Stasi Decorations And Memorabilia Reference Book.

[Tal Inbar]

Stasi decorations and memorabilia - a guide for collectors. New book.

[desantnik]

I own this book and know the author. A must-buy for DDR collectors.

[Christophe]

For your information, a second volume is in preparation by the author.

Cheers.

Ch.

[charlet]

this is a very good book, with an acuracy comparable with the MacDaniels.

It is principally about documents, the medals infos must be taken in the classic Frank Bartel's "DDR Spezialkatalog".

[ehrentitle]

I spoke to Ralph yesterday about Volume II of Stasi Decorations and Memorabilia and he says the main shipment of books have left the printers and should be in the United States by the last week of December. For people who pre-order the books, the cost will be $79 USD plus postage. After which the price will be $89 USD plus postage. For more information see:

Stasi Decorations and Memorabilia | Ralph Pickard – Frontline Historical Publishing

Ralph has recently updated his blog to include a selection of sample pages from Vol II and the table of contents: Volume II | Stasi Decorations and Memorabilia

Kevin

[deValcourt]

Welcome to the forum and I'm very happy to see that your first post is such a useful one. I am also happy to find that there are other web sources of information on these organizations. Thanks for the information.

Phillip

[ehrentitle]

Originally Posted by deValcourt

Welcome to the forum and I'm very happy to see that your first post is such a useful one. I am also happy to find that there are other web sources of information on these organizations. Thanks for the information.

Phillip

Phillip - Thanks. Yes it's my first post but I do check the forum from time to time to check on Soviet badges that were earned by or awarded to East German soldiers, such as the academy badges.

I should mention that this book has a section devoted to Soviet KGB Badges, Documentation and Memorabilia from Stasi officers. The Stasi (MfS) and the KGB had a very close relationship and this is reflected in the 16 pages that Ralph devotes to the topic.

Ralph also shows rare Soviet awards and awards booklets that were presented to Stasi personnel to include the Order of Friendship of Peoples, Order of the Red Banner, Order of the October Revolution and Order of the Red Star as well as several others.

Kevin

[medals73]

I hope there is (1) some way to buy that volume (not in any way obvious from the website) and (2) some hope that it won't be sanitized-beyond-usefulness the way Vol. I was.

[ehrentitle]

Originally Posted by medals73

I hope there is (1) some way to buy that volume (not in any way obvious from the website) and (2) some hope that it won't be sanitized-beyond-usefulness the way Vol. I was.

To answer your questions about STASI Decorations and Memorabilia, Vol II:

(1) Ralph hasn't set up a PayPal payment system yet like he has on the first book. However, if you e-mail him at the e-mail address shown on his Blog you can contact him and arrange payment for a pre-orderd copy of the book.

(2) Ralph sent me an advanced copy of the book this week. Some images are blurred and names deleted from document because of the agreements he has had to make with the Stasi member or their family when acquiring the items. However there are far fewer photos were faces blurred than in Vol I.

I should note that Ralph has an entire chapter devoted to several Medals and award documents presented to Erich Mielke were none of the photos have been blurred or the name deleted from the certificates. This includes a Karl Marx Order presented to Mielke on 28 December 1977.

(3) Also, in Vol II Ralph has expanded beyond just medals and certificates. He covers a whole range of items from the ultra rare and unique to those that the average collector can find for a reasonable price.

The "Wachregiment and other uniformed units in the Stasi" Chapter, for example, is 78 pages and covers everything from a short history of the regiment to documents, badges, uniforms and insignia, plates, vases, and sports medals. This chapter alone is worth the price of the book.

Kevin

[deValcourt]

Originally Posted by ehrentitle

Phillip - Thanks. Yes it's my first post but I do check the forum from time to time to check on Soviet badges that were earned by or awarded to East German soldiers, such as the academy badges.

I should mention that this book has a section devoted to Soviet KGB Badges, Documentation and Memorabilia from Stasi officers. The Stasi (MfS) and the KGB had a very close relationship and this is reflected in the 16 pages that Ralph devotes to the topic.

Ralph also shows rare Soviet awards and awards booklets that were presented to Stasi personnel to include the Order of Friendship of Peoples, Order of the Red Banner, Order of the October Revolution and Order of the Red Star as well as several others.

Kevin

You are welcome - in all manner of the meaning of that word.:)

Now that I know he makes mention of the KGB association with the Stasi they effectively created and kept under their wing mainly because East Germany was the most western border and people crossed over from one side to the other daily for a number of reasons. If someone was going from East to West, then they had to have security clearance of a very high level which brings the Stasi and KGB into the picture.

Now for the next question, where should I go to get a copy of the relevant book (the volume with the KGB references) and how much should I expect to have to pay?

Thanks in advance,
Phillip