the PPCs at thePrefecture (at room 3). was 22.4.19:13, so one month a11er the publishing TaLing into account theperiod asked lor examining and stamping all the thousands ofPPCs. one can imagine that the 3-monthterm was insufficient From the circulated items we can find that PPCS stamped llith 'Prefecture'markings were in trafiic as lale as 1944, even 1945, so one or more extensions ofthe original periodwere surely issued, but they are unknown to me up to now.ln all the Romanian counties the censoing occured through the \{ilitary Press Censoring Of}lces neareach Prelecture (these Ofilces were established in January 1934. hopefully we r.vill discuss the PressCensorship later on). This was acknovvledged by stamping one ofthe Prelecture markings on the back(or. more rarely, on the fiont. see Fig. 17) ofthe PPC Here are some examples (this isn't a completelist ) ofthe types ofmarkings used during this period:

The terl is generaLly 'Prefectura jud(etului) ...' (PreJeclurc aJ Corlr,'... ), more rarely withindlcations as CENZLIRAT (cea.rored) and Biroul Cenzurei (Cer.torihip Bureatr), BIROULM.O.N.T. (/?e 'Mobili.tation and Tei-titari.l Oryanis.ttion Bareaz)- Serv(iciul) Administativ (,reAdministtcti|e Seflice), all these bureaus and sen'ices were part ofPrefecture's structure. Early date ofuse: March 19,11

Fig. 1Klj

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The marking ofthe right is the only one, which fully identifies the basislor the PPC ceisorship, and is the only one specific for PPC Censorshiponly (all others also being commonly used by the Press Censorship). Itstext is: CENZURA PRISEI SIBIU / $TAIIPILAT / conf. D.L. Nr. /11011913 (= the Pret" Censo$hip Sibiu / StdtnpeLl t accorditg ta theDecree-Lan No. 7I0,' I9l3)As lar as Transnistria is concerned" we can see examples ofstamped PPCsf'rom January 1943 (so, two months belbre the Decree-Law 740 was issued),suggesting that there were special regulations lbr lhis province, as yetunknou'n The censorship occurred by the Directia Construcliilor (=Constnrctions l)irectir'r) near the Govemment ofTransnistria, using themarking shown in {ig 7Period 2 (19,13 - l9:14): the Central Censorship in Bucharest.:Ihe National Propaganda N{inlstry's Decree no 2I2.5 1943 (published lnM O. no l0s,75.l94i)modified the 'Monopol! Law', restricting the right to eramine and to approve the postcards samplesonlv to a central organ ofBucha.es!" Comisiunea cirfilor pottde ilustrate (: 7he a'ommissnn fotPiclute Postcal ds). which had to receive the PPCs fiom all around the country (with the exception ofBucovina and Bessarabia, see below). The task was huge, as results from the Report No. 981 /7 8 1943 ofMihai Antonescu, National Propaganda Nlinister. which gives some interesting figures Itis said there that sone 10 miliion PPCs were submitted to the Commlssior for stamping. the operationitselfbeing conducted wlth personnel (mostly specially hired) lrom the PTT General Direction,Ministry ofNational Propaganda and N{inistry of National Culture Inordrtopayall these employeesfor this huge lvork, the Minister suggested the establishment ofa 1 Leu fee for each stamped(censored) postcard, to be paid by the postcard editors or sellers to a National Propaganda Ministryaccount open at the Nationa-l Saving House (CEC) This happened with the Lat' no. 572.fortheestdblishme tofthe 1 Lea fee on the picturc postca s ofany kind, admittedfor sale (issued with theDecree of Law no. 2419 / 3 1.8. 1943).It seems that an exception occurred for the postcards examined in Bucovina, which was organized as'Govemment'; here thls task \'"as accomplished by a Serviciu al cenzurei (= Cer.totship Service) rearthe Propaganda Inspectorate ofthe Bucovina Government (this being established by the Decision no.716iP/I6.I0 1942 ofthe Ministry ofPropaganda, published inM.O no.26.1 / 10.11.1912):BeginningvithI14.1912,thePropagandLlRegonallnspectaratefurtheprcvinceolBucotinaiteslablished,\tith it.\ seat in Cetnntfi.Probably a similar regulation existed also for Bessarabja (the other 'Government'), horvever it hasn'tvet heen lound

