RedMaestro

Wow, I totally missed that. And my number 9 was featured in the major annual US sale. Great observation, Nick! I'm really getting a kick out of this. We should do a whole series on republican orders for even more fun. :cheeky:

And here is one of the authentic examples Nick posted (right, Nick?) in more detail from an auction catalog. (again, click the image. it's about 1000x800 pixels)

This has been an interesting debate to watch, as much for the dynamics as the content. Mogul, just want to say, please remember, these guys are trying to help you. In another thread you wrote, "If somebody thinks that my stuff is fake, he should read more books." It would be great if you could 1) tell us which books; 2) post images or relevant passages from said books; and 3) provide detailed images with detailed explanations of what the rest of us should notice in your pieces vs. acknowledged authentic examples. Relying on the ability of your jeweler, the reputation of the dealer, and other "dubious" pieces does not make a solid defense. A detailed debate has a lot of educational value. After all, the purpose of the forum is educational in the end. Nick, thank you for posting those images. It's great how you always have a stream of evidence ready (I'm thinking of a thread about Orders of the Rising Sun 8th class as well). That is a model for how discussions of authenticity should be conducted I'm not going to weigh in on the issue myself, since it is far out of the area of my interest and expertise. I do have a few images to add to the ones Nick provided, however. These two examples were posted on another forum. No comments there on authenticity, as the point was just to show what the order looked like generally. Alex note, these images aren't great to begin with, but they do expand in more detail if you click on them

Hi Mervyn, With a picture of the reverse of the two Russian medals I would be able to tell. The difference between the "normal" versions and foreigner's version of the 40th anniversary of victory medal is that the normal versions have either "participant of the war" or "participant of the labor front" written in Russian on the reverse along the upper rim. The foreigner's version has no writing there, just the few words under the number 40. The foreigner's version is quite rare. Alex

If authentic, then yet another infinitely impressive find! Has this piece been discussed on any of the Russian collector's forums? And have you tried archival research?

Impressive indeed! Nothing in the Hero book or Podvignaroda? Is an archival award record card of any interest?

Hi Mervyn, Very nice group! I'm not familiar with any of the items in particular except the Russian medals. Two questions about those: is there only one document? Also, is the 40th anniversary of victory medal the standard type or the version for foreigners? (see http://soviet-awards.com/medals23.htm#medal43) Cheers, Alex

