Christian Zulus

New question Gentlemen, another rather easy question: Who am I? I am a hero of WW II and received a lot of medals and orders - among them: Order of Victory, Suvorov 1cl, etc., etc. - and promoted to the rank of a Marshal. Here you see a portrait of me in younger years, before WW II and in civil clothes. Best regards Christian [attachmentid=62392]

Medal Cosmonout of the MPR Dear Ed, you showed us the rv. of the Medal Cosmonout of the Mongolian People's Republic . 2 of these nice medals had been confered - you have one in your collection . Should the award not be fixed with a needle? Best regards Christian

Tito's Order of Victory Dear Bob, no , but I never wanted to buy Tito's "Victory" myself - price tag a little bit over my personel budget for investments into awards -, but Prof. Eugene Rabkin http://www.russianglory.com was terribly interested to buy Tito's "Victory". So I pointed out, that the hughe number of Tito's awards (#2 behind comrade Brezhnev ) - have a look at his truly impressive list: http://www.titoville.com/odlikovanja.html - might be in private ownership of Tito's heirs. Most likly his son, who works as a diplomat for Croatia in Zagreb might be the legal owner. The fact is, that Tito's awards are still in his museum in Belgrade, Serbia, and it seems, that the medals are property of the Serbian State. There you will find also a beautiful Suvorvov 1cl. But Prof. Rabkin seems to have already an "Order of Victory" in his private collection - at least if you look at the "other" Soviet forum into his "Eugene" private profile, you will find the "Order of Victory" noted as the "Crown Juwel" of his collection . Gentlemen, if someone would be interested to check the possibility of a "privatization" of Tito's foreign medals, then it would be useful to contact Mr. Dragan Kojadinovic, who is the minister for cultural affairs in Serbia and speaks English: http://www.kultura.sr.gov.yu/eng/ministar.htm . At least Marshal Tito never wore foreign orders or medals at his uniform, as you can see at the attached photograph from his last birthday (25.05.1979). So there might be maybe a chance for a rather wealthy collector . The historic value of Tito's "Victory" should be definatly much higher, than the same orders for King Michael or comrade Brezhnev Best regards Christian [attachmentid=62391]

Well, this is a true "Gentleman's Club" and not a "Taliban-Forum" . Best regards Christian

Dear Ed, we are waiting for your not-too-easy question . Best regards Christian

Why I had been banned from the "other" Soviet forum Gentlemen, I had been one of the very first members at the "other" Soviet forum, one of the top-posters and on good terms with 99 % of the members - except with one odd guy from Israel, who once boosted, that he had been a tank commander in the Israel Army. He is famous for his postings in a somehow "taliban-style" . In the course of a poll and a discussion "Who was the greatest strategic genius" (Attention: Poll had been faked, Vasilevsky was the winner!) there had been a discussion between him and me about Zhukov vs. Vasilevsky (Mr. "tank commander" is a great fan of Marshal Zhukov ...). In one posting I called him in a humoristic way "Panzerfuehrer", the german term for "tank commander", and he got mad about "-fuehrer" and banned me from the forum (he had been one of the moderators). Parts of the discussion about my banning (some postings had been deleted by the owner of the forum) you can read under the thread "Should Zulus be suspended from the forum?" - the poll at the beginning had been faked afterwards, because there was a clear majority among the forum's members, that Zulus should not be banned. If you search under "CZ" you can find the not deleted threads & postings by me, which have partly are certain humoristic value . My favorite thread at the "other" forum is "Who/What is Umalatova?" from may 2002 . O.K., that is history - really serious phaleristical (and historical) discussions take place at GMIC concerning Soviet Awards and no other forum can compete. Best regards Christian P.S.: I am also banned from the WAF ...

3 Soviet (Republican) Orders left for tommorw's auction at Sotheby's Gentlemen, Sotheby's removed all Soviet Orders from the auction list except 3 Republican Orders: - ORDER OF THE TOUVINIAN ARAT REPUBLIC, 1941-5 3,000?5,000 GBP serial number 116, Type 2 - ORDER OF THE RED BANNER OF LABOUR OF THE UZBEK SSR, 1930-1946 3,000?5,000 GBP serial number 210, Type 2, the badge of silver and enamel, Leningrad, 875 standard, stamped with workmaster's initial S.B. in Cyrillic - ORDER OF THE RED BANNER OF LABOUR OF THE BYELORUSSIAN SSR 10,000?15,000 GBP serial number 167, the badge of silver and enamel, Moscow, 84 standard, stamped with workmaster's initials VR in Cyrillic Well, it seems, that Sotheby's only removed the orders issued by the Soviet Union, but not these, issued by the Soviet Republics . The above noted estimated prices are in GBP and not in USD! Best regards Christian

Congratulations Doc . Specially many thanks for your great phaleristic work you have done for the Order of the Red Star . Best regards Christian

Jim, the small additional gold plating at the av. - inside of the wreath of wheat - is also missing . A ruined Labour Glory 3cl .... Best regards Christian

Gentlemen, That is also my opinion . GMIC is the only true phaleristic site in the web, where research is regarded in a pure scientific form. Also the communication at GMIC is much more "gentleman-like" and not so "taliban-fanatic" as in the "other" Soviet forum . Best regards Christian BTW: Since summer 2002 I am "banned for lifetime" from the "other" forum - like some other serious members of the collectors community ...

