International Federation of Resistance Fighters – (FIR)

Some time ago I came across a stamp from FIR that was issued to raise funds for former anti-fascist fighters of Greece and Spain. I have never seen it before, and thought I missed my opportunity to pick it up. But a recent late night perusal of the Bay turned up the same stamp and same copy from before. There is a little damage-but for the cost of small Starbucks coffee I made an offer the seller couldn’t refuse and it was mine.

The question for me was what is FIR? Founded in Vienna in 1951 the organization consists of veterans of various anti-Axis resistance fighters such as partisans.  Though it worked on issues of peace in the Cold War I haven’t found any Western Nations that issued any postage stamps to note the various General Assemblies. However, below are images of a number of stamps and postal stationary from various Eastern Block countries that did issue stamps to honor the association. Originally founded by the International Federation of Former Political Prisoners founded in Paris in 1947.

The FIR organized various conferences that addressed several issues including medical which examined the physical toll of the resistance as well as the physical affects on political prisoners. The main focus of the organization was to keep the memory of those non-military men and women who resisted the Fascists during the war.  This is done by assemblies, conferences, and published studies on various anti-Fascist campaigns during the war.

As a result of an increase in neo-fascism in the Federal Republic of Germany in the late 1950s the organization ran intelligence operations against these groups as well as worked with other organizations to increase awareness of this issue.

The organization is still alive and well and consists of organizations in more than 25 European countries and Israel. In 2004, the FIR adopted the name “International Federation of Resistance Fighters – Association of Anti-fascists” (FIR).

I haven’t able to locate any information on the label-they organization maintains a website but it didn’t provide any information. Nor did a Google search. Let us examine the label itself. It is rectangle and magenta. With a border on all four sides with French at the top and German along the bottom, that states “Solidarity with the Former Greek and Spanish Fighters” The left corner as “ST. 30”, not sure what currency that is. The center is a Kathe Kollwotz piece from 1932 call “Solidarity” with the name of the FIR in French and German. It is on the way from the seller so I don’t know the perf. I will look to upgrade when I can, if I ever find another one.