09-20-2002, 02:37 PM (This post was last modified: 01-28-2014, 02:36 AM by CtahhR.)
The sellers description:
"This camera has been made in a KGB Labor Camp Factory (that's what the sign on the top says) and named "FED" after Felix Dzerzhinsky, the first chief of the NKVD. In fact, it is a poorly-made copy of the "Leica" (well-known German camera) which technology Russians took from Germany as a trophy after WWII. What's more interesting is that this camera has been presented in 1964 to a KGB officer for exemplary service. That's what the award document and the sign on the bottom of the camera say."
Under the banner of Marxism-Leninism, under the leadership of the Communist Party--forward to new victories in the construction of communism!
I have not seen this for a camera but I have seen it for watches and daggers. While the document is not fancy I believe that they are genuine. Local (raion) KGB commanders could give out their own awards. Stuff would be made locally and not match national standards.
There is so little of this stuff and the prices are generally reasonable so I doubt the are faked. The exception are some of the fancy daggers which are faked although real award dagers exist too.
I will have disagree - it's a very nicely made copy of Leika, as a matter of fact they have even improved on the original in some minor details.
The award card is perfectly genuine, but it was used in the 1950s and later, and I doubt I couldn have been given with a 1930s camera. This type of document with the same ink stamp but unissued can be purchased for $5. According to my supplier they come from some sort of archive in Lviv. I have couple of them somewhere, and will post a scan later if i can find them.
Thank for the information. I thought FED-1 was dropped sometime in the 1930s, replaced with FED-2. I am not really a specialist in cameras. Still the document is dated 1964, and I doubt they would give somebody a 10-year old camera as an award.
