10-29-2011, 05:48 PM (This post was last modified: 11-29-2012, 10:14 AM by CtahhR.)
Here is a group of two Medal documents and Military Service Booklet to Georgian Private Vladimir Evaf'evich Chelidze. The fact that he was awarded the Medal "For The Defence Of The Caucasus" and Medal "For Victory Over Germany In The Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" is unremarkable as over half a million did but the fact that he was awarded his Victory Medal by Head Of The Transport Department Of The People's Commissariat For State Security Of The Transcaucasus Railway Unit "Berija" Lt-Colonel Gudzhabidze makes this set a little special. Chelidze most likely helped ensure the transportation of many deprived ethnic minorities on their surprise, free "holiday of a lifetime" in the "Far East". These first two scans are of his Medal documents.
This set is yet another outstanding purchase from my very favourite forum marketplace seller.
Very nice indeed. The NKGB was a short-lived and often misunderstood (e.g., lumped together with the NKVD) foreign intelligence service that was "allowed" to exist by the Central Committee then re-subordinated under the wartime NKVD (in my opinion a slightly different organization than the prewar terror group), then separated again at the end of the war only to become a ministry when the "NKs" were reorganized. I'm not sure what sort of real authority the members of the NKGB had compared to later incarnations - the MGB and KGB, but it does get a little confusing trying to follow the changes and functions of the foreign intelligence services from the Cheka to the KGB. It is also quite interesting, from my point of view (and keeps me busy trying to reconstruct the process on my web page;)).
