Imperial Russia 1931 Georgia Narkomat-Justice Jubilee Badge

[Chuck In Oregon]

Between finding some misplaced records and really not wanting to do my taxes anyway, I have come across some new things to post here.

As the title says, this is a 1931 Georgian Narkomat of Justice Jubilee Badge. This particular one was issued to Sergei Aramovich Lekrian. Lekrian was a high-ranking Narkomant official, probably a judge, and he was also awarded an early Badge of Honor. He was arrested in Oct. or Nov. 1939 as a German spy and he was sentenced to ten years in the gulags "without letters", a kind of add-on punishment that meant no communication with the outside during your sentence, or so I'm told. His family received a letter in 1942 that he had died in a Khazakstan work camp.

NKVD workers who searched his flat after the arrest did not find everything. This badge survived. FWIW, I think this badge is uncatalogued and unknown in the west. It is silver-plated bronze and has three pieces. The gold is not plate. It has been hammered flat onto what appears to be silver underneath.

Lekrian's son, Avram Sergeivich, was repeatedly denied entrance into the army until very late in the war, when he finally was allowed to enlist and he served at the western front. Avram died in 2001. I purchased this badge from Avram's widow.

Enjoy.

Chuck