Ronanian Postal History Bulletin 200i; l4:2 (Who1e No 41)

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The PPC Censorship during April-June 19'13 (1"'Period) was marked inBuco\,ina with the usual 'Prefectura' markings (examples known fiomSuceava and CAmpuiung Moldovenesc); fufiher, specific markings ofthenew Censorship Services are kno\r,n only from June 1943 up to 1944: threetypes (on1y one shorvn in frg. 8) u'ith similar texls, reading GuvernimintulProvinciei Bucovina / Seniciul Cenzurei (: Censotship Sen,ice ,'Gavet nent af Prc\'i ce Bucavikai)A further step occurred in early 194:1, when the Bucharest Commission also started to re-examine allthe ah ead), .tl4npeLlPPcs (so, those censored in 19'13 at the Prel'ecture or local Censorship Seniceslevels and not yet sold, with the exception ofthose liom Bucovina and. probably, Bessarabia); this isconfirmed by the Address no. I157 / 26 2 194.1 ofthe Hunedoara Prelecture sent to all the policestations of the countya) 7he re\erre al ?PC.t which \rerc dlrcad) stamped b) PrefectLres or lacal Cen.roting senices have to be re-evnuneel h\, tlte Cotnm$tian anLl \tr!tnpe(1\,ji1 the Cahltnisston markng, thetelbre lheir ot|ners vill senLlimixecliatelJ, the PPCs ta the Prcfccnrc, whicl1vill -fariad llrcn ta the (-amtnsslon f)t erointnanan LlnLlb) The r.seDc (.'l'.{)prorc.l Dpes kept in baokstores, tohacco shopt. etc bltwhich arc nat stanped ht thePreJictu'e are n be stnt cltrcctl): ,p wtjl Ntdtch I"' 1l9111 ta he addt ess: I'he Conmitsion for fie I'ictv ePonca :.t MollapoL!. aent.l Post al|ice Specictl Qftice Bucuresh I BtlclttettL In ddditio to thtspackdge. one hd, to qttickb ndil to the lblb\ttng adtlres.:: ll he Conission.lbr the Pitntrp PorttantrMoliopob, B ar4 L.lJclit Cataryilt Boltle,-ad Na. 31. dlso a recejpt conlirnt g lhe palment ofa I Leu

.fte lbr each approwcl PPC. tht\ fee hill he sent lo the NationdlSaving House (CEC) to the accouht No.1 5 0 5 7, dcca dt ng the Decree oJ l,Ltw No. 2 1 1 9, 1 9 1 3.c) The etlttors. depositdie!. scllen etc. al PPCs.thofLtiled to tltbmit their PPCs stlnples elLtring rhe legal.leacltine for elantnng, arc snll allawed rc .b &is through thc lacal (press) cen.\oring olficcs \tith d uell-founded Ltppltcotian shawing the rcasanslbt not rcspondilg 1n li te. fhcse (rypllcduant logelhet iith fuePPC sanplcs hill be rheh Jbrv,.tkled unnedidteb, b, the locdl censonng ser,-ice ta the Canmislionj thePicturc Postcads lllanapor, BuclLre$i, Lascdr Catrgiu Baulevatd, No 31.

The postmark used by the central Commission ofBucharest has a specific shape, see fig 9, \a'ith thetext: NIONOPOLUL CARTILOR POSTALE ILUSTRATE (: 1ra Manopot) oJ Picturc Po:ttccrds).Early date ofuse January 1944 (1ate date ofcirculation Maich 19,+6).Period 3 (1945 - lvlarch 1946): the Nlinistrv ofPropasanda Censorship.Nothing ls kno$'n about possible modifications after August 1944, excepl that the Ministry ofNationalPropaganda changed it s narne ta Minislr)) o.f Ptopttg.t da (Ministerul Propagandei). The newMinistry was responsible for Press Censorship as well the PPC Censorship, and the; authority mayhave been based on the same regulations as above (the rectangular marking can be found on items untilMarch 1946, ofcourse this tells nothing about the time when the postcaJd was in {bct stamped, only!,"hen it circulatedi

