Christian Zulus

Dear Jim, due to the "far-east-style" (Mongolian ?) of these nice boots, I will opt for Vasily Blyukher, the "king" (or Napoleon ) of the the Far East Region of the Soviet Union . Best regards Christian BTW: I am neither involved in any communist or socialist movement or party . I am member (as an expert for history) of the Austrian Armed Forces, besides my main function in military, I am supporting our chaplains - as a Catholic and great fan of Joseph Ratzinger. "Solidarity" is essential in our Christian believ ... O.K., I might see the history of the 20th century beyond the views of the mainstream of western historians, but my approach is at least scientifically based .

Dear Jim, congratulations to your victory ? I would have never tought about the passports ... Gentlemen, to answer Jim's question, you have to choose among these (early) Soviet Marshals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Tukhachevsky http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Yegorov http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Blyukher http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigory_Kulik http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Shaposhnikov http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Tolbukhin All six of them died before Stalin passed away. So Stalin was able, to give a comment. Best regards Christian BTW: Christophe, when should I post my question, due to the correct answering of the current question about Gorbachev ?

Dear Marc, dear Miguel, there is obviously NO unevenness or or small depression ... For me, that Glory looks o.k. - look, how deep the numbers are engraved, so there should be almost a sort of hole at the revers, I guess, if the last digt should have been erased . Marc, you are an expert located right at the "front", please could you tell to us, how the forgers erase deeply engraved numbers (it's much easier with numbers, done by rotating tool instruments) ? Many thanks for your expertise . Best regards Christian

Marc's question Gentlemen, coming back to Marc's question: Let's sum the hints up: - it's not a military institution, regulation or habit - it's still in power in Putin's Russia What happened less than 15 years after the October Revolution? The fullfillment of the 1st 5-Year-Plan and some important speeches of Stalin. Which habit or institution had been reinstated - from the Imperial era -, which was abolished from end of 1917 to 1932, after the 1st 5-year-plan ? I just had a quick look on the Stalin-speeches of that era, but couldn't find anything (I am the proud owner of a really complete edition + all the additional writings & letters of Joseph Stalin in German language ). It might be something in the field of governmental organisation, economy or culture . Best regards Christian

Dear Christophe, many thanks for your congratulations . Even a modest victory, is a victory, which counts . Best regards Christian

Alex sells RBL T2 s/n. 8379 for USD 7.500,- Gentlemen, a quite ident screwback-RBL to mine is now on sale at the website of GMIC-member http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showuser=1331 Alex Nechiporuk http://www.russian-awards.com/Labor_Awards.htm for the rather moderate price of USD 7.500,- (EUR 5.000,-): Alex notes, that his RBL was issued in 1939 or 1940, but this seems to be wrong. According to the s/n. it should be a true GPW-award of the second half of 1941 - as mine . There might be a bit of chance for both screwback-RBLs for research . Best regards Christian

Dear "slava1stclass", many thanks for the pic . Looks like the portrait of an extraordinary successful chief of a collective farm with having produced 3 extraordinary surplus harvest (HSL + 2 Lenins) . BTW: Beginning with the end of the 1940s there had been very precise regulations for collective farmers for what they will get a HSL, Lenin or RBL. Young Gorbachev helped during the harvest at the collective farm of his father in Southern Russia. The harvest had been excellent. The father got a Lenin and young Gorbachev received his first RBL. I guess, that without his early RBL, Gorbachev wouldn't have made his brilliant career in the Komsomol . And without that RBL the Soviet Union would maybe still exist ... My humble theory: Orders & medals are of eminent importance in the history of the CCCP. Best regards Christian

Dear Miguel, many thanks for providing high-res scans . You are right: There are no traces of gold wash inside the scare . Your Glory 2cl seems to me genuine, authentic and problem free. Please get your Glory researched, because the 2nd class is rather rare - less than 47.000 had been awarded - and the citiations for a Glory 2cl are usually great. The Order of Glory 2nd class with s/n. 20700 might have also been the veterans most superior award, because that s/n. is not listed in the directory of the Full Cavaliers of the Order of Glory at MIR NAGRAD http://www.mirnagrad.ru/cgi-bin/exinform.c...va&ppage=91 . Best regards Christian

Dear Bob, the scans at Zeige's auction website http://www.zeige.com/en/index2.html are not good and about most of the most high-end items I am not so confident. Carsten Zeige doesn't stand for the authenticy of the items at the auction, because he only organizes the event. I added already the 23 % buyers premium and switched the prices from EUR to USD (1 : 1,52). Some of his items with extraordinary low starting prices: Glory 1cl - USD 3740,-: I don't like this Glory - no nicks, no wear, but no details in the medaillon (for details, please have a look at my avatar ) and the tips of the rays of the star are too sharp. Ushakov Medal - USD 560,-: I also don't like this medal - the old admiral looks like a cone-headed idiot and some other details make me worry. Some more "normal" priced items: Suvorv 2cl - USD 28000,-: If this - fresh from the mint - beauty is genuine, then Carsten Zeige might yield that price ... Kutuzov 2cl - USD 9350,-: Looks o.k. to me - as far as I can make out from the scan. O.K., these are starting prices ... Best regards Christian

