"...silver presentation cigarette case to a member of GPU,"Gosudarstvenoye Politicheskoye Upravlenye"the predecessor of KGB,and just about a year after it had changed to GPU from Cheka,the organization headed by F.E.Dzerzhinsky to battle the enemies of the revolution."
"...engraved: "For shown zeal in liquidation of counterrevolution and banditism in Zhmerin region to Comrade U.Rozanov from the Presidium of Zhmerin Executive Commitee. 28/XI-1922."
3" by4.5"and 5/8"wide.
Solid silver case with a ruby cabochon button,hallmarked 84 and makers initials-V.U.in Cyrilic."
If I failed to mention in my post on Russian POW tag I am totally ignorant to Russian awards, medals, etc...
These items were part of what I inherited from my father when he passed. This is another item that I received. From the engraving I am going to guess that it is Russian Calvary on the obverse and possibly the unit on the reverse?? It is somewhat heavy and the metal is unknown, silver and no visible makers marks?? Approximate age or value??
Again, if there is one who may help I would so appreciate it.
Does that say "Hero of the Soviet Union" on the back, along with a name? Interesting, if it does. I have one piece of cavalry insignia and the insignia on yours seems to be a trench art or other amateurish rendering of that insignia. The H&S on the star is more like an HSL than an HSU.
I have several presentation cigarette cases, in tin, bronze, aluminum, silver and bird's-eye birch. They seem to have been a universally recognized "attaboy" for just about every occasion you could imagine.
My guess, if this is authentic, is a presentation piece from the troops or fellow cavalry officers of Comrade G. A. Garmaev -- ostensibly an HSU, but I don't have the Hero book which should clear up that point -- from sometime between 1935 and the start of the war. Value? Intrinsically, not much, but could be substantial if connected to a well-known hero or heroic event.
"Be civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friend to one, enemy to none." Benjamin Franklin
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Member #193
07-12-2005, 11:35 AM (This post was last modified: 07-12-2005, 11:46 AM by Mark2o.)
Andreas & Rusty,
Thank you both for the informative responses :)
Andreas, if you wish I could send you a closer scan of the naming if you send me a PM. I will send it to your email.
It looks like you know your Russian. Can you tell me what it say on this cigerett case?
LREmery
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Good evening
May I take a shot? I think it says something like "Strengthening the Defence of the USSR". This example is from my Osoaviakhim collection, with an Osoaviakhim badge mounted on the front and an RKKA/Osoaviakhim 1941 presentation on the back.
