Order "For Special Service To The Defence Of Social Order And State".

[Greg Collins]

Hey Phil,

I believe there are two possible reasons for the move to silver plating on the wreath and the diamonds vs rubies. They are:
1. To make all three classes uniform; the rubies (especially) and the gold plated wreath make the 2nd Class Order "stand out" from both the 1st and the 3rd rather than appearing as a part of a continuum.
2. Cost considerations; having to buy x amount of rubies and x amount of diamonds, along with silver plating some wreaths and gold plating a lesser amount of wreaths can get a little costly. Combine this with Ceausescu's nearly bankrupting the country to pay off foreign debt and, well, I'm sure there was some cost-cutting going on.

As far as all the information... hmmmmm. I research both books and the net, ALOT (nearly daily). I also have a very good friend who lives there (not Romanian but married to one), as well as several Romanian friends. They have an "inside track" to many former "employees" of the Internal Ministry and will ask them questions for me. Much of this information I won't divulge here as it doesn't apply to the awards or insignia (names and lists involved), but all the information has given me a pretty good insight into what has to be the most secretive organization of the Warsaw Pact. It continues to be incredibly fascinating.:secret

[deValcourt]

"Fascinating" is a good word.:thumbsup Almost all of the Soviet Bloc security services interest me when it comes to there individual peculiarities and goals.

I also finally got one o these about two months ago and kept neglecting to post it.;)

Phillip

[Greg Collins]

Recently came by the RPR document for the Order for Distinguished Services in Defense of the Social Order and the Country - 3rd Class (Ordinul "Pentru servicii deosebite aduse în apãrarea orânduirii sociale ºi de stat"). It was awarded August 18, 1959 by Ion Georghe Maurer (President 1958-1961) to Comrade Major Ioan Tacaks. Unfortunately, the medal (red star with large RPR seal; 5 side suspension; blue ribbon with three narrow red stripes at both sides) was not included so I'm still looking for one. Am happy to have the document as I've never seen one before. The paper is "pinkish" in colour. The signatures appear to be stamped. The Secretary's name is Gheorghe Stoica.

I'm not 100% sure about this, but this may be an instance of where the document is more valuable than the medal.

[Greg Collins]

A couple more recent acquisitions... if you go back you'll find a 1959 document for the Order for Distinguished Services in Defence of the Social Order and the Country - 3rd Class (Ordinul "Pentru servicii deosebite aduse în apãrarea orânduirii sociale ºi de stat"); well, here's the Order itself, finally. This was given from 1958 through 1965. Finally married the order to the document!!! Hoorah!

Not much happening with the back except for rivets...

A detail of the front... dunno why, but I get an urge for strawberries when I look at this star.