New Database for Soviet Awards

[meyerse]

I am not sure how it works. I have an OGP1 that came through as "documented", but it seems I need to sign in to get to the information.

Just email them, they will give you the info.
I send Egorka my record cards that I get and they go into the database.
What would be REALLY cool is to implement that you could download files associated with the number, or even unit, date and name would be really cool.

[Sonderkommando]

Opw2

What a fantastic website!
Easy to use, and I actually got a hit on my OPW2.

It says the decree date is 21/09/1945, so after the war was over....

Could the award have been awarded for an act that happened during the war, or is it for something he did after the war had ended?

[Eric Gaumann]

It says the decree date is 21/09/1945, so after the war was over.... Could the award have been awarded for an act that happened during the war, or is it for something he did after the war had ended?

More than likely the former. The Soviets did 'catch-up' awards for years after the war's end.

[Egorka]

What a fantastic website!
Easy to use, and I actually got a hit on my OPW2.

It says the decree date is 21/09/1945, so after the war was over....

Could the award have been awarded for an act that happened during the war, or is it for something he did after the war had ended?

Hello and thank you for kind words.

In my database, I have only one OPW2 awarded by decree 29/Sep/1945.
So, I guess I know what number you searched for.
This OPW2 was awarded for the campaign against Japan, hence a late decree date.
Congratulations on this OPW2. Really worth of research. Keyword: SMERSH.
If you are interested in the provenance document and the citation (which is not online), then, please, write me an e-mail.
Any questions are welcome.

[Sonderkommando]

Hi Eric and Egorka,
Thank you for the replies

I wish the keyword really was "SMERSH" as that would make it an extremely interesting OPW2 on many levels, however mine has a decree date of 21 September '45, and not 29 September '45

So I guess it could still be a late award for WW2, or one for the Campaign against Japan.

Cheers,
Brett

[Egorka]

Hi Brett,
Just replied on your mail.
Yes, the OPW2 is a war time award by decree of 21/09/1944.

[Sonderkommando]

Thanks Egorka,
I have just sent you an email...I will go ahead with the translated documents.
Should be interesting to find out a little more about the soldier who won it!

Cheers,
Brett

[Sonderkommando]

Just as a follow up to my previous posts, I went ahead and got Igor to research my OPW2 and translate the documents associated with it and the amount of information available was incredible!
Apart from a full name, DOB, and history of the soldier who was awarded it, there was also lots of extra information in regards to the actions he performed to win it, where the actions took place, what unit/army he was with, the recommendations and subsequent approvals for the award, diary entries for the unit on the day of the action, etc. etc.

The history behind the award has made a simple piece of metal and enamel come to life!

I highly recommend anyone who has a numbered Soviet award to try out the database and see if you get a hit. Then, if you decide to follow up and get some info I can assure you that Igor will look after you.

Below is some of the info that I obtained for the award of my guys OPW2....



"On 23 August 1944, at the location 1km west of Milești, Falesti district, Moldavian Soviet Socialist republic, comrade METSKHVERASHVILI’s gun was deployed on an open direct fire position and opened fire at the enemy, resulting in the following damage inflicted upon the enemy: 1 battery, 2 machine-guns, 15 horse carriages, 1 mortar, and up to 13 Hitlerites. This enabled advance of our infantry units."


The award was approved on the 21st September 1944.

[Egorka]

An new update to the award database with order Glory 2nd and 3rd class.
App. 18000 extra numbers. Now, there are over 235.200 numbers available.

[Thomas Durante]

Great reference site, thanks for the heads up Skip and very nice work putting it together Egorka.


I got a hit on my OPW2, stating the number is documented, however there is not decree date so I am guessing there is not enough information to know exactly when it was awarded?


Keep up the great work Egorka!


Tom

[Egorka]

Great reference site, thanks for the heads up Skip and very nice work putting it together Egorka.

I got a hit on my OPW2, stating the number is documented, however there is not decree date so I am guessing there is not enough information to know exactly when it was awarded?Keep up the great work Egorka!
Tom

Hello Thomas!
If the search returns the number, then information is present and the name of the recipient is known. But the information provenance may be documented or not documented.
Not documented data is reliable, but I don't have an official document to back it up. Generally, I never add any data, which is questionable into my database.
For documented data, there is a document to back up the claim.
The decree date may be found for both documented and not documented entries.

Today an update:
+4000 documented numbers.
Total numbers is >243K now.

Kind regards!
Igor

[Egorka]

New update to the award database today.
Now, there are over 281.000 numbers available.

[Egorka]

New update to the award database today.
Now, there are over 283.600 numbers available.

[Eric Gaumann]

I just re-submitted my award serial numbers and got two hits! Two things I noticed: it takes about 5-10 seconds to get a 'reply' when you hit the search button (so be patient), and you should add no commas when you enter the serial number for the search. Enter '12345', not '12,345' Maybe that's a Western thing, to store your numbers with a comma after three digits? I tried resubmitting 12,345 after getting a hit on 12345 and got a "No record on this number yet." so the formatting is important.

Egorka, maybe a notice on your site about entering the data? Maybe "'1234567' no commas, periods, no punctuation at all, just number/digits only"?

[meyerse]

I would hope we could eventually put 'wanted' with our submission, or somehow note that the record card is associated with held or missing awards. I wish there was a way to find missing awards from a record card. (I still send him all my record cards).