Fig. E

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Etght Pt opaganLla Regio'dls (Regionale de Propagardl) were formed Aom 15. L 1945 !'vith theDecision no 1,153/10.8 1945 of the Minlstry olPropaganda (M O no 183 / 14.8.1945), eachassigning more counties, as lollows:' ey 6e Lor, "o. 201 Jot Establishing of the Mi inry of Propagahda (issued *ith the Decree of kw no. 885923.3. 19,15. published in M.O no. 69 / 2.1.3.t915).T:lhle l-

Resional CorntiesBrr$ov , Odorhei Trci Scrune, CiucIlfov, V1a$ca, Teleorma.n, Plaho\'a, Dambovila, Buzdu, Ialomita- Coostania,Clui Clui. Satu Mare. Somes. Sa1aj. Nnsiud Turda- N,lurcs. Bihor MaramuresCraiova Doli. Gort. Romanati. Mehedinti. Vilcea. Arees. Olt.G. ati Cor,Irlui. Tutova, Tecuci, Filciu. Putna, Briila. Tulcea. R.lrnnicu Sdmt.Iati Ia$i- Boto$rd, Dorohoi, Baia. Cimpuhrng. Rddduli, Suceava, Neanl, Rotna4Sibnr Sibju. Alba. Temala N{arc. Tenuva Mici. FiqirasIrmrsoa|a Calas. Severin. Ti s. Huncdoara. Aiad

Each Regtona/ Senice of Propagan.la \Nasheadedby Regionttl propdgdndd carlncik)r.r (Consilieri jnRomanian), helped by Prcpogand.t secrctaties. As u'e can see, communist terminolog)' starts lromnou' on to be imposed on Romanian institutions These Propag.mda Reglor?a1s (in the 8 main to$'ns)or 'Consilierate' (one in each county) organized also the Press & PPC Censorship They usedappropriate markings with the text: Nlinisterul Propagandei and with the Royal Arms in the middle.However, due to the short period of time ofexistence ofthis Ministry ofPropaganda and probably duelo the teclxicai problems. only very feu' ofthe censor markings were changed to the new name.Usuall], the old rectangular marking ofFig. 9 was kept in use (therefore the old mark can be found onmail until earl1, 1946, when it lvas replaced by a variety of "Ministry of Information' markings, seebelo*) I know a single exzunple ofa N{inisterul Propagandi marking liom Deva, circulated late in Oct1948, with the text ROILANLA. * IIINISTERUL PROPAGANDEI / REGIONALA SIBIU /...DEVA, however the imprint is poor and cannot be reproduced here (to note that the assignment to the'Regionala' Sibiu and not Timigoara- was specific ro the 4* Period, nor ro the i'' ? (see Tables 1 and 2)Period 4 (March 1946 Februany 1949): the llinistrv oI Information Censorship.The new Ministry was organized through the Law 130 / 5.3.1946 regurding the transforntation of theMinistry of Propaganda into the Mihistry of Information, its otganization andfurcriolr (issued withthe Decree oflaw 709 / 1.3 1946. published in NI O. no. 54 I 5 .3 .1946). In the structure ofthisMinistry, the Press Censorship \,vas performed by the Directiunea Prcsei (Pres.t Dircctior) and thePostcard's censorhip by the Direc(iunea Cultlutaltr (Cuhtfte Dirccdor). its duties being stipulated bythe 10d'article ofthe Law. The 171h article gives details upon the teritorial executive organs: there\\erc 14'Regianal Sel},lcer^' (each with more counties assigned, the main town ofeach county givingits name to the resp eclive ' Sub-centet' . 'Itspectolqte' , etc). These were:

Romanian Postal Histo$ Bullelin 2003; 1.1:2 (Whoie No 41)


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Trble 2-

Pitesti I Arqes ftteJlil. OLt (SLaLina). NlusceL (Cimpulung). Teleormar (Tumu N{iguleie)PLoiegi I Dembo\'i!a (Tirgoviite). Prahor,a fPloieyl, BuznLr (Buziu), Rinnicu-SiratI (Riornicu Sarra0.rSibiu/S'lbrrrl,TimalaMare(Sighifoara).TamayaNlicn(Blal).Alba(Albalulia),i Huncdoara (Deva).

