Rare 1956 SUDAN-ISRAEL POW airmail sent DIRECTLY via Cyprus to Army

Description: Rare postal links - POW mail direct from SUDAN: 3 April 1956 postmarked air mail cover, sent from KHARTOUM and addressed to a prisoner of war #15043 called Mohammed Sali Abu Bakr care of the prisons section of the Israeli Army headquarters (the Kirya in TEL AVIV); affixed on front with a Sudanese airmail etiquette, franked on the back 5 Piastres & tied by a full strike of the SUDAN AIR MAIL KHARTOUM postmark; backstamped 10 April transit at the Army's communication corps' mail unit + a "1" circled censor mark on the front; likely at this stage the mail unit marked the front of the cover in Hebrew manuscript "prisoners of war" and added unit or postal numbers which were subsequently obliterated; slit open at left. A partial, faint transit postmark on the back is likely of NICOSIA Cyprus (with the word "CYPRUS" partially visible along the bottom edge) as mail from Sudan to Israel was carried from Khartoum to Lydda by Cyprus Airways, with a transit stop at Nicosia (British BOAC serviced Khartoum but not Nicosia, and Sudan Airways also did not service Nicosia). Rare postal history: Sudan and Israel renewed regular air mail service on 6 Jan. 1950 (surface parcel mail existed from July 1949), but in 1958 Sudan enacted a law prohibiting relations with Israel (Israel Boycott Law) - repealed only in 2021. Sudan sent six companies of soldiers to fight alongside the Egyptian army in the 1948 War of Independence; while Israel captured 25 Sudanese and 1098 Egyptian soldiers in that war, all prisoners of war held by Israel were exchanged by July 1949. Here in light of the relatively high prisoner number, this POW was likely not captured in that war and also likely not even Sudanese: the sender of the letter may have used Sudan's postal relations with Israel to communicate directly with the POW, but that POW was not necessarily Sudanese. Here a unique instance of contact with an Arab POW outside the usual involvement of the Red Cross - using direct (short-lived) postal connections to Israel. --- Most of our merchandise ships out from Israel | orders are combined | additional items are charged 75c: DOMESTIC services available are Registered mail (default) and courier mail. Please contact us if you desire courier mail. BUYERS IN ISRAEL: eBay does not recognize Israel as being a "domestic" mailing destination - please contact us to be invoiced and charged $5 for registered mail. --- OVERSEAS services available are Priority ECO Post registered airmail (default - $15 flat fee) and express EMS mail (3-day / 5-day to-door delivery - $40 flat fee). These options can be selected on check-out. We recognize that the shipping overseas is expensive - only ECO Post shows tracking up to delivery; for less expensive purchases on the understanding of the customer that tracking is not available we can user $5 standard registered mail overseas - please contact us so we can invoice you at this rate. --- Prospective buyers in countries without postal relations with Israel can receive orders via a third country. Please contact us for this option. --- To see higher end specialized philatelic items + materials from countries which cannot be displayed on ebay, add d o t com to our our handle name

Price: 199 USD

Location: Jerusalem Israel

End Time: 2024-12-29T12:16:08.000Z

Shipping Cost: 12 USD