Bob

Here's pics, some closeups as well - i was very impressed (even with the small chip off one of the Imperial Russian ones).

It's arrived, will be making close up pics later today (unfortunately no scanner available where I am now). Nice also to look at the REVERSE where some things were a nice surprise to see:)

http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1920/01/07.htm info on the denikin front

Interesting: * confirmation of the mongolian award (at least one of them) * info on where he fought in 1919-1920... more on that in next post =================== Card # (blank) Personal File # 872 1. Full name: Sorkin Naum Semyonovich 2. Nationality: Jewish 3. Possession of foreign languages: English with the help of dictionary 4. DoB: February 11, 1899 5. Place of birth: Town Zoporojie, Dnepropetrovskaya oblast 6. Social status, profession (prior to being drafted to the armed Forces): civil servant 7. Party membership: • Member of CPSU since 1919. Serial number of the Party Membership ID card: 2205698 • Member of All Soviet Communist Youth Council since (blank) • Not a member of the party: (blank) • Former membership in other political parties: No • Party reprimands and change in party membership: No 8. Education (Indicate the name of the school, number of classes attended or courses completed, date of the graduation):  General: Four classes of high primary school in 1914;  Military: The first Moscow command artillery course in 1920; Highest Artillery School in 1923.  Political: No 9. Service in Old (Tsarist) army, the latest post and rank: No 10. Service in White Guard and foreign armies (service in foreign armies is indicated in case if the officer has not been concurrently in service of the Soviet Amy) No 11. Rank bestowed Bestowing Authority Serial number of the decree Date of the decree Regiment commissar People’s Commissariat of Defense 00689/p 15.12.1936 Brigade Commissar People’s Commissariat of Defense 003037 09.07.1940 Colonel People’s Commissariat of Defense 07718 10.12.1942 Major General Council of People’s Commissars 02.11.1944 12. Participation in the Great Patriotic War (when, where and duration): From May 1919 to October 1919: Deninkin Front From August 1920 to October 1920: Polish Front 13. Participation in military campaign for the defense of the USSR prior to the Great Patriotic War (where, duration, date): (blank) 14. Record of captivity or encirclement, when and for how long (for those who have been in enemy encirclement, the information is to be provided by those only who broke the encirclement in non-assigned units) No 15. State awards and date the awards were bestowed: Order of the Red Banner -1945 Mongolian Order of Red Banner - 1931 Order of the Red Banner - 1946 Medal “XX years to Worker’s and Peasant’s Red Army” Order of the Red Star- 1944 Medal for “Victory over Germany in Great Patriotic War 1941-1945” Order of the Red Star-1944 Medal for “Victory over Japan” 16. Type and number of Officer’s ID card: MR-000001 #3086 17. When drafted to the Armed Forces and which post appointed: Drafted to the Armed Forces on a voluntary basis and appointed as a student to Kharkov artillery command courses on May 12, 1919. Drafted from reserve in June 1933 and again drafted in June 1936. 18. Service record in the Armed Forces: Photo of Sorkin N.S. Post and place of service-unit (organisation), division, army, front or district, fleet or flotilla. The dislocation of the unit in peace time Bestowing Authority Serial number of the decree Date of the decree Student of Kharkov artillery command courses at Denikin Front May 1919-October 1919 Student of the First Moscow artillery courses July 1920 Commander of Platoon of 11th Horse-artillery Squad, 11th Cavalry Division of 1st Cavalry Army October 1920 Commander of Platoon of Reserve Artillery Squad of 1st Cavalry Army February 1921 Assistant to Commander of Artillery Squad of 1st Cavalry Army June 1921 Assistant to Commander of 16th Special Artillery Squad of Sevastopol Fortress August 1921 Commander of 16th Special Artillery Squad of Sevastopol Fortress March 1922 Commander of 15th Special Artillery Squad of Sevastopol Fortress July 1922 Student of Highest Artillery School July 1923 Chief of Artillery School of Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Army July 1926 Assigned to the Cadre Division of General Department of the Red Army Revolutionary Military Council of USSR 570 August 25, 1926 In reserve Drafted to the Red Army Revolutionary Military Council of USSR 1201 June 7, 1933 Discharged to a prolonged leave People’s Commissariat of Defense 1658 June 28, 1935 Drafted to the Red Army People’s Commissariat of Defense 00524 June 19, 1936 Deputy Chief of Division #9 of Intelligence Department of Red Army People’s Commissariat of Defense 00524 June 19, 1936 Acting Chief of Division #9 of Intelligence Department of Red Army Intelligence Department of Red Army 0256 December 22, 1937 Acting Chief of Division #5 of Intelligence Department of Red Army Intelligence Department of Red Army 045 March 11, 1938 Commissioned to Department #5, General Staff of Red Army Department #5 00119 July 9, 1939 Commissioned to Division #11, General Staff of Red Army 0220 August 9, 1939 Acting Chief of Special Assignment Division, General Staff of Red Army People’s Commissariat of Defense 05082 December 23, 1939 Chief of Special Assignment Division, General Staff of Red Army People’s Commissariat of Defense 03036 July 9, 1940 Chief of Intelligence Division at the Staff of Far-Eastern Military District People’s Commissariat of Defense 0461 February 17, 1941 Chief of Intelligence Division and Deputy Chief of Staff of Far-Eastern Front Far-Eastern Front 01834 December 30, 1942 Acting Chief of Special Rifle Brigade # 18, Far-Eastern Front Far-Eastern Front 0308 March 9, 1943 Chief of Intelligence Division and Deputy Chief of Staff of Far-Eastern Front Far-Eastern Front 0497 May 7, 1943 Commissioned to General Intelligence Department, General Staff of Red Army General Intelligence Department 0437 April 24, 1947 Acting Chief of Training Division of Military Diplomatic Academy of Armed Forces of USSR Military Diplomatic Academy 0130 February 2, 1947 Chief of Intelligence Division and Deputy Chief of Staff of Far-Eastern Military District MoD 1862 September 28, 1948 Chief of Intelligence and Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence of Far-Eastern Military District MoD 0634 April 14, 1950 Highest academic course under the Military Academy named after Voroshilov MoD 05048 December 15, 1951 Deputy Chief of Operative-Tactical Training Faculty at Leningrad Air Force Engineering Academy MoD of USSR 05188 15.11.1952 Deputy Chief of Faculty of Tactics and History of War Art at Leningrad Air Force Engineering Academy named after Mojaiskyi Commander in Chief of Air Force 040 13.01.1956 Assigned to the Cadre Division Commander in Chief of Air Force 0532 04.04.1958 Discharged from the active military service by the Decree of Ministry of Defense #594, June 4, 1958 and registered as reservist at Jdanov Military Commissariat of Leningrad in May, 1959. 19. Wounds and traumas (when, where): No 20. Academic posts: No 21. Academic degrees: No 22. Record of travel abroad (where, when) and for how long: Special trip 23. Record of conviction, if “yes”, when, which Court and the length of sentence: No 24. Family status, full name and DOB of the spouse and children: Married. Spouse: Klavdia Georgievna Sorkina (dob 1901). Address: Moscow- 57, Peschanay street, DNS-2, flat #37. 25. Special notes: (blank)