The new Nlinlstry (u'hich lasted nearly three years) had the time to manufacture and use a variety ofappropdate markings for all 'cultural distdct (at Regional or County level). u'ith texts indicating theowner's reporting relationship: for the regional seats" the indication is 'Regionala...'. fot the countiesit can be'Sub-Centrul...', 'Inspectoratul,..' or, more rarely'Secretariatul...' or 'Consilieratul.,,'(this narne came liom the 'cultulal' councilors near each 'cuhural distict'). Some examples (again,thls is not a complete listl): MINISTERUL l:{ !'ORNIATIILOR SUBCtrNTRUL / R.P.R. / Baia-Nlarc; llfin isterul Informatiilor / Regionala Timi$oa.a / Su bcentrul Arld (see also Fig. 1i for asimilar marklng of'Sub-centrul' Sfentu Gheorghe liom 'Regionala' Braqor); NIINISTERULINFORMATIILOR / L\SPtrCT(ORATUL) / JUD(trTEAN) / CONSTANTA (see aLso fig 1 1 for asimilar marking ofOdorhei Inspectorate); Regionala lnformaliilor Craiova / Secretariatul R-Valceai Min(isterul) Informatii(lor) / Cons(ilierrtul) Cult(ural) / JUD. CIUC (Fig. l2), or. sjmpLyMIN(ISTERUL) INF(ORMATIILOR) IA$l (see Fig. l4), etc The headqLlafter of Bucharesl'sRegional used another oval mirking $'ith the text: NIINISTERUL DIFORIIATIILoR /DIR(ICTIA) CULTUR{L.{ (Fig. l5), vcry frequently seen on postcards This entire ,{'h period isvery fich in term ofmarkings, each 'culturai district' used from 1 to 3 (at least) different markings, in aperiod oftime from March 1946 up to July 1950 and even later on (to remember again that allthe 'lastdates' have little reievance, as a postcard could be u'ritten and posted a long time, months or evenyears, after it was purchased)

Region Cotrnl;es {main towns in bracketsBaca.u Baca.u /Bdc.irl. Neant (Piatra Neaml). Ronan (Roman), Puha (Foc$ari)Brrsov Bragor' (Bra1or,l, Ciuc (Micrcurea Cruc), Trei Scaune (Sfentlr Gheorghe)- Fagira!aFisiras)Bucuresti Vlasca (Ciurgio, Ialomila (Cdldrasi). Constanta (Constdtl!e). Ilfov /Brcuefli.Clrri Cllri (lllri). Stlaj (Zaliu). Turda (Turda)Craio\.a Da\ (('tanva),Gatj \Tirgu Jiu), Vdlcea (Rimnicu Valcea), Romanali (Caracal),Nlchodinti (Tumu Sevcni).Gaia!r Co\,rrlld 1c./1alr, Tecuci (Tecuci). Tutove (Birlad), Tlrlcea (TLrlcea). Briila(Briila)lasi Iat1 .".tt. vaslui (VaslLi). Filciu (Hu$i). BotoFani (ilotoFni).. Dorohoi (Dorohoi).Oradea Bihor . Satu Mare (Satu N,lare). N'lammure$ (S )

Suce.va I Suceava /&,.edvdl. Baia (Filticeni)- Cimpulurq (Cimpuluns), R*idduli (R'ldauti)Tarcu N,lurcs Mures lTtiretr Murey). Bistnra N-dsdud (Bistrila). Odorirei (Odorhei)Tinisoara T\n$ lTjtniroa] a). Catas (Lueoi). Selerin (Oravilc) Arad (Arad)

