Soviet Orders and Medals

[alconlon]

I would like to know if there are many members who collect Soviet Awards? The last 7 years I have mostly collected Soviet Awards with a special attention to the Order of the Red Banner (military). Thanks Al

[alconlon]

Rick,I acquired 80% of my Soviet collection from Igor Moiseyev and think he is a fantastic person.The only researched award I have is an Order of Alexander Nevsky #17760 awwarded to Captain Mikhail Markovich Khvolin on 12/16/1943. Captain Khvolin was the HQ Commander 1030th Rifle Regiment,260th Rifle Division.He was also a veteran of Stalingrad,Warsaw and Berlin and additionally won three Orders of Red Banner and Kutuzov 3rd Class along with several lesser awards. Thanks,Al

[Ken Jasper]

I have been collecting Soviet Orders and Medals for about 6 years. I have three that have been researched: Order of Suvorov, 3rd Class, (#3501) issued to Lieutenant Colonel Prokopy Prokhorovich Tarabaev on 04/15/45. He was the Commander of the 91st Rifle Regiment, 37th Rifle Division; A Communist Party member since 1938, he also held three Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Star, and the Order of Lenin; Order of Glory 2nd Class (#29030) issued to Private Boris Aleksevich Gromov on 04/12/1945; he was assigned to the Infantry Reconnaissance Platoon, 492nd Rifle Regiment; a member of the Young Communist League since 1944, he also held the Order of the Red Star and the Order of Glory 3rd Class. I also have a Hero of the Soviet Union (#9046) which was issued in 1946 to a Soviet General. I obtained his records (including photo of him wearing the award) through Paul McDonald. Unfortunmately, I neither speak nor read Russian, so have not been able to translate the documents. Lastly, I have an Order of Lenin (#358,503) which was issued to Sergei Petrovich Boguslavskii on 26 February 1958. I have numerous other awards with the award booklets.

[ 09 September 2001: Message edited by: Ken Jasper ]

[eschena]

Hi everyone:

I, too collect Soviet awards (as well as some other communist decorations). In fact they were the first medals I ever started to collect.

The one interesting decoration I have with the fantastic pre-Putin research from Igor Moiseyev is an Order of the Patriotic War 1st class, number 93018, awarded on 12 February 1945 to Podpolkovnik (LTC)Aleksandr Arsentyevich Artemchuk, Assistant Cmdr., SMERSH Counterintelligence Department, 17th Air Army. A Ukrainian, he began his war career in the NKVD Special Duty Dep't, 37th Rifle Army in the southern & Transcaucasian fronts. "Special duty" may have meant the despicable "blocking" parties - shooting Soviet soldiers who hesitated or retreated during battle (what a way to defend your homeland, facing fire from the enemy and from your own guys behind you). He then moved to SMERSH (for those unaware, SMERSH is short for the Russian "Smert' shpionam" - Death to Spies, Soviet counterintelligence, later a James Bond villain organization ) for the 9th Combined Air Corps, weeding out "possible intrusions of enemy agents and cases of betrayal to the Motherland". His Patriotic War 1st Class was awarded specifically for unmasking "a number of enemy reconnaissance agents, traitors to the Motherland and German invaders' accomplices" and that he "personally participated in this activity" - a willing executioner, if you will. Judging from his final list of WW II medals, he participated in the defence of the Caucasus, capture of Budapest and Vienna and eventually the liberation of Belgrade.

Lots of dark Soviet history in that one citation, making it one of my favorite items purely from the historical sense.

[paddywhack]

just been looking back on some threads and i found this 1 ,cool so there are other poeple out there who collect russian medals awareds,i know des and hes seen my collection of soviet awards which also includs alexandre nesky,but the best 1 in my collection as far as im concerned is the order of the october revoultion s\n 110777
and a very very early medal for combat valour with the old stye suspension,i also collect german awards but i kinda now prefer russian awards cos there arnt being faked quiet to the standerd of the german items and they arent to exspensive(for the moment)

[Rick Research]

Soviet fakes are being improved in scary ways all the time. Where there is money, there is fakery, alas.

You have GOT to have McDaniel's book (anyone attempting to collect Soviet awards without it is DOOMED!) watch the reliable dealers' websites, and keep in contact with other collectors.