Very nice photos! Here's the story of your man. Quite exciting! Congrats! http://www.fedy-diary.ru/?page_id=5715 "ФЛОТСКОЕ ТОВАРИЩЕСТВО!Читатели, взгляните на этот портрет. Без особого труда вы узнаете бесстрашного моряка Виктора Ворожейкина. Да, это тот самый тихоокеанский водолаз-глубоководник, который, рискуя своей жизнью, спас товарища....Ноябрьским утром 1956 года экипаж водолазного рейдового катера, на котором служил комсомолец Виктор Ворожейкин, у берегов далекого Сахалина производил дообследование затонувшего здесь когда-то рыболозного сейнера.В ходе водолазных работ с матросом Вологиным случилась беда. Спустившись на грунт, он запутался в тросах обнаруженного им судна. Первым вызвался помочь товарищу Виктор Ворожейкин. Он быстро надел водолазный костюм и пошел под воду.Ворожейкин нашел Вологина на корме сейнера. Тот лежал навзничь, держась одной рукой за фальшборт, а другой— за кнехт. Виктор распутал шланг-сигнал, приблизился к шлему, тронул за руку. Вологин очнулся, но подняться не смог. Ворожейкин потащил его по скользкой палубе сейнера, чтобы поставить на грунт. И вот оба они уже на грунте.Оставалось подняться наверх. Необходимо было в течение девяти часов совершить до двенадцати остановок. И вдруг Ворожейкин увидел, что Вологин стремительно пошел вверх. Виктор бросился за ним. Однако догнать его не удалось.Соблюдая необходимую предосторожность, стал подниматься и Ворожейкин. На поверхности в это время заштормило. Оставаться в открытом море водолазному катеру было опасно. Чтобы не рисковать жизнью всего экипажа, пришлось поднимать Ворожейкина без остановок.Очнулся Виктор в специальной ре-компрессионной камере, где уже находился Вологин. В груди и плечевых суставах ощущалась жгучая боль. Но в первую же минуту Виктор вспомнил о своем товарище. Вологин лежал неподвижно. Лицо его было бледно.«Ему очень плохо», — подумал Ворожейкин, глядя на своего боевого товарища. С этих пор Виктор, пренебрегая своим здоровьем, до конца боролся за жизнь Вологина. Он поил его лекарствами, заставлял двигать руками и ногами, обкладывал грелками, не давал уснуть, ибо это было опасно для жизни.Но вот в бреду Вологин оборвал в камере электропроводку и вскоре свалил- J ся с банки на Ворожейкина. В отчаянии < Виктор хотел было находящейся в руках телефонной трубкой разбить стекло иллюминатора. Как раз в тот миг раздался знакомый голос: В. Ворожейкин.— Держись, браток!«Как же это я, комсомолец, впал в отчаяние», — подумал Виктор и, собрав силы, крикнул в трубку:— Буду держаться!Пятьдесят девять часов подряд, находясь в рекомпрессионной камере, Виктор Ворожейкин боролся сначала за жизнь товарища, а затем за свою жизнь, и вышел победителем.За образцовое выполнение задания командования и проявленные мужество, стойкость и самоотверженность при спасении товарища Указом Президиума Верховного Совета СССР от 27 мая 1957 года комсомолец Виктор Иванович Ворожейкин награжден орденом Красной Звезды.Об этой награде Ворожейкин узнал, находясь на излечении в военно-морском госпитале во Владивостоке. В эти дни много друзей перебывало у Виктора в гостях.После продолжительного лечения во Владивостоке, а затем в Москве Воро-жейкину 'пришлось расстаться с флотом. Разбитые параличом ноги остались ма-логюслушными. Он вернулся в родное село Ново-Семейкино Куйбышевской области, где родился и вырос."

Hello All, I've come across a Bulgarian acronym I can't crack, and I was wondering if anyone here might know what it means. The letters in question are "МЗ". This appears on a lot of documents (for example, the documents for long service medals and the 40th Anniversary of Victory medal), and seems to be related to decrees. A typical pattern is "МЗ № ХХХ 195Х" or "МЗ № УК 63", or "МЗУК" (I've only seen this one once though). Any ideas? (btw, it's definitely NOT the Ministry of Health in this context) Thanks, Alex

Thanks for the ID. I don't have a better scan at the moment, unfortunately, but I hope to post the group this came from in full sometime. Despite the unofficial nature of the medal, would it be a reasonable assumption that a recipient of one of these was in some way involved with submarines during his military service? (Sorry if that seems like a silly question!)

Hi All, This document and the accompanying medal are part of a group I recently purchased. Does anyone have information about the medal? Who was it awarded to/what was it awarded for? etc. Thanks in advance for the help! Alex

The Lieutenant-Colonel has had quite an exciting career! :speechless1: Thanks for posting :cheers:

Thanks for the advice, gentlemen! I asked because a fellow forum member and Soviet collector recently researched a Soviet award, and the citation mentioned the unit and ranks of several Wehrmacht officers the recipient killed in an ambush. Such detail is uncommon (usually citations read something like "Comrade X killed Y Hitlerites"), so I thought it might be possible to complete the story from a German perspective. Unfortunately this project looks too complicated, time-consuming, and potentially fruitless for me to pursue. Perhaps a project for another day. Thanks again, Alex

Sorry, Paul, I'm not much help on the "how to" here. But for a start, it looks like it is possible at least in some cases. For example, here's an award for sale where the recipient was identified by serial number: http://collectrussia.com/DISPITEM.HTM?ITEM=20021 I hope someone else can chime in with more info. On a side note, I wonder if Tsarist era decorations ever show up on archival documents for Soviet awards. Alex

Though I am very familiar with researching Soviet soldiers and their awards, I am completely clueless about researching their Wehrmacht enemies. So to those far more knowledgeable I ask this (perhaps basic) question: If I have the unit and rank of a Wehrmacht officer and the date on which he was KIA, would it be possible to find his name and other information about him? Thanks, Alex