*."'N"t;t9t

' d -dl8\r1/s, "mi"J*;illr!o.cruc Itig t2

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t0The round markings r.rsually had (up to December 1947) ihe Roval Coat of Arms in the middle, butafter the King's (compulsory) abdication, flom January 1948, these arms were erased from themarkings, so one can flnd trvo sub-types ofmarkings. with and without the Royal Arms (see ig 13,rrhere the arms were not perfectly erased, versus fig. 10 where thejob was 'well done')One can see the situation when postcards, censored during J" period (during the war) but not sold andtherefore still found in bookshops, etc, had to be re examined during the communist years ofthe 4dperiod, see an example in fig 16

farili. Faria!;lihq. 16: dorble emtninatian. Jiftt duing the trff (l:t perioct) ',rith a n.rkinB belonging to Pte.fecnoa Tdndr.tMarc (ieli) an(t lhe secanct. du"ing.l'h pcnoti nttu thc otal narling qfRuchdrest s RegionaL cultt cl clistrict(riChr.Period 5 (19.19): the Ministrv of Arts & Information Censorship,The end ofN4inistry oflnformation came withthe Decree 6l.fot the org.nization of the Minttry afArtsa d lD:fathtcttiotl ofthe Popular Republic o:f Rotnclnid (.pnblished inM.O no 42119.21949) ThePress & Postcard censoring u'as now performed by a unique depaltment 'Direclia Presei !iTipiriturilor' (= Pti ed votks a d Press Direction) This Ministry was shorllived, however somemarkings were then manufactured (but with the majority ofthe markings from zld'period kept in use),examples: R. P R. * Ministerul Arrelor gi lnformaliilor / Consilieratul Cultural Bratov ( 1949), R.l R* N,linisterul Anelor 5i Informatiilor / ? Timi$-Torontal (1955). The list ofRegional and countydistricts (each was ca11ed now 'Consilierat Cultural') is not klown yet, but it could be similar to Table2.Period 6 (1949...1r the Ministry ofArts Censorship.Soon- the Decree 64 \{as abrogated by the , ccree nr'. 211 for lhe vo nsforming of the Minist y of Arlsunl Information into the Llinistry of Arts (published in B.O+ no. l2 23 5 1 949). From norv on.'Dlreclja Presei !i Tipiriturilor' was translormed into Direc(ia Generali a Presei $i TipiriturilorIDGPTI ( General Ditectiotl for Ptess d17d Pn tedvorks), directly under to the Minisrerial CouncilofRPR (this $'as the equivalent ofthe Government). DGPT took all the tasks ofpress censorship(including, as a secondary task nou', the control ofpostcards editing).No specific marking is klown from this period, the previous markings remained in use, and can beseen on circulated postcards as late as December 1955. But trom the '50's all the publishing houses(including those issuing postcards) came under strict goven'ment control and the censorship was donebefore issuing theprinting avis, so it was no longer necessary to examine and remark the already editedpostcardsI Bulcti ul Official. lhe ne.ry name ofthe Official GlrzetteRomflian Poslal Histor_1 Bulletin 200i: l.l:2 (Whole No. 41)


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tlDGPT was renamed in 1975 as 'Comitetul pentru Presi $i Tipititttt'i' (: Commillee far Prcss a LlPrinted \ta*s), directly under the Central Committee ofthe Communist Parly (press censorship wasone ofthe pillars for the communist repression!). which was finally oficially disbanded in 1977- whenthe term 'censorship' disappeared from the omcial communist terminology. but the intent ltself(doubied b,v a much more efiicient 'auto-censorship') lasted theoretically until 1939 and practicaliy (insporadlc outbursts) even a lew lears later

Bl(A3cY

Sopplmentart, image (fig. l7): a postcard ofBra$ov, markcd on th.3 front $ith the maiking offig.3. Note thal.fiom ths naterial seen to date. only the PrcIictures ofBrasov and Deva applicd the marking on the front ofthepostcard (as seemed logical considedng the aims ofthe censoring process), all the rest put the narkings on ihepostcard's back.

Ronanjan Postal History Bulletin 2003; 11:2 (whole No.

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The Censorship of Romanian Picture Postcards, 1943-1949...

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