Abbreviated service record card 1. Full name: Sorkin Naum Semyonovich 2. DOB: 1899 3. Nationality: Jewish 4. Place of birth (according to the latest administrative division): Dnepropetrovskaya Oblast 5. Party membership: • Member of CPSU since 1919. • Candidate to a member of CPSU since (blank) • Member of All Soviet Communist Youth Council since (blank) • Not a member of the party: (blank) 6. Education (Indicate the name of the school, number of classes attended or courses completed, date of the graduation):  The first Moscow command artillery course in 1920;  Highest Artillery School in 1923. 7. Rank bestowed Bestowing Authority Serial number of the decree Date of the decree Colonel 8. Marital status, family members and address (blank) 9. Record of active military service in Soviet Army and Navy. In the Armed Forces since: (blank) Order of the Red Banner Medal “XX years to Worker’s and Peasant’s Red Army” Post and place of service-unit (organization), division, army, front or district, fleet or flotilla. The dislocation of the unit in peace time Bestowing Authority Serial number of the decree Date of the decree Chief of Intelligence Division and Deputy Chief of Staff of Far-Eastern Front Far-Eastern Front Chief of Special Rifle Brigade # 18, Far-Eastern Front Far-Eastern Front 0308 March 9, 1943 Chief of Intelligence Division and Deputy Chief of Staff of Far-Eastern Front Chief of Intelligence Division and Deputy Chief of Staff of Far-Eastern Front People’s Commissariat of Defense 02439 April 9, 1943