I posted this Red Star on another forum not too long ago and finally got around to putting it here. This award is fully researched - award card, citation, ukaz, and service record. However, I will only post short clips of these documents here, in part per the request of my researcher. This info is the most important, though. The recipient was aviation Major and received 5 unspecified medals in addition to this Red Star (#3,681,XXX). The 10th Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, which he served in, covered military assistance to foreign nations. Here is the citation for his Red Star: "During his term traveling abroad since September 1972 as a specialist with the commander of a MIG-17 squadron in the National Army, he has proved to be a disciplined, honest, and demanding officer. He pays a lot of attention to the theoretical and flight training of the aircrews. As a result, the personnel of the squadron can conduct air combating, strafing and bombing of ground targets, flying in day and night and in ordinary and difficult weather conditions. The air squadron with which Comrade X works received an excellent evaluation from the Air Force Commander of the host country for military and personal training in 1972. Comrade X constantly continues to improve his military preparation during his stay and has flown more than 140 hours. He takes active involvement in informational propaganda work among foreigners. Conclusion: for the conscientious performance of duty in foreign travel he is worthy of being awarded the Order of the Red Star." As far as any of the experts can tell (and I've consulted many), this Red Star is the only known award for service in Somalia. About 20 additional awards listed on the ukaz - roughly half were Red Stars, half Combat Merit Medals, and two Orders of the Badge of Honor - but none of these have come to light. The history of Soviet involvement in Somalia and Ethiopia from 1970 to 1980 is quite interesting. Here's a good link if anyone is interested: Foreign Military Assistance to Somalia. Also look up the Ogaden War. Thanks for looking! Alex

:speechless1: An extraordinary grouping, as always, Bob! :jumping: It would be great if you could post scans of all the documents and more detailed pictures of the medals, if you have a chance. Congrats! Alex

Hi Rex, There was just a discussion about this on an outside forum - the Soviet Awards Forum. One member there has managed to acquire an extraordinary number of North Korean medals at prices far below those seen on some dealer's websites (for instance, the well-known NJ dealer). He apparently has contacts in China who are able to get these for him. You might want to check out the forum thread on that (I'll pm the link). Perhaps you could get in touch with the member too, although I wonder if he would be open to sharing his sources. As for other places - ebay has a few dealers who might be okay. Perhaps the member over on the Soviet Awards Forum would know which are good. Good luck! Alex

Here is a set of photos from Moskalenko's group currently for sale: http://www.collectrussia.com/DISPITEM.HTM?ITEM=23216

I too am speechless! I recalled that it passed through the well-known New Jersey dealer at one point, and I was able to find an archive of the sales listing. Please see the links below. http://web.archive.org/web/20040604025654/http://www.collectrussia.com/DISPITEMWINDOW.HTM?ITEM=9667 http://web.archive.org/web/20040604030413/http://www.collectrussia.com/DISPITEMWINDOW.HTM?ITEM=9668 http://web.archive.org/web/20040604031926/http://www.collectrussia.com/DISPITEMWINDOW.HTM?ITEM=9670 http://web.archive.org/web/20040604031735/http://www.collectrussia.com/DISPITEMWINDOW.HTM?ITEM=9669 Auke, I wonder if this is the sale you are referring to. In any case, Shadow, the awards and documents you have acquired were not part of the offering. Perhaps, then, this is one step closer to uniting the group. Congratulations on this amazing find! Alex

I saw this on ebay and, though I know nothing of Albanian awards, thought it might be of interest here. I'm curious to hear what our experts have to say regarding the authenticity, history, and value of this piece. Alex http://cgi.ebay.com/...=item256495c390 Item Description ALBANIA 1987 Order of former Prime Minister Adil Carcani On 2 May 1987 Prime Minister Adil Carcani is decorated by the People's Assembly Presidium of the Title: Hero of Socialist Labour. This order is given on the occasion of 65th anniversary of the birth and was signed by President Ramiz Alia and Secretary Tozaj Neshat. ListenTitle HERO OF SOCIALIST LABOR ;Single class ; LAME 083/1;Gold 20 carat;Rarity R-5; produced by TIRANA after 1970

This sounds incredibly exciting! Can't wait to see scans!

That's a great-looking uniform, Dan. Congrats! Alex

Hi Rex, PM sent! Cheers, Alex