steveBobby

Greeting This is a badge from the Slovak fascist regime, known as “a commemorative badge for the battle against the Soviet Union（Památný odznak Za ťažení proti SSSR）”，Established in 1943 by Josef Tissot, leader of the Slovak state.The badge is divided into three levels. The gold badge is awarded to front-line personnel who personally participated in combat outside Slovakia and participated in combat for 30 days; the silver badge is awarded to those who did not personally participate in combat outside Slovakia but served in the combat area for at least 30 days; the bronze badge is awarded to those who served in the Slovak army or labor forces on the Eastern Front for at least three months.I'll include a few photos of the wearers below, I hope it helps you. Yours Steve

While the build quality is a bit poor, I think this is authentic as it dates from the First World War. Yours Steve

Greeting ！ This pattern of order I believe appeared during World War II between 1943 and 1945 as a temporary version due to a shortage of certain parts.I'll include photos of two actual wearers below to back up this claim. Yours Steve

I would like to add some order of Labor Glory certificates to this topic, maybe will helpful for you. Yours Steve

A beautiful reward from the days of the Laxey administration! A nice acquisition, congratulations! Yours Steve

Greeting Greg！ They look very normal, I think they are original. Yours Steve

I would like to add some portraits of gentlemen to this theme，hope it will be helpful to researchers. Sincerely Steve

I also have a different opinion about the dates given in this book. Let’s look at a concrete example，When we look at a photo of the first Bulgarian cosmonaut, Georgy Ivanov, we can see this pilot badge clearly worn on his uniform.And this time is much earlier than 1980. So I personally think that this pilot badge should have appeared in the first few years of the 1970s. Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, pilots in the People's Republic of Bulgaria wore wings that were a copy of the Soviet version of the wings that were introduced around the 1950s. I'm glad to see that this information is helpful to you. cheers Steve

Greeting Tony！ There's no doubt from the photos that this was a product of its time, so there won't be any issues with that. This type of badge was usually produced in the People's Republic of Bulgaria in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. As you can see with the Bulgarian badges of the same period, their quality is not that good. But I am sure that there is nothing wrong with the piece you bought. It is a work of that era. I'll include some information below, I hope it helps you. Yours Sincerely Steve

Hi Greg！ I'm glad to see that you got this nice collection again！ Yours Steve

I will add mine, Unfortunately, I didn't collect the matching certificate and box.

Greeting Greg I'm glad to see that you got such a good harvest again. The Order of September 9 has had many versions throughout the history of Bulgarian socialism, with corresponding boxes and certificates. Hope you can collect more! Sincerely Steve

Of course Philip.S, the Hungarians did design it this way. In the original 1953 proposal, they used a circular shape, from this point on, this design was used.Then in 1955, they updated their design again. Since then, only the national emblem has been changed. IN 1953： IN 1954 or 1955: IN 1957： Sincerely Steve

Greeting Greg Generally speaking, based on the experience of the Soviet Union and some other European socialist countries, police, national security personnel, and technical personnel in the army can all receive the Labor order or the Labor Red Banner order representing civilian merit. I believe that at the very beginning, when the Hungarian government established the Order of Labor in 1948, these military personnel should have been able to be linked to it. But what is very strange is that this phenomenon did not continue during the Raksi government or even the later Kadar government. It is clear that the subsequent Hungarian Communist government paid more attention to the distinction between civilian and military awards. Most of the medals or orders that police, state security personnel and military technicians can receive are still military awards.But this does not deny the possibility of military personnel receiving the Labor Medal. For example, we can still see some officers or generals wearing the Labor Medal in photos from the 1950s. (I will list a photo of Janza Károly a lieutenant general of the Hungarian People's Army). By the way，I think the idea of the workers' militia mentioned by my colleague Philip.S is correct. Paramilitary organizations, which are between civilian and military, can indeed straddle the line between two different reward classes.This is reflected in the photos, where we can see that many of the award-winning photos of the Workers’ Militia have the shadow of the Labor order. But in any case, this is just my own speculation. We may need more photos of actual examples or more identity information of the recipients to confirm whether our hypothesis is correct. Yours Steve

Greeting Greg！ For this special medal there is a special flannel box. And I think they are usually awarded to recipients who are not from European socialist countries. Yours Steve To support my argument, I have chosen to cite two photographs from an exhibition of orders and medals received by Lieutenant General Paul Kielenberg of the German Democratic Republic.You can see that the "foreigner" received an orange velvet box and a pentagonal medal.