Abbreviated service record card 1. Full name: Sorkin Naum Semyonovich 2. DOB: 1899 3. Nationality: Jewish 4. Possession of foreign languages: English (good) 5. Place of birth: Town Zoporojie, Dnepropetrovskaya Oblast 6. Social status, origin: civil servant 7. Party membership: • Member of CPSU since 1919. • Candidate to a member of CPSU since (blank) • Member of All Soviet Communist Youth Council since (blank) • Not a member of the party: (blank) • Former membership in other political parties: (blank) • Party reprimands and change in party membership: (blank) 8. Education (Indicate the name of the school, number of classes attended or courses completed, date of the graduation):  General: Four classes of high primary school in 1914;  Military: The first Moscow command artillery course in 1920; Highest Artillery School in 1923.  Political: (blank) 9. Service in Old (Tsarist) army: (blank) 10. Service in White Guard (blank) 11. Record of captivity or encirclement, when and for how long (for those who have been in enemy encirclement, the information is to be provided by those only who broke the encirclement in non-assigned units) No 12. Rank bestowed Bestowing Authority Serial number of the decree Date of the decree Colonel People’s Commissariat of Defense 07718 10.12.1942 13. Participation in the War Fronts: Did not participate 14. Wounds and traumas: No 15. State awards (order and medals): No 16. Family status and address: Married. Spouse: Orlovskaya Vera Nikolaevna, town of Habarovsk 17. Type and serial number of Officer’s ID card: DN 175575. Issue date: May 16, 1944 Stamp: Card database of Department of Cadres of Artillery

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/9122-order-of-the-red-star/ I think your mixed up with the order (see attached thread). No pic (oddly enough) yet in here of the medal, although it is not uncommon.

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/5326-order-booklets/page__st__40 any advice on which orders to get further research on and which not? thx

I guess the red stars and 2 of the red banners would be worth researching with the third red banner probably being long service. Anybody know whether the Lenin could be researchable? =============================================== Award Card Order booklet # 532872 Identification card # 1. Surname: SORKIN 2. First and parental name: Naum Semyonovich 3. Military rank: Major-General 4. Sex: Male 5. DOB: 1899 6. Place of birth: Zaporojye town, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic 7. Party membership (since): a member of All-Soviet Communist Party (of Bolsheviks) since 1919 8. Education: Secondary 9. Nationality: Jewish 10. Drafted to the Red Army (since): 1919-26; 1933-35 and since 1936 11. The place of service (the name of the unit) and the position held at the moment of awarding: the Staff of the second Far-Eastern Front, Deputy Chief of Staff-Chief of Intelligence Division 12. The place of service and the position held at the moment: the Staff of the Far-Eastern Military District, Deputy Chief of Staff-Chief of Intelligence Division 13. Home address of the awarded: Town Toyohara 14. List of all decorations awarded: The name of the orders and medals Serial numbers Serial numbers of documents Number and date of decree of the award The Order of Lenin 133190 Uk 17-5-51 Order of the Red Banner 247548 Z #497635 Decree of the Commander of Soviet Army in Far-East # 06/11 dated Aug 27, 1945 Order of the Red Star 656998 A#467635 Decree of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of USSR dated June 4, 1944 Order of the Red Star 876273 G3092946 Decree of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of USSR dated Nov 3, 1944 Medal “XX years to Worker’s and Peasant’s Red Army” #000496 Decree of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of USSR dated Feb 22, 1938 Medal for “Victory over Germany in Great Patriotic War 1941-1945” B#08017004 Decree of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of USSR dated May 9, 1945 Order of the Red Banner 530435 Uk 30-12-56 Order of the Red Banner 258082 Uk 5-11-46 Signature: Sorkin (signed) Above information and the signature of the awarded is certified by: Assistant of the Chief of Intelligence Division of the Staff of the Far-Eastern Military District (signed) Major Samarchenko (Stamped) Stamp bearing the Seal of USSR titled “Intelligence Division of the Staff of the Far-Eastern Military District” Date: March 2, 1946

