Re-issued awards

[Dave]

Honestly, it makes sense that they kept track of everything... After all, the awards were "honored" pieces of State property, and thus were well cared for - even by the "repressors". This is the same way that you can explain a lot of the "awards only" groups that are out there for Russian recipients who died prior to 1976. The families were forced to return the awards, but they were kept together by the State, until many were "released" into private collector's hands in the early days of the post-USSR. Their system was undoubtedly much like our police systems here (and I am sure in France as well) where the physical evidence from each case is kept in storage indefinately in the case that the need may arise to revisit the cases.

--Dave