Colonel-General Avgust Hristov Kabakchiev, Head Of The Air Force.

[CtahhR]

Bingo!

I got the Star and paperwork a good time ago.
A somewhat dodgy Bulgarian dealer (who also sells fakes) got a few of Kabakchiev's items (mainly paperwork) and then sold them off about a year after I had received the star and paperwork I have in the collection. Another Bulgarian dealer also got a jumble of his awards (table medals, non-Bulgarian stuff etc.) and sold them. Most of the items were bought by an Israeli (at inflated prices) but the "awarded" star and some other items remain in the collection.

I believe the Israeli paid $800 for the "Jumble" of Table Medals and Badges (basically items with minimal appeal) and I know they paid $1800 for the HSL Documents matched to a star.

$1800 for a HSL is about "$1000 over the odds" but the dealer selling it has such a reputation that even other Bulgarian dealers I deal with only have negative things to say about him (even before this HSL came onto the scene).

[new world]

Originally Posted by CtahhR

Bingo!
... they paid $1800 for the HSL Documents matched to a star.

$1800 for a HSL is about "$1000 over the odds" ...

True, he paid small fortune for it, it was a bit less than $1800, still high enough... I was actually considering this doc/star set as well, but the price was way too high for my taste that time.

[CtahhR]

Of course for "Reunification" purposes the "awarded" star with all connected documents and case in my possession are available for trade.

The trade for me would be for another cased, documented HSL. A simple enough swap.

I originally only got the star to save it from being melted down.

[RedMaestro2]

Great news that they were reunited! :thumbsup

Any images of the full group available beyond the one I posted? Especially the documents...

I don't question the story of which star was actually awarded, but still, how does one prove it?

Also, how much does historical/personal importance play into price?

[new world]

Originally Posted by RedMaestro2

Great news that they were reunited! :thumbsup

...I don't question the story of which star was actually awarded, but still, how does one prove it? ...

To prove it you need to be buying it from the family and than it goes is sold with some amount of trust in seller's story.

That's the thing with all unnumbered awards - pedigree is mostly based on trusting the seller, and the further away the award moves from the family - the story sounds less and less believable. Even documents don't provide guarantee, as any award can be matched to the documents.

[CtahhR]

As promised some more of the Avgust Kabakchiev saga.

A letter home to his mother whilst still studying. Unfortunately there is no year but it was written on 3rd July. The pages are torn from a school notebook.

[CtahhR]

A postcard to Avgust from Moscow 8th September 1939 whilst posted to Voroshilovgrad.

[CtahhR]

Unfortunately the related documents I have to the star won't fit in my scanner (and I'll also have to travel through 6 time zones to get to them) but they are signed by Generals and there is at least one in Russian and one in Bulgarian.

The offer is there if you ever decide to take me up on it. I am very happy sitting on it knowing it once adorned AHK's chest (even though it was only a 70th birthday present).

On top of Avgust Hristov Kabakchiev's Hero Of Socialist Labour and the selection of documents I have now been fortunate enough to obtain his cousin's group (that I will post later in its own thread).

Avgust was the son of Hristo Stefanov (born 2nd January 1878 in Romania, Died 6th October 1940 in Moscow) who was the son of Stefan Nedjuv (born 18th December 1834 in Turnovo, Ottoman Bulgaria). Stefan's other son Nikola Stefanov was Kiril Nikolov's father.

Here is a picture of Avgust Hristov's full cousin (both sharing their paternal grandfather) Kiril Nikolov Kabakchiev in uniform in 1955. At that time a Captain in the Bulgarian People's Army.

On top of these, I have now found Professor Kiril Nikolov Kabakchiev's wife's group in the collection. Ekaterina Hristova Kabakchieva. Not to be confused as a sibling of Avgust due to the "Hristov" connection but a cousin-in-law.

More items continue to be found in the collection but it will be very many months before sorting is complete.

