Soviet Soviet & Eastern Block Quiz

[Alfred]

It?s the Order of red banner of labour from the Socialistic Republic of Georgia. It was founded in 1928. There should be around 200 awards.

I have never seen an original one.

regards

Andreas

[Ed_Haynes]

Yes, very nice, Kutsenko pp. 243-58, 1st variety, 1928-31 perhaps. Est. 184 awards TOTAL, both varieties, and most awards of 1st variety believed to have been exchanged after 9131. States that only 4 specimens of 1st variety known. Ultra-rare!

Any number anywhere???

(But I fear that all of the republican awards are being faked.)

Edited January 27, 2006 by Ed_Haynes

[Stogieman]

This one is #15. I spotted it on eBay of all places. Frankly, if the fakes look this good, it's almost worth having a fake. Of course the badge was offered only as "original soviet badge". Supposedly, located in Australia.... however he had multiple negative feedbacks that he was really in Belarus.... You can make your own conclusions.

[Christophe]

So, it is now Andreas (Alfred)'s turn to post the next question.

Up to you Andreas .

Ch.

[Alfred]

So, it has nothing to do with awards. Maybe the question is easy ...

In which city is this fountain located ?

regards

Andreas

[Christophe]

I know it!!! ... but will let the others try .

Nice pic BTW.

Ch.

[Steen Ammentorp]

It is the famous fountain in Volgograd (perhaps better known as Stalingrad).

Kind Regards

Steen Ammentorp

The Generals of World War II

[Christophe]

It is the famous fountain in Volgograd (perhaps better known as Stalingrad).

Kind Regards

Steen Ammentorp

The Generals of World War II

Steen,

Bravo!!!! You seem to be the winner!!!! But, let's Andreas confirm it..

Cheers.

Ch.

[Alfred]

That was fast... . Yes, you are right.

It is the famous fountain "the playing kids" in Volgograd / Stalingrad in the middle of the red square.

regards

Andreas

[Wild Card]

That was fast... . Yes, you are right.

It is the famous fountain "the playing kids" in Volgograd / Stalingrad in the middle of the red square.

regards

Andreas

Andreas,

Are you 100% sure that this fountain was located in the Red Square? I always thought that it was on the plaza/esplanade near the river.

Best wishes,

Wild Card

[Steen Ammentorp]

Okay I guess it is my turn now.

On the 26th of June 1941 this recipient of the Order of Lenin, two times the Order of the Red Banner, XX years RKKA and a major-general (corps commander at the time) was severely wounded by a German air strike. The general was so badly wounded that he was considered lost, so he was buried as dead, before the medical staff evacuated as a result of the advancing Germans. However on the insistence of a political officer of the army staff that the body be recovered, soldiers returned to the place to dig up the body only to find that he was still alive. The general continued to serve retiring in 1959 and did not die until 1987. Who was the general?

Btw. I should mention that his awards: the Order of Lenin and two times Order of the Red Banner came later in the war and is not related to this episode.

Kind Regards

Steen Ammentorp

The Generals of World War II

[Christophe]

Okay I guess it is my turn now.

On the 26th of June 1941 this recipient of the Order of Lenin, two times the Order of the Red Banner, XX years RKKA and a major-general (corps commander at the time) was severely wounded by a German air strike. The general was so badly wounded that he was considered lost, so he was buried as dead, before the medical staff evacuated as a result of the advancing Germans. However on the insistence of a political officer of the army staff that the body be recovered, soldiers returned to the place to dig up the body only to find that he was still alive. The general continued to serve retiring in 1959 and did not die until 1987. Who was the general?

Btw. I should mention that his awards: the Order of Lenin and two times Order of the Red Banner came later in the war and is not related to this episode.

Kind Regards

Steen Ammentorp

The Generals of World War II

Hi Steen,

Good one !!!

What would you say of : Lieutenant-General Ignatii Ivanovitch Karpezo (1898-1987) ?

He was Chief of Staff of the V Cavalry Corps, then in 1941 Commanding Officer XV Mechanized Corps, and retired in 1959 as Assistant Commander in Chief Kiev Military District.

I have read this in a fascinating website dedicated to Generals of WW2...

Cheers.

Ch.

[Steen Ammentorp]

That was fast ? You are of course correct. I would have thought it would be more difficult. Did you know the story?

Kind Regards

Steen Ammentorp

The Generals of World War II

[Christophe]

That was fast ? You are of course correct. I would have thought it would be more difficult. Did you know the story?

Kind Regards

Steen Ammentorp

The Generals of World War II

Thanks Steen,

I did not know the story, and has found it really catching. Do you have more detail ? Any reference on it ?

Many thanks again for helping us to discover this page of history.

Cheers.

Ch.

[Steen Ammentorp]

Hi Christophe,

I don't have any additional information as such; however you may find a description of the "drama" here:

http://www.redstar.ru/2003/05/08_05/3_01.html

http://mechcorps.rkka.ru/files/mechcorps/pages/biograf_k.htm

http://www.ir.spb.ru/gelman-217.htm

The story does (as I read it) vary a bit, nevertheless a fascinating story.

