Christian Zulus

Gentlemen, it seems to me, that Umalatova-Medals are in much better quality, than Umalatova-Orders - even the enamel at the OPW 2cl looks bad ... Maybe the reason is, that the medals are much more common and widespread, than the (rather rare) orders ? Nearly all GPW-veterans have Umalatova-Medals among their CCCP- and RF-Awards. Best regards Christian BTW: There is a great thread about Miss Sazhi Umalatova and her awards (with humoristic contributions by myself) at the "other" Soviet forum: http://www.soviet-awards.com/forum/soviet-...-umalatova.html

Dear "slave1stclass", many thanks for sharing these two intersting photographs with us . The decorations seem typical to me for fighter-aces ? Do you have more informations about these two 2xHSUs ? Best regards Christian

Dear Milan, that means, that Vienna produced the most supreme quality in Serbian Orders & Medals . Do the well known juwellers in Vienna still produce the old Serbian Orders on request, as they do with the old k.u.k. Orders ? When yes, is the quality of the "new" old Serbian Orders lower, despite the fact, that they use the old dies ? Is there a different market price for Serbian Orders made in Austria, France or Switzerland ? Many thanks for your expertise . Best regards Christian

Dear Komtur, well, the title "Dr." in old Austria didn't specially mean, that the bearer is an M.D. The Doctor-title meant only, that he finished academic studies at any university and in any field with a (larger) thesis-paper + a second (rather easy) state-exam. So, he could have been anything: Lawyer, teacher, etc., etc. His rank seems to me more like a 1st lieutenant (Oberleutnant), than a Lt.-Col.: Just two stars and nothing more. But his decorations look rather good . Best regards Christian BTW: His name is of Polish origin and indicates a rank of low nobility ("Schlachta"), as many names in the telephone book of Vienna .

Dear Charles, interesting question . The fact is, that documents never show s/n. (some orders had s/n. and some others had no s/n.!) and I never saw a "carrying document" (like in the CCCP) for YU-Awards - are there any ? As far as I remember, there is a "carrying document" for the Hero-Order. Best regards Christian

Dear Vic, I don't see the Glory 3cl as a "downgrading" in the meaning of "prestigue" among comrades. Her heroic deeds at the battlefield matched much more to the specific regulations of the Order of Glory, than to a OPW 2cl and - as Rick already pointed out - a Glory 3cl had been more prestigious for a NCO, than a OPW 2cl, due to the fact OPWs (as RSs) are not so thightly linked (in their regulations) to personal heroic deeds at the direct line of fire. Anyhow, a RS + Glory 3cl are very typical awards for NCOs, who showed heroism. Best regards Christian

Dear Ed, I think his name is: "Nikolai Vasilievich Sadovsky". Great trio: Budapest, Vienna & Prague - so your Sr. Sgt. served under Marshal Malinovsky . Best regards Christian

Dear Sasa, many thanks for your generous offer . I am lucky to have all the matching miniatures to my YU-Orders, but I might come back to your offer for other things. BTW: Do you know the dealer Milan from "Singidunum" ? Best regards & Pozdrav Christian

Lieber Waldemar, yes, it is the same person - I also found that (Soros/CIA) source in the internet, where they say, that comrade Popa moved in 1966 to the "Inner Circle". The best would be, to find a native speaker, who is in Bukarest, for further research. There have to be tons of material and photographs of that prominent communist. You can also try to get in the archives of the city of Vienna some photographs and press releases from his official state visit to Vienna (Vienna's major Marek invited him), where he stayed a whole week. As I told to you, a comprehensive documentation & research of Dumitru Popa - photographs, documents, articles, etc. - might boost the market value of your YU-Flag 1cl. Best regards Christian

Dear Ed, I have an rather similar document from the 1960s (too large for scanning ), which got the grand-aunt of my daughter Milica with her 3rd class - she later got also a 2nd class. My document is more old fashioned and with some fancy original writing. Best regards Christian

Dear Luka, we already have a thread dealing with the Order of National Hero here at GMIC-YU: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=17666 . Well, as you can see at the postings, there are many fakes around, but a tombac-one should still be obtainable for less than EUR 1.000,- , if one comes at the market. Best regards Christian

DUMITRU POPA Lieber Waldemar, with a quick research I found out the following: Comrade Dumitru Popa (not Dimitru!) was born in 1925, moved in 1966 into the "Inner Circle" of the CPR and visited officially - as the general major of Bukarest - Vienna for one week in june 1968. He is also mentioned as a diplomat. Anyhow, comrade Popa belonged to the very top-communists in the late 1960s in Romania and so the got his YU-Flag 1cl. Best regards Christian

Dear "usairforce", what are the prices for the items at pic. #9 - they look rather authentic, as far, as I can see ? Best regards Christian