[CtahhR]

Colonel-General Avgust Hristov Kabakchiev was born in Sofia, Bulgaria on 14th May 1914.
His was the son of Hristo Kabkakchiev (one of the founders of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party) and after the family fled to Vienna due to "political" problems. The family then relocated to Moscow in 1927 where Avgust was educated. In 1933 he joined the Nikolai Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy from which he graduated with an Engineering degree and a commission in Soviet Air Force. He served on the Kalinin Front from October 1942 in the 274 Fighter Aviation Division as a Military Engineer 3rd Rank. The 274th Fighter Aviation was re-designated the 4th Guards in January 1943 and participated in the Battle for Velikiye Luki among others. By the end of the Great Patriot War he had risen to the rank of Guards Major and had been decorated with two "For Combat Merits" medals a "Red Star" and "Red Banner". After victory Guards Major in the Soviet Armed Forces was promoted to Colonel in the new Bulgarian People's Armed Forces in May 1945. Avgust finally reached the rank of Colonel-General in 1965. In 1966 he participated in the Bulgarian investigation of TABSO Flight LZ101 in which 82 people died near Bratislava. The Hero Of Socialist Labour Colonel-General himself died 6th May 1999.

Colonel-General Kabakchiev held the following positions;

Chief Engineer of the Bulgarian Air Force
Deputy Commander of the Bulgaria Air Force
Deputy Chief of the Chief Staff of the Army from 1956 to 1960
Deputy Minister of National Defence 1960 to 1972
Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Planning 1973 to 1982
Vice President of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale 1983 to 1989
President of the Bulgarian-Vietnamese Friendship Society

Here is his Radio Free Europe Biography from 16th June 1976.

"15. KADAKCHIEV, August (age 62)
Colonel general, deputy chairman of State Planning Committee since 1972.
Son of prominent Communist Hristo Kabakchiev, who died after emigrating to USSR
Emigrated with his father 1927, served in Soviet Army, graduated from Military
Engineering Academy. After 1944 officer in Bulgarian army. 1960-1972 Deputy
Minister of National Defence. CC candidate member since 1966."

Here are Soviet Records of Kabakchiev's first award a Medal "For Combat Merits" awarded 4th February 1943 which shows him as a very competent Aircraft Engineer.

[CtahhR]

Here are the citations for Colonel General Kabakchiev's "Hero Of Socialist Labour" which I will translate into English so it's easier for all to understand.

I am also working on Researching this General more. At the moment I believe his list of awards are:

Bulgaria,
Hero Of Socialist Labour
Order "Georgi Dimitrov" (Three Times)
Order "People's Republic Of Bulgaria" 1st Class (Twice) 2nd Class (Twice)
Order "9th September" 2nd Class With Swords and 3rd Class With Swords
Medal "For Honourable Service To The Armed Forces Of The People's Republic Of Bulgaria" 1st Class
Medal "For Participation In The Anti-Fascist Struggle"
Medal "Patriotic War 1944-1945"
Jubilee Medal "20th Anniversary Of The Bulgarian People's Army"
Jubilee Medal "25th Anniversary Of People's Rule"
Jubilee Medal "25th Anniversary Of The Bulgarian People's Army"
Jubilee Medal "90th Anniversary Of The Birth Of Georgi Dimitrov"
Jubilee Medal "30th Anniversary Of Bulgarian People's Army"
Jubilee Medal "30th Anniversary Of Socialist Bulgaria"
Medal "30th Anniversary Of Victory Over Fascist Germany"
Jubilee Medal "100th Anniversary Of The April Uprising"
Jubilee Medal "100th Anniversary Of Liberation From The Ottoman Empire 3-3-1878 - 3-3-1978"
Jubilee Medal "1300th Anniversary Of Bulgaria"
Jubilee Medal "100th Birthday Of George Dimitrov"
Jubilee Medal "40th Anniversary Of Socialist Bulgaria"
Jubilee Medal "40th Anniversary Of Victory Over Hitler's Fascism"
Jubilee Medal "50th Anniversary Of Victory Over Germany"

Soviet Union,
Order "October Revolution"
Order "Red Banner"
Order "Patriotic War" 2nd Class
Order "Red Star"
Medal "For Combat Merits"
Medal "For Combat Merits"
Medal "For Victory Over Germany In The Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
Medal "For Strengthening Military Cooperation"
Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years Of Victory In The Great Patriotic War 1941-45"
Jubilee Medal "50 Years Of The Armed Forces Of The USSR"
Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years Of Victory In The Great Patriotic War 1941-45"
Jubilee Medal "Forty Years Of Victory In The Great Patriotic War 1941-45"

Russian Federation,
Jubilee Medal "Fifty Years Of Victory In The Great Patriotic War 1941-45"

Yugoslavia,
Order "Partisan Star" 2nd Class

Czechoslavakia,
War Cross 1939