Kind Regards

Steen Ammentorp

The Generals of World War II

[Christophe]

Thanks Steen.

Very good and complete references. I have now to make my Russian translator work a little bit!!!

Cheers.

Ch.

[Christophe]

I take the opportunity to again deliver you some statistics :

This small game has been launched for more than 3 months now (1st November 2005), and since :

* 19 questions have been asked,

* They have generated 240 answers,

* This quiz has been viewed more than 2025 times,

* 14 Members of the Forum (including myself) have played,

* and we are 12 to have correctly answered at least 1 question, with the following number of good answers :

* 3 good answers : Christophe (normal... being the organizer... ).

* 2 good answers : Andreas (Alfred), Bryan (Soviet) and Jan (vatjan).

* 1 good answer : Darrell, Dave (Navy FCO), Dudeman, Ed (Haynes), Gerd (Becker), Rick (Stogieman), Steen (Ammentorp) and Wild Card.

Now, let's have fun with the 20th question !!!

My turn now...

Cheers.

Ch.

[Christophe]

OK, my turn.

Let's try an easy one :

On April, 1951, a special Soviet governmental Commission has been instituted for the purpose of creating an Order.

This Order was supposed to take the place of the highest military award in the USSR rewarding system, substituting the Order of Victory during peace time.

Which Order is it?

What did this project become?

Good hunt!!!

Cheers.

Ch.

[Bryan]

The order of Stalin ???

It became an Umalatova 5 suspension medal after 1991.

[Ed_Haynes]

While I'd agree (and vote the puzzle "solved"), I think you can argue another link between the Order of Stalin and the Order of Service to the Motherland. We may never know until someone gets into the records. Not the boring numeric key records, but the interesting policy records.

Edited February 12, 2006 by Ed_Haynes

[Ed_Haynes]

PS- the Order of Stalin:

[Christophe]

The order of Stalin ???

It became an Umalatova 5 suspension medal after 1991.

Bravo Bryan !!!

We have a winner!!!

It is the Order of Stalin.

But it did not exactly become the Umalatova one.

It simply did not come to existence, except a few prototypes, as Stalin death (1953) and the denounciation of the cult of personality by Krutschev (1956) put an end to this project.

Umalatova, then and more recently, claimed a paternity, but... that's another story...

Here is what is said on this project in the book "Ordena CCCP" (Soviet Orders) by Anatoly Kutsenko. Aspekt - 1994. Pages 243-248 :

"THE ORDER OF STALIN (PROJECT)

A special page in the history of the USSR orders is the unsuccessful attempt to institute the Order of Stalin. Institution of this reward was regarded by the closest encirclement of the father and the teacher as a natural thing and the aim to glorify his name even more.

The spade work of creating the new order began on April, 1951. The Government Commission created especially for this purpose was headed by N. SHVERNIC who was the Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet at that time. The Commission worked out the technical quota which was handed

over for the execution to the leaders of the Leningrad Mint.

The creative group, charged with creation of the project of the Order of Stalin, consisted of the most experienced people of the Mint. The artists N. Sokolov and A. Plastinin, the engraver A.Kozlov were not only to prepare different variants of the Order insignia but also to embody the image of the generalissimo of the Soviet Union in metal. The order of Stalin was supposed to take the place of the highest military award in the USSR rewarding system, substituting the Order of Victory during peace time.

With that the project of the Statute of the Order of Stalin did not exempt the possibility of awarding this Order to the big leaders of the national economy.

The creative group worked for about 4 months. At last ready samples of the Order were transported to Moscow. The director of the Mint P. Pirogov presented the new reward to J. Stalin himself. He liked the Order. As Pirogov recollected later, Stalin said: "Don't produce it now, and when I die - its up to you".

According to A. Kozlov, there were made several samples of the Order of Stalin all in all. They differed from each other only by there base relief of the leader. The samples of the award were made of gilded bronze.

After Stalins death on March 5 1953, the nortex of inner-Kremlin life events overwhelmed the Generalissimos associates. Fight for power, intrigues-they didn't care for the Order, it was simply forgotten.

The report by N. Khrushchev on the closest meeting of the XX-th CPSU Congress "On the cult of personality and its consequences" finally put the end to the project of this reward."

Bryan, Your turn, now!!

Cheers.

Ch.

[Christophe]

(...) I think you can argue another link between the Order of Stalin and the Order of Service to the Motherland. We may never know until someone gets into the records. Not the boring numeric key records, but the interesting policy records.

Ed,

That's possible, but as a project, the Order of Stalin (1951 version) had - as far as we can understand and imagine, from the project and therefore the absence of regulations and policy of awarding - much more ambition than the Order for Service to the Motherland (even 1st Class)...

Cheers.

Ch.

[Bryan]

Ok so I guess this is my turn. My question goes like this.

1. Who is this man?

2. And for what was he famous for?

[Wild Card]

If he is who I think he is, he was born in 1904, died in 1964 and ultimately received three Hero of Socialist Labor stars; but since I can not accurately say what he did, I will not give it away. Have fun gentlemen -

Wild Card