Dear Hipnos, it seems, that there is gold plating INSIDE the scare across the medaillon, which means, that the gold wash had been applied AFTER the scare happened to the veteran. But who knows, maybe the gold wash had been applied a second time by the veteran himself or a juweller, what can be seen at some authentic Glory 2cl ? The s/n. on the revers looks - as far as I can see on the scan - o.k. At least, it might be a very low numbered Glory 3cl - full cavalier Sgt. Gnitienko http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5536 had been awarded a Glory 3cl s/n. 35207 in april 1944 - and research + great citation might bring back the invested money to you , if you can put away the gold wash ... Best regards Christian

Dear Marc, I guess, that your question points to the field of army regulations, structure of command, leadership etc. . Singular command (more or less) by the officer in charge and so on ... Sorry, but in the history of the Red Army I couldn't find such incidents, which match to your given year about 1932 (15 years after the Revolution) . Maybe one hint more . Best regards Christian

Gorbachev - the one and only ... Gentlemen, Gennady Ivanovich Yanayev had been the one and only Vice President of the Soviet Union (1990-91) and acting - due to his function as the Vice President - on behalf of Mr. Gorbachev. Yanayev never declared himself as President of the Soviet Union - he had been just a member of the GKChP (Государственный Комитет по Чрезвычайному Положению, ГКЧП), the so called State Emergency Committee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Emergency_Committee for restoring order in the Soviet Union. "Let me say that Mikhail Gorbachev is now on vacation. He is undergoing treatment, himself, in our country. He is very tired after these many years and he will need some time to get better." - Gennady Yanayev, speaking at a press conference during the August 1991 Coup for restoring order. So, Gorbachev had been the first and only President - from the beginning till to the end in december 1991. Best regards Christian

Dear Christophe, that was Gorbachev . He had been the first and the last one . Best regards Christian

Dear Tony, Austria/Hungary had the most modern & sophisticated fleet in WW I . We invented some important technical achievements: Ship's screw, torpedo etc. We are landlocked now, but we had a great naval history. Whenever you come to Vienna, have a look at the really breathtaking naval section of our military museum in Vienna: Sea forces Austria http://www.hgm.or.at/eng/ . Our Austrian Armed Forces have no Navy today, but Hungary has still some sort of Navy: Danube Flotilla . In 1988 the Danube Flotilla, incorporated into the Hungarian army in 1968, consisted of 700 men and eighty-two vessels, including ten Nestin MSI (riverine) boats. During wartime its chief functions would be to clear the Danube and Tisza rivers of mines and to assist the army and its materiel in river crossings. The Hungarian Danube Flotilla has their own ranks & uniforms. Austria has only the patrol boat "Nieder?sterreich": and another very tiny boat with the name "Oberst Brecht" for operations on the river Danube. Best regards Christian

Dear Auke, congratulations to your victory . Dear Christophe, I don't have Beevor's book right now in my bookshelf and I wanted to give a sort of help to my comrades at GMIC . It's interesting, that Hamazasp Babadzhanian got a rather low numbered HSU with s/n. 2077 end of april 1944, despite the fact, that there had been the mass awardings of thousends of HSUs for the Dnepr-crossing before . Best regards Christian

Народ бессмертен Gentlemen, I just found the novel in question: The People Immortal (Народ бессмертен) was written by Grossman for the army newspaper RED STAR in 1943 and takes place in autumn 1941. Grossman won huge fame by that story. The novel had been nominated for the "Stalin Prize", but he didn't got the prize . This seems to be a complete edition of Grossman's war novels: Best regards Christian

Dear Nick, do you mean the novel Все течет of the year 1961 ("Forever Flowing") ? Best regards Christian

Dear Christophe, that's an excellent proposal . Best regards Christian

Gentlemen, Jani's pdf for the auction was always free of charge . Best regards Christian

Gentlemen, what makes me worry, is the extreme bargain price of that group: USD 2000,- (not EUROs !) is far less, than you might get for selling the items seperated . O.K., maybe the seller doesn't know the price tags in Moscow or St. Petersburg ... Anyhow, it can't be an authentic "sniper-group", because we all know, which awards Red Army Snipers got, due to the regulations . Maybe the person, who got these long service awards, fullfilled his duties during the GPW in a sniper-unit, but had never the chance to kill enemy soldiers at the front line - who knows ... Best regards Christian BTW: Please, have a look at the current price tags of a Lenin, RB or RS .

Gentlemen, Igor's Slava 1st class is a true bargain for collectors from Europe (Russia is part of Europe ), because EUR 9000,- for such a nice Glory 1cl is a very fair price . So, that nice item wouldn't be very long visible at Igor's website - maximum a few days . Best regards Christian BTW: The US-Dollar keeps on falling, falling and falling .

Dear William, one of our experts posted that years ago at the other Soviet forum, that a faked patina on gold doesn't work. Two points for you : But I never had the money - even not in the early 1990s - to afford one of the two orders made of pure platina . So, "buyer be aware" in the future of high-end non-awarded orders ... Best regards Christian

Dear Christophe, you are correct in both points . .... and the statutes are different. Best regards & congratulations to Marc Christian

Dear Marc, in my phaleristic view the Order of Honour is not a new issued award - it's just a version of the 1935 Order of the Badge of Honour. The even used the same dies . Best regards Christian

Dear Christophe, International Soldier Medal 12.02.1989 was not a real authentic award in the CCCP. Best regards Christian