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Secondary sourceArtifact1986

Soviet postage stamp honouring Béla Kun (1986)

1986

A 1986 Soviet 10-kopeck postage stamp printed with Kun's name and dates, issued for his centenary after his execution in the Great Purge.

The stamp commemorates Kun's centenary and shows how the Soviet state later honoured him.

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Soviet postage stamp, 10 kopeck denomination, 1986, printed with the name Бела Кун and dates 1886 and 1939 above a black-and-white engraved portrait of a man with short dark hair and a mustache, wearing a suit and tie, with a laurel branch below and the text ПОЧТА СССР 1986.
Soviet Union postage stamp, 10 kopecks, 1986, honouring Béla Kun. Post of the Soviet Union.

About this source

What it is

This is a photograph of a Soviet postage stamp of 10 kopecks, issued in 1986 by the Post of the Soviet Union. It is printed with the name Бела Кун and the dates 1886 and 1939, above a black-and-white engraved portrait of a man with short dark hair and a mustache, wearing a suit and tie, with a laurel branch below.

Why it matters

The stamp was issued for Kun's centenary, long after he had been executed in the Great Purge. It documents his official rehabilitation and celebration in the Soviet Union. The printed date 1939 differs from the 1938 date often given for his death, so students should check the dates against other sources.

Look closer

  • Why would a state choose to honour a leader who had been executed years earlier?
  • What does the laurel branch and the formal portrait suggest about how Kun was remembered?
  • What do the printed dates tell us, and what might they leave out?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Béla Kun on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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