Dear Auke, dear Andreas, many thanks for your expertise . That's what I assumed: Sgt. Gnitienko's unit had been "borrowed" to the 2nd Guards Army for the liberation of Crimea and then transfered back to the (initial) 51th Army. Well, both armies had been fighting side by side and within the 4th Ukrainian Front during Crimean Battle. That fact - switching of Sgt. Gnitienko's unit from one army to another and back - might be an explaination, why he got two 2nd classes of the Order of Glory: His first Glory 2cl he got from the 2nd Guards Army and his second Glory 2cl he got from the 51th Army, due to the fact, that the staff of the 51th Army might not have recognized, that Sgt. Gnitienko already got a Glory 2cl from another army . O.K., let's wait for the new material from our researcher - maybe it will bring some light into that error. Best regards Christian

Gentlemen, as far as I know, Miss Umalatova offered also (at your own expense ) an Order of Stalin in pure gold and with real enamel. She also confered real awards from the mint (HSL, Lenin, Octoberrevolution, etc.) to comrades, who had paid for such orders and did something honourable to the communsit movement in the RF. Are there any "gold" Orders of Stalin at the market ? Best regards Christian

Lieber Waldemar, may I ask, how much did you pay for the (rather rare!) YU-Flag 5cl ? Best regards Christian BTW: Take a "subscription membership" for a (very) few British Pounds here at GMIC, then you will have no problems with uploading (up to 150 KB!) scans and editing your posts .

Dear Andreas, interesting information, because Sgt. Gnitienko got his Glory 2cl at the Crimea from the 2nd Guards Army and not the from the 51th Army . Gnitienko got his second Glory 2cl from the 51th Army in the Baltics. Is it possible, that the 1175 rifle regiment and/or the 347th rifle division joined the 51th Army in summer 1944 ? The fact is, that both armies - the 2nd Guards Army and the 51th Army - were involved in the liberation of Crimea in 1944 from the north side. Best regards Christian

Lieber Waldemar, congratulations for getting this YU-Flag 1cl + documents for this very fair price . Many thanks for giving me one of your Bravery Medals for my "service" . I think the bearer of your YU-Flag 1cl, Dimitru Popa, chief of Communist Party of Romania in Bukarest, is even more "valueable" as the writer, we guessed before . Please post scans of close-ups of the document + the whole set at the correct thread here at GMIC-YU: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=16651&st=0 I have seen, that you also have a Flag 4cl or 5cl in your collection - please post blow-ups also at the mentioned thread. You never told me, that you have a Partisan Star 2nd class - please post scans at this thread: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=15023 Many thanks . Again, congratulations to your YU-Flag 1cl set . Best regards Christian BTW: The sash of the YU-Flag 1cl is far less bleached out, than I had in my memory - perfect set!

Dear Sasa, many thanks for your expertise . Here in the West these minatures have price tags of about 20 Euros - so the price in Belgrade is very favourable . Do you know dealers in Ex-YU, who offer them ? Best regards Christian

Dear Dan, that's right, "Punzierung" means in German the 2 small stamps on the rv. YU-made awards in pure silver always have the silver marks, but no Soviet-made award had any of these. Silver - or gold - marks had not been common in the Soviet Union. Best regards Christian

Dear Auke, many thanks for these informations . A lot of famous names among the commanders . Best regards Christian BTW: Is it possible, that 347th Rifle Division got a double-name at the end of the GPW: Melitopol-XXXX ?

Lieber Stefan, yes, of course, also the IKOM-Partisan-Star is made of silver and you can see the "Punzierungen" on Dan's scan . Best regards Christian

Gentlemen, Igor showed another clerical mistake at a 2cl/3cl-Glory-set, as I posted some weeks ago, but the group is already sold : http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtop...st&p=164207 I assume, that there might be quite a lot of such errors in Podolsk - specially from documents of the 1970s and 1980s, from the CCCP in decline. Best regards Christian

Dear Ed, I already sent an e-mail to our researcher and transfered some USD via PayPal to his account . You are right, the citations and recommendations might be more detailed, than published in that reference book. So, Gnitineko's Glory-Trio might become the best researched full Cavaliers set we know . How difficult it might be, to find some newspaper or magazine articles from Charkov about comrade Gnitienko - getting his 1st class and maybe about his death in 1991 ? Best regards Christian BTW: Sgt. Gnitienko died just a few days before the great CCCP passed away .

Dear Ed, no, it was not that book, which listed the wrong Glory 1cl s/n (there are no numbers listed at all). That wrong number was only listed in the special award card and is not listed in any book (in the other Cavaliers book the entry for Gnitienko's Glory 1cl s/n. is left blank!). So, I will ask our researcher to get ALL documents dealing with Sgt. Gnitienko from Podolsk . Best regards Christian