At the conclusion of World War II, more than twelve million displaced persons (DP) and refugees found themselves in Central Europe (West Germany, Austria and Italy). Most were forced laborers, prisoners-of-war, concentration camp prisoners, and those uprooted by war. The Western Allies military authority designated assembly centers throughout Central Europe, where these individuals could be temporarily housed, processed and repatriated. Such centers included military barracks or compounds, forced labor camps, schools, etc. By September 1945, the overwhelming majority of displaced persons and refugees had been returned to their homelands. The use of force in repatriating former Soviet nationals had been agreed to by the Allies at the Yalta Conference in 1944.
   By the summer of 1945, the assembly centers began to transform into communities that became known as displaced persons camps, and which often evolved to house homogeneous national groups. Organized by their community leaders, but also to collectively protect themselves from repatriation to the Soviet Union, the helplessness of shaping their own fate, and the lethargy and monotony of daily life, the refugees and displaced persons began establishing self-help organizations, churches, schools, libraries, youth associations, theater groups, sport clubs and many other aspects of religious, cultural and recreational life. In many cases these were re-creations of organizations which had existed in their homelands prior to the war. At first, the occupying powers viewed this development with apprehension: the more hopeless the immediate situation, the quicker the repatriation process. Subsequently, it was tolerated, and then as the policy of repatriation was replaced with a policy of resettlement, structured community life was encouraged, although not uniformly. In time, even varying degrees of self-government and self-policing came into being. In some camps an internal postal service was established, including the issuance of stamps. In 1946, there were nearly 500 such camps housing approximately one million people, mostly from Eastern Europe.
   In a short period of time, sports participation became one of the most popular camp activities. While at some camps it was practiced on an ad hoc basis, at many camps structured sport clubs were established. A variety of sports were available including athletics, basketball, boxing, chess, hockey, alpine and nordic skiing, soccer, table tennis and volleyball. In addition to regular training sessions and scrimmages, competitions were held with neighboring DP camp clubs, local German or Austrian clubs, or military units.

Souvenir sheet with a single 1 RM stamp was issued at the Mittenwald Displaced Persons Camp in honor if the Men's Volleyball competition, one of the events associated with the 1948 Displaced Persons Olympiad.	Deatil of stamp	Detail of cancelled stamp	Commemorative hand cancel used during the two days of the Volleyball event.

   The dramatic growth in organized sport was manifested, for example, by the Ukrainians. Their Council of Physical Culture was, by the fall of 1946, coordinating the activities of 39 sports clubs in the American Zone and twelve in the British Zone of West Germany. Another group, the Baltic peoples, held an annual Baltic Olympics.

Postcard 1 reproducing the stamp image from the souvenir sheet.	Reverse of postcard 1.	Postcard 2	Reverse of postcard 2 with stamp and cancel.

   In early 1948, within the framework of the International Committee for Political Refugees and Displaced Persons in Germany (INCOPF), a sports section was established. At the urging of the Ukrainian Council of Physical Culture, the body approved the organization of a summer-long sports festival in the American Zone – the Displaced Persons Olympiad – which in its own way would celebrate the ideals of the Olympic movement in an Olympic year. Representatives from the Belarus, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Jugoslav, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovak, Russian and Ukrainian DP communities took part in the preparatory work, which also included the participation of the Preparatory Commission of the International Refugee Organization (PCIRO) and the YMCA and YWCA.
   The organization of the games was no easy task. Funds were lacking and restrictive monetary reform was in progress. Access to transportation was limited. Accommodations were hard to come by and daily food rations were being reduced. Nevertheless, the organizers overcame the many impediments to mobilize their communities, find host sites, organize events, finalize team rosters and launch the games.
   The Displaced Persons Olympiad began with the men's volleyball tournament on June 26-27, 1948, at Mittenwald hosted by the Ukrainians. The highlight of the Olympiad was the track and field competition held July 31 and August 1 at Nürnberg's renowned stadium. The event was hosted by the YMCA and YWCA, and organized by Ukrainians. Other events included men's and women's basketball hosted by the Lithuanians; women's volleyball hosted by the Estonians; women's table tennis hosted by the Ukrainians; men's boxing and men's table tennis hosted by the Poles; and men's soccer. The events were held throughout the American Zone: Augsburg, Mannheim, Nürnberg, Mittenwald, Ingolstadt, Wurzburg, Landshut, etc.
   To celebrate the men's volleyball tournament, the Ukrainian Council of Physical Culture, with the assistance of the host Lions Sport Club of the Mittenwald Displaced Persons Camp, issued a souvenir sheet. The 100 mm x 107 mm ungummed sheet features a small stamp, sepia on off-white, portraying two opposing volleyball players at the net. In the background is one of the camp's buildings and further back are the Alps. Olympic rings can be found at the top of the stamp. The noted value on the stamp is 1 RM (Reichsmark). The text on the stamp is in Ukrainian, and is repeated both in English and in German on the sheet. In total, 1500 souvenir sheets were printed. Both perforated and imperforate versions exist.
   A postcard was also printed featuring the same design found on the stamp, but without the 1 RM value indicator. At least two variants of the postcard exist: one with a plain obverse and the other with printed English and German text similar to that found on the souvenir sheet.
   During the two-day tournament, a round commemorative hand cancel measuring roughly 34 mm. in diameter was in use. Available only in German, it also reproduced the text found on the souvenir sheet. Neither the souvenir sheet nor the cancel had postal validity.
   Interestingly, none of the items produced for the volleyball tournament incorporated the image of a man's head wearing a wreath of olive leaves which came to symbolize the 1948 DP Olympiad. This image was found on publicity posters, medals, certificates, and related ephemera.

Championship medal awarded for the first place in the 4 x 60 meter relay. The profile of an athlete wearing a laurel wreath became an insignia of the 1948 Displaced Persons Olympiad.

   A sincere thanks to Myroslaw Welyhorskyj, co-organizer of the DP Olympiad's volleyball tournament for men and the designated chef de mission of the Ukrainian team to the track and field competition (immigration to Canada pre vented him from fulfilling this task), for his kind assistance with information and illustrations.

Volleyball tournament "certificate of participation".

References:
Marta Dyczok, The Grand Alliance and Ukrainian Refugees, Basingstoke, Houndmills: Macmillan; New York: St. Martin's Press in association with St. Antony's College, Oxford, 2000.
Louise W. Holborn, The International Refugee Organization, 1946-52, Oxford University, Press: London, 1956.
Julian Maksymczuk, Catalogue of Ukrainian Stamps: Non-State Issues, Ulm-Donau, West Germany, 1950.
Mark Wyman, DP: Europe's Displaced Persons, 1945-51, Balch Institute Press: Philadelphia, 1989.
—, Almanac of the Ukrainian Council of Physical Culture 1945-48, Munich, West Germany, 1951.