Cover to San Miguel de los Reyes prison, 1938, with censor
Reference: CT246
Addressed to Celso Bueno y Bueno, in San Miguel de los Reyes prison’s 4º Batallón de Fortificaciones. The addressee wrote on the cover the date and where did he received it, as the 4º Batallón de Fortificaciones was mobile. San Miguel de los Reyes prison censor mark, «D.P. Nº1 – VALENCIA / CENSURA» in violet.
Cover franked with 45c Edifil 752 and Villanueva del Arzobispo postmark dated on Dec 10, 1938. Faded censor mark and number «8». Handwritten by the addressee «Received in Paterna on December 16, 1938». With content.
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A highly significant and historically important wartime cover addressed to an inmate at the San Miguel de los Reyes prison in Valencia, sent during the year 1938. This item serves as a compelling document of postal communications within the Republican penitentiary and labor camp network, featuring a specific prison censor handstamp from a key period of the conflict.
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Item Type: Postal History / Prisoner Mail / Prison & Labor Camp Correspondence.
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Origin: Internal Republican Mail.
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Destination: San Miguel de los Reyes Prison (Valencia).
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Year: 1938.
Historical and Philatelic Context: During the Spanish Civil War, the historic monastery of San Miguel de los Reyes in Valencia was utilized by the Republican authorities as a major correctional facility and political prison. Correspondence sent to or from inmates in these institutions was subjected to extremely rigorous inspection to prevent internal plots and control information. This cover, dating to 1938—a year of intense military escalation and tightening internal security—passed through the internal security filters of the facility. The prison staff applied the specific censor handstamp of the facility, making this a highly desirable piece for collectors of penitentiary mail and Spanish Civil War social history.