The border between between Poland and the USSR decorated with a banner saying “Hello Shah of Afghanistan” when King Amanullah of Afghanistan passed through by train on his way between Warsaw and Moscow on 2 May 1928.
1922 railway map of Poland from http://www.lithuanianmaps.com/Maps1922-39.html
Amanullah left Warsaw1 by train on the morning of Wednesday 2 May 1928.
Białystok station was decorated with Polish and Afghan flags. The visit of an exotic guest attracted people to the station, but the police only allowed people with special passes on to the platform. Representatives of administrative and military authorities, social organizations and the press started arriving at the station at noon.
King Amanullah at Białystok
The train arrived on time 12.50, as a military band played the Afghan national anthem. Amanullah appeared at the window in civilian clothes, when General Sosnkowski and Colonel Wieniawa-Długoszewski alighted onto the platform. Local dignatiories boarded, and Deputy Voivode Skrzyński entered the coach and welcomed the king in French; he answered in his own language, expressing thanks for their best wishes and admiration for the Polish army.2
The train then continuted to the Polish border town of Stołpce (now Stowbtsy in Belarus), where Amanullah changed to a Soviet train and was due to enter the Soviet Union at 20.00. The Times reported that the wooden arch spanning the tracks a yard inside the Soviet border had been specially decorated,3 as seen in the photograph.
There were further speeches, guards of honour and anthems at Negoreloye and Minsk.
Amanullah arrived in Moscow on the morning of Thursday 3 May 1928, and went to a villa belonging to the Commissariat of Foreign Affairs where he was to be accomodated. The King then visited Mikhail Kalinin and others, Lenin’s mausoleum and an official reception given by Kalinin.4
Evolution of the gate on the railway border between Kołosowo (Poland) and Nieharelaje/Negoreloe ([Негарэлае/Негорелое] Soviet Byelorussia) during the period between the World Wars.
Photo 1: 1923
Photo 2: 1928
Photo 3: 1935
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I think it was here: https://t.co/rX5ZUQ0xFF pic.twitter.com/AtkiD0Azl9— Gio Ve (@Pillandia) September 3, 2020
- Polish illustrated news coverage of Amanullah’s visit to Poland ↩
- Król Afganistanu w Białymstoku, Włodzimierz Jarmolik, Kurier Poranny, 20 Febraury 2010 ↩
- “King Amanullah Leaves For Moscow.” Times, London, England, 3 May 1928: 16. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 9 March 2016. ↩
- “Afghan Royal Visit To Russia.” Times, London, England, 4 May 1928: 16. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 9 March 2016. ↩