Step by step will share research as it comes available. ====================== PERSONAL FILE Individual number: A-763166 1. Full name: Sorkin Naum Semyonovich 2. DoB: February 11, 1899 3. Place of birth: Town Zoporojie 4. Nationality: Jewish 5. Party membership: Member of CPSU since 1919 6. Education: • General, political or special civil: Staff course of diplomatic workers in Moscow in 1933. • Military including military-political: The first Moscow Soviet Course of Artillery for Commanding officers in 1920. Highest Artillery school having specialized in commanding the platoons and Artillery gun units in 1923. Highest academic course under the Military Academy named after Voroshilov in Moscow in 1952. 7. Possession of foreign languages including the languages of other Soviet nations: No 8. Military ranks bestowed: Rank Bestowing Authority Serial number of the decree Date of the decree Regiment commissar People’s Commissariat of Defense 00689/p 15.12.1936 Brigade Commissar People’s Commissariat of Defense 003037 09.07.1940 Colonel People’s Commissariat of Defense 07718 10.12.1942 Major General Council of People’s Commissars 02.11.1944 9. Participation in frontlines and partisan’s units: Participated in Civil war from May 1919 to October 1919; August 15, 1920 to October 15, 1920. Participated in Great Patriotic War against Japan from August 9, 1945 to September 3, 1945. 10. Marital status: Married. Spouse: Klavdia Georgievna Sorkina (dob 1901). Special Registration 13. Full name: Sorkin Naum Semyonovich 14. Commissioned: (blank) 15. Registered: Jdanov district military commissariat in Leningrad 16. Military rank: Major General 17. Level: Commanding Officer 18. Type of troops: General military 19. Code of military specialization: 8 20. Reservists age level: 3 21. Health condition: Central Military Medical Commission of the Ministry of Defense of USSR of April 15, 1958. Considered as unfit for military service during the peace time and limited fit (2nd level) for the military service during the wartime by the Decree of #110 dated 1956 of the Ministry of Defense. 22. Reservists’ retreat attendance: (blank) 23. Place of work and the rank: Retired according to the Decree# 100. 24. Home address: Decembrists’ street, apartment 6, flat 10. 25. Type of the Military reservists ID card: B.D. SN: 00749 Issued: July 23, 1958 26. Miscellaneous Notes: (blank)

Pic is low quality due to lighting, but the reverse is quite sturdy

First time I've managed to get one of these - they are quite rare.

Interesting - thanks SHould have clicked through on wikipedia (normally i am a wikipedia click on and on and on addict)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders,_decorations,_and_medals_of_the_Soviet_Union wikipedia refers to 454,142 being awarded, of which 1 to a male - makes on very curious!

Bingo! Just got a mail from Nota Bene, more than 10 pages of background on Sorkin from the Russian archives - and also another, more clear, picture of him. Will get translation rolling and post later (apparently 3 soviet orders of red banner, 2 orders of red star, etc).

Won this at an auction, waiting for the mail to arrive! Miniaturkette eines Freikorpskämpfers im Baltikum mit 8 Miniaturen. Eisernes Kreuz 1914, Ordensstern der Heiligen Tamara, Deutschritterkreuz, Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber, Schlesischer Adler, Baltenkreuz, St. Anna-Orden und St. Stanislaus-Orden, 16mm Miniaturen an Kettchen.

Sorry - here it is

Jan - yes, by all means - I'd love to see more on this forum! With that in mind, here's an example of the power of google... a picture of our friend Sorkin!

Even more via http://www.pseudology.org/Abel/Sorkin_NS.htm One of the leaders of the Soviet military intelligence. Born in Kiev in a family servant. In 1919 graduated from Hebrew College. Since 1919 - the Red Army. Member of the Civil War. In 1920 he graduated from the Kharkov team artillery courses. In 1923 - artshkolu. In 1923-26 - the instructor of the Mongolian army artillery. In 1926-31 - Soviet consul in Altan-Bulak, Head. Consular Section of the embassy, the 1-st secretary of the embassy in Ulan Bator. In 1933 he graduated from the training of military and diplomatic personnel. In 1933-35 - the Red Army. Was at the disposal of the People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs and Chairman of the PBC, then People's Commissar of Defence. In 1935 - before the NCID. In 1936 - again in the Red Army, Deputy. Chief of the 9 th (Mongol-Xinjiang) of Razvedupra. In 1939 - ID chief of special mission Razvedupra WPRA. From 1941 to 1947 - the intelligence chief of the Far Eastern Front. Participant in the war with Japan. From 02/11/1944 - Major-General. In 1945 - head of the intelligence section 1 of the Far Eastern Front. In 1947-50 - head of the Training Division of the Military Diplomatic Academy. After graduating from the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1952-58 - deputy. Head of the Department of the Air Force Engineering Academy. From 1958 - retired. Awarded the Order of Lenin, two of the Red Star and medals. He graduated from Hebrew College (1914), an employee. In the Civic on the Denikin and the Polish front. He graduated from the Kharkov team training (1920) and the Artillery School (1923), served in the artillery. Instructor of Artillery in the Mongolian People's Army (1923-1926), Consul of the USSR in Altan-Bulak (Mongolia), head of the consular department, a secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Mongolia (1926-1931), a reserve NCID, editor for Mongolia in the 2 East and political department of the People's Commissariat (1931-1933). He graduated from the course of military-diplomatic staff (1933), available narkomvoenmora / Defense Commissar (1933-1935), Senior Assistant People's Commissariat of Mongolia (1935-1936), Deputy Head of Division 9 Razvedupra Red Army (1936-1937), Chief vrid 9 departments ( 1937-1939), Chief of General Staff of Red Army special assignments / Razvedupra Red Army General Staff (1939-1941), head of the intelligence / razvedupra Far Eastern Front / Region (1941-1947). Maj. Gen. (1944). Head of the Training Division of the Military-Diplomatic Academy (1947-1950). He graduated from the General Staff Military Academy (1952), Deputy Head of Department of the Air Force Academy. Since 1958, the first in retirement. Order of Lenin, two Orders of Red Banner, etc.