Gentlemen, I see the whole situation similar to the comments of Ed and Matthjis. The fact might be, that today the top high-end awards - Suvorov 1cl, etc., etc. - at the market might be more linked to (real) criminal activities, than in the early 1990s. There had been not only 1 of such an award at Sotheby's, but several of them, as we could read. So maybe someone robbed a collector or museum in Russia . Well, the actions of the Russian Government will drive the prices additionally . Best regards Christian Zulus

Dear Simon, where lies the problem with the young officer & his Glory? He looks very bright & clever at the photograph and his 3 awards for personal valour + the scout-badge document, that he had to be a "wise" guy in a tricky business. My theory is, that he went after the GPW to an officers school and finished as a lieutenant - just the normal way. There are still not few Colonels or Majors among the GPW-veterans, who are Cavaliers of the Order of Glory . Best regards Christian

Dear Ed, I think you are right - brilliant I don't know the first comrade, but he might have got ORB s/n. 1 or ORB #2 s/n 1, Bluecher got RS s/n. 1, the K. Pravda Lenin s/n. 1, Stalin HSL s/n. 1 and Zhukov Suvorov 1cl. s/n. 1 and Victory s/n. 1 Best regards Christian

Exact question please Well, it is a list of illustrations from the two presented papers . Please, an exact question Christian

Dear Jim, many thanks for the link . At least EUR 10,- for a Motherland 2cl is very moderate . Two years ago I paid for s/n. 1.604 about USD 350,- at my dealer in Vienna, but for the genuine one ... Best regards Christian

Dear Jim, yes, I realized, that the upper pics are genuine. I am referring to the scan of the the 2cl in the posting of you before. Who is offering "my" Motherland 2cl? Best regards Christian

Lieber Ger, I think, that is defintly true and phaleristics is specially for the history of the Soviet Union of essential value! In my modest collection there are still far too many groups and awards unresearched - I will invest some money ... Beste Gr??e Christian

(Genuine) Motherland 2cl s/n. 1.604 in my collection Dear Jim, besides the two crabs with the doctored OK, I have also the Motherland 2cl. s/n. 1.604 in my modest collection. My (genuine) piece looks completly different to your posted scans with perfect enamel and so on. My piece might be an issued order . It looks, that the forgers use issued s/n. for their fakes . Best regards Christian

Dear Ed, many thanks for the informations . It is interesting to read, that Lt.-Col. Volchov worked before Nuernberg in the film business . Do you have any idea, where to informations what orders & medals the 4 comrades received for their job in Nuernberg? Best regards Christian

Dear Jim, I have two beautiful "Crabs" - 3cl & 2cl - unissued and with a genuine orders booklet but faked entries . Here is the link to the orders booklet: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtop...st&p=114480 Best regards Christian

Dear Doc, many thanks for the document . He had been definitly meritorious and should have earned the ORB, I think. Due to the fact, that Col. Fedorov entered service in the Red Army in 1940, he could not get an ORB for 20 years in service, because the regulations changed and abolished in end of the 1950s all long service orders. If he would have entered service in 1937 he would have received his ORB. Best regards Christian

Dear Jim, you are right, my two mentioned authors do NOT use that language , only the former GRU-officer, who publishes under the name "Suvorov", uses in his (large) book about life & career of Zhukov such words. But the book had been published in german language and had not been translated into English, so I have not mentioned it . Guess, if you really would own all of Zhukov's ODMs (inkl. 2 Victories, Marshall Star, 4x HSU and all documents), what would be the market valule of such group . Coming back to the RBL. For my taste the RBL T 2 is one of the most beautiful and homogenous designs among all Soviet Awards, despite the fact, that the T 2 is definitly more "conservative" in design, than the "triangle" T 1. The RBL T 2 is a very typical example of "Socialistic Realism" in all elements and in the special design. In comparison to the RBL T 2 & T 1 the old RBL of the Russian Republic looks rather dull - the RBL of the other Soviet Republics were much more intersting and fancier in design. There is also a lot of excellent handcrafting in the RBL T 2 and I think, that is the reason, why all T 2 are personally signed by the maker. Mine - T 2 / Var. 1 s/n. 8.660 - has a cyrillc "b" as a maker's mark. Igor offers now a nice T 2 / Var. 1 (plus another T 4 RBL + 2 OK) for USD 5.300,-: http://www.collectrussia.com/DISPITEM.HTM?ITEM=15964 I seems, that the items won't get cheaper anymore . Best regards Christian

Dear Ilja, many thanks for the bigger scans - they are looking convincing, no doubts anymore . How much did you pay for your ORB #3? I got mine ORB #3 s/n. 8.426 (type 4) in 1994 in Vienna for about USD 250,- , but without OK. Igor offers now an ORB #3 s/n. 8.418 (type 4) for USD 2.600,- also without OK: http://www.collectrussia.com/DISPITEM.HTM?ITEM=15891 Congratulations to your ORB #3 . Best regards Christian

Dear Doc, o.k., but for getting the rank of a Col. he should have served at least 20 years (= ORB or the new medal) in the Red Army. Or did he demobilze after 19 years in service? Regarding his ORB-citation: Did he make a counter-attack after defeating the Japanese assault? Best regards

Dear Doc, so what did Col. Fedorov receive for 20 years in service? Did he enter the Red Army too late, so that he had fallen into the 1958-regulations and he only got the "nice" silver medal with the red star instead of an ORB? From ORB recommendation to a MMM - despite his great citation - was a bad affair for Col. Fedorov . Best regards . Christian