It was a strange combination. The New York World's Fair of 1939-1940 officially opened on April 30, 1939, just five months prior to the outbreak of World War II. Yet it turned out to be the most successful Fair in New York's history and certainly the most highly attended of any World Fairs during its one and a half years of existence. That, despite the fact that by the time the Fair closed its doors on October 27, 1940, the world was becoming embroiled in mankind's most destructive war.

These two statistics clash on principle, but they are explainable. The Fair had been billed as "The World of Tomorrow". Many people who, up to the time of its opening, had visions of America's future grandeur, now had second thoughts whether the world would even survive the next decade. And so it was that on the day the Fair closed, more than half a million persons attended, many with the idea that they would get one last glimpse of what the world might turn out to be but for the war of extinction. Fortunately, that extinction did not occur, thanks to the might of American industry and military power.

After Nazi Germany had occupied Czechoslovakia, New York's Mayor Fiorello La Guardia sponsored a committee to collect funds to finish and operate the Czechoslovak Pavilion. The Czech Ministry of Public Works in Prague, then under Nazi domination, ordered the process halted and the unfinished building sold. But Grover Whalen, whom La Guardia originally had appointed a City Administrator and who was later elected president of a non-profit corporation to organize the Fair, declined to recognize the Nazi Government and ordered construction to be completed.

On opening day, the still unfinished Pavilion was thronged with visitors. Edvard Beneš, the country's President-in-Exile, was at the Pavilion and announced that "Czechoslovakia is still alive. It will continue to live. And this building is proof of that fact!" Present at this ceremony were Ambassador Vladimir Hurban, Consul Karel Hudec and other dignitaries.

During this period, I was enrolled at Fordham University in the Bronx and had a student pass for the Fair. I used it frequently. The Fair was a most intriguing and informative place to tour. But when Beneš came to the City, he took a suite at the Hotel Pierre and I made it a point to visit him there where I had the privilege and benefit of a few moments of his undivided attention. It gave me the opportunity to secure from him a small green folder bearing the text "A Special Limited Issue autographed by Dr. Edvard Beneš, New York 1939." Inside the folder was a 50h postage stamp from 1937 showing Beneš with this text above it: "Free Czechoslovakia in Free Europe". He affixed his signature across the stamp, handed it to me and wished me luck in school.

The Czechoslovak Pavilion never officially opened. As an empty shell, it was dedicated to the cause of the Western Allies in their struggle against the Axis Powers that had made Fascism and Nazism a trademark of life for millions of enslaved Europeans.

Display merchandise shipped to the Fair from Czechoslovakia before the Nazi occupation, was sent to the Czechoslovak Bazaar in Manhattan where it was sold and auctioned off with various Bazaar labels. Proceeds of the sale supported the exiled Government in London.

The only service performed at the Pavilion itself was the sale of the souvenir sheets and sheetlets issued in Prague during 1937 and 1938 and overprinted for the New York World's Fair. Like the display merchandise, these sheets also helped support the exiled Government in London.

Mirko Vondra

About the Author : Mr. Mirko Vondra is famous American collector of Czechoslovak stamps, he was President of Society for Czechoslovak Philately in USA as well as Editor of its journal The Czechoslovak Specialist. The above text he prepared as foreword to Mr. Dissen ´s book " The Issues of Czechoslovakia for 1939/1940 New York´s World Fair" .