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    Posted

    Here is an interesting photo that I got for a little pocket change. I dont know soviet stuff so someone might be able to tell me who and what branch they belong to. What interested me was the OGPW first style (I did know that much) and then fact that the postcard was made in Hungary shortly after the war. Its been framed for quite a long time, I did not take the photo out of the frame. She has a badge on her upper right chest - dont know what that is for? Any idea on rank? Service?

    Posted

    Charles,

    I left the majority of my Russian books in storage but I can tell you what some of the things are on these two uniforms. The pin on the woman's uniform is probablya Komsomol badge.

    You may know this already but the man, from left to right as you are viewing him;

    1-Order of the Red Star; 2-Can not remember this one; 3-Order of the Partriotic War.

    The woman appears to be wearing the standard issue Russian WWII uniform while the man looks as though he is wearing the 1945 "Parade" tunic. Hard to tell what unit they are in perhaps if I could see the postcard first hand I could do better.

    Cheers,

    Gordon

    Posted

    Hi Hunyadi,

    The one (#2) that Gordon was unsure of is an OGPW 1st type whereas #3 is an OGPW 2nd type. Regarding the two medals on the other side, the one to the left is quite definitely Defense of Moscow where the other could be one of several; but my guess is most likely Defense of Salingrad with the ribbon wrapped backwards.

    I hope that this information is helpful.

    Best wishes,

    Wild Card

    Posted

    Hi Wild Card -

    Yes - thanks - the one on the far right is Stalingrad (and it makes sense as many of those members ended up here in Hungary in 1945) the one on the left - it obliterated in the photo so I can not make out any detail.

    Here is the stupid question - what is a Komsomol and does anyone have a photo of the badge to compare it with?

    Posted

    Yep- thats the one. Interesting. What would she be doing in Hungary in 1946? Is this a badge that one would wear after you entered military service? Or is this only for an active member in the Kommosol? Ooooorrrr was the Kommosol brought in to help feed the starving kids of Hungary (this was a popular propoganda type of photo after the war "soviet soldeires give food to the needy children of /you pick the Hungarian town/")???

    Posted

    Well, what I understand, keeping in mind I did not live in the USSR, is that the komsomol was one way of punching your ticket to get ahead in life. People who were komsomol members got ahead faster in the military, in civillian politics, etc. (or so it was thought). Komsomol badges were worn on military uniforms until the end of the USSR.

    Posted

    Charles,

    Komsomol membership, as Nack says, was necessary for most things in life in the USSR and most young people belonged. When they got older it led to the DOSAAF that was a sports organization, at least in design, that concentrated on training of future use in the military. East Germany followed the same model with the Frei Deutsche Jugend (FDJ) first then the Gesellschaft fur Sport und Teknology (GST) afterwards.

    Cheers,

    Gordon

    Wow Nack - thanks for that information, it helps to round out who these yong kid in lover were!

    Posted

    Wow Nack - thanks for that information, it helps to round out who these yong kid in lover were!

    No problem.

    BTW, I forgot to ask last time--can you tell if the woman's shoulderboards are 6-sided as opposed to 5-sided? They look like they might be 6-sided, which would indicate that she was NKVD.

    • 4 months later...
    Posted

    Well, what I understand, keeping in mind I did not live in the USSR, is that the komsomol was one way of punching your ticket to get ahead in life. People who were komsomol members got ahead faster in the military, in civillian politics, etc. (or so it was thought). Komsomol badges were worn on military uniforms until the end of the USSR.

    Most likely you are not right. In the USSR especially in the fortieth years many people had a present confidence of ideas of communism. For example mass heroism in 1942-1944.

    Posted

    Yep- thats the one. Interesting. What would she be doing in Hungary in 1946? Is this a badge that one would wear after you entered military service? Or is this only for an active member in the Kommosol? Ooooorrrr was the Kommosol brought in to help feed the starving kids of Hungary (this was a popular propoganda type of photo after the war "soviet soldeires give food to the needy children of /you pick the Hungarian town/")???

    The All-Union Lenin communistic union of youth - the organization in which 70 percent of young men 27 years consisted approximately is more younger

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