He Stole the Last Stamp Sheet of a Vanished Country

On October 11, 1944, a country with a government, an army, its own money, flag, coat of arms, and postage stamps ceased to exist. There was no battle and no public referendum. Beyond its borders, hardly anyone noticed. The Tuvan People's Republic had issued its own stamps since 1926 — bright, oddly shaped, often triangular or diamond-shaped, some designed and printed in Moscow purely to be sold to foreign collectors, including one 1936 sheet showing a camel racing a steam locomotive in a country that never had a railway. Days after Moscow absorbed Tuva, a postal clerk was ordered to pull the old stamps from circulation and destroy what remained. One sheet never reached the fire. Was Seren a thief who falsified an official report, or a man who saved the last small piece of his country? Let us know what you think. #weirdstories #HistoricalFiction #Storytelling #HistoryStories