Yugoslavia Order of Freedom

[Christian Zulus]

Order of Freedom - Orden slobode

Gentlemen,

everybody knows that most prestigeous YU-order (and no one has one in his collection ... )

Just an "phaleristic-orgy" of flawless rubys & diamonds - red star, 5 torches & an incredible hughe diamond in the center. Only to compare with the Soviet "Order of Victory":

It's also the rarest of all YU-orders: Only 7 had been confered during Tito's era (Zhukov got one and in 1947 Tito got his own one).

Usually Tito always wore his "Order of Freedom" in full decoration and the rest of his numerous YU-awards as minis. That had been of course against the regulations - either all awards in full decoration, or only minis or ribbons -, but who cares .

After the 1999-war Milosevic confered two "Orders of Freedom":

- Army General Dragoljub Ojdanic (Chief of General Staff)

- Col. General Nebojsa Pavkovic (Commander of the 3rd Army in Kosovo)

So, we have in sum 9 bearers of the "Order of Freedom".

Best regards

Christian

BTW: GMIC-member Paul Margulies ("pmargulies") has the uniform of Pavkovic with the ribbon of his "Order of Freedom" in his collection .

Edited July 1, 2007 by Christian Zulus

[Christian Zulus]

Recipients of the "Order of Freedom"

Gentlemen,

following 7 Yugoslav outstanding military leaders got the "Order of Freedom":

World War II

- Josip Broz Tito

- Ivan Gosnjak

- Koca Popovic

- Peko Dapcevic

- Kosta Nadj

NATO-War 1999

- Dragoljub Ojdanic

- Nebojsa Pavkovic

Also 2 foreigners got their "Order of Freedom":

- Georgi Zhukov

- Leonid Brezhnev ( )

Ojdanic & Pavkovic got genuine & authentic "Orders of Freedom" from Milosevic, because two of them had been manufactured by Serbian juwellers for them.

Best regards

Christian

Edited July 1, 2007 by Christian Zulus

[Megan]

Order of Freedom

Orden slobode

Instituted: 12 June 1945.

Awarded: To senior military commanders for outstanding leadership and courage.

The ribbon:

(This picture came from Yuri Yashnev.)