Nota Bene pointed me in the right direction, and google helped to expand on this. The correct name appears (not certain) to be: Sorkin, Naum Semenovitch, Major-General (1899 – 1980) CV 1923 - 1926 Artilleray Instructor (in Mongolia) 1926 - 1931 Deployed to Soviet Consulate/Embassy in Mongolia 1939 - 1941 Chief of Special Task Section, Directorate of Intelligece, General Staff 1941 - 1945 Chief Intelligence Officer Far Eastern Front 1945 Chief Intelligence Officer 1st Far Eastern Front 1945 - 1947 Chief Intelligence Officer Far Eastern Military District 1947 - 1950 Head of Educational Department, Military-Diplomatic Academy 1950 - 1952 Attending the Military Academy of the General Staff 1952 - 1958 Deputy Head of ? Faculty, Military Academy of Aviation Engineering 1958 Retired Author of books, such as "V nachale puti. Zapiski instruktora mongolʹskoĭ armii." Hopefully more to follow.

Got some help from Nota Bene to point me in the right direction and now have some more hints. It appears (but not 100% confirmed yet) that our man who received the document / red banner (also the other 2?) was a "big guy": a Major General in Soviet military intelligence... in fact, the top intelligence officer in the far east during WW2! This will probably make research in the Russian archives difficult/impossible, but the initial clues appear to confirm this. More to come later.

Thanks to our forum friend Tsend (who like me wishes that the forum would be more alive! ) some additional information: 1) The document matches (e.g. references the serial nr 516) the Order of the Red Banner of Military Valor but does not mention the other two Red Banners (probably they'd have received seperate books anyway) 2) 516 was awarded on 18 April 1943 with the decree of the Small Khural of number 21 3) The handwritten brief text on the second page states "the order is awarded for the feat in defending the nation" (hmmm combat award? ) 4) The page number 3 bears the stamp of the Presidium of the Small Khural and the signatures of President Bumtsend and Secretary Bayar. On the remaining pages is the 1941 Regulation of the awards of the MPR. 5) The booklet has two full names on the page number 1. One name (unclear though) was crossed out and another added. The added full name stands for Sorkin Naum Sahanovich. This is perfectly in line with the faded inside cover writing in Cyrillic which appears to state Sorkin N.S. (or Copkin H.C. in cyrillic) although the last 2 letters are difficult to read. Indication is that a plausible scenario could for instance be that an error was made for instance when drafting multiple of such documents at the embassy in Moscow (e.g. name copied in two booklets from a list of award recipients, so had to be crossed out). I have asked Nota Bene to try to get some research based on the name alone. Fingers crossed! Thanks a lot for your help Tsend - very much appreciated :cheers:

Hi Artan - thanks (although disappointing news) - would love to see the correct certiicate for the badge and the correct medal for my document :)

job isn't on the base, but i think you answered my question sufficiently :unsure:

Not an expert on soviet belts but i'd expect them to be genuine. Just too many of them produced to make faking it worthwhile. 25 USD seems a bit expensive to me though, but still it's a good story to tell: soviet belt bought in Afhanistan. If you buy a handful rather than spending loads of money on it, downside risk really isn't that high. By the way, how safe is it in Kabul nowadays for foreigners? I've been approached for a job there. A few years ago I was also approached for a job, didn't get it and the guy who did get it got shot in the head in a traffic jam, then they came back to me (but my salary demands had increased too much) and now they're back with me again. Just curious whether it's worth an adventure or whether it's russian roulette.