The establishment of the medal “For the victory over Germany” took place on May 9, 1945, on that same memorable day when General Wilhelm Keitel re-signed the document declaring the final and unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. In the first post-war years, this award found a huge number of its heroes who somehow contributed to the overall victory: in the rear and on the front line.
In addition to her, two more state awards of the USSR were provided as insignia for the soldiers who deserved them on the fronts. We are talking about the medals "For Military Merit" and "For Courage", which were approved just a couple of years before the Great Patriotic War.
The history of the medal "For the victory over Germany"
The idea of creating such a regalia arose at the final stage of the war, when the Red Army drove the Nazis across Europe, and the discussed plans for the post-war world order were already in the offices of the main world governments. The discussion of what regalia should be like started in October 1944. However, the sketch of this award of the Great Patriotic War itself was developed in May 1945. That is literally in the last days before surrender.
The first medals "For the victory over Germany" were made in June and entered the Presidium of the Supreme Council on June 15, 1945. Of course, the first to receive the award
were warlords of the highest rank. Among them are Marshals Tolbukhin and Rokossovsky, Generals Purkaev and
Antonov, Colonel General Gusev, Zakharov and Barzarin.
In the postwar years, regalia was awarded to absolutely all servicemen of the Soviet troops who took part in battles on the war fronts or worked to win in military districts, as well as to other people who helped to ensure and bring victory closer.
In addition, the Regulation of the medal stated that it was awarded to those participants in the war who served in various military departments, military schools, educational and spare parts, bases, special units, hospitals and other departments. And also to all those civilians who took part in the struggle against the German Nazi invaders as part of partisan units operating in
enemy rear.
In the first post-war years, the medals "For the victory over Germany" after the death of the owner returned to the state. However, a government decree of February 5, 1951 abolished this practice. He said that now after the death of the owner, the award should remain in the family as a memory. In addition, commemorative medals were subsequently published on the round dates from the day of victory in the Great Patriotic War: for 20, 30, 40 and 50 years from the memorable date.
In the entire history of the existence of the medal, it has been awarded to over fifteen million people. In the immediate post-war years, a little over thirteen million people were assigned to it.
Appearance of the award
The front side of the coin is a profile image of Stalin in a marshal's uniform. On the circumference there are inscriptions “Our business is just” and “We won”. The reverse side contains the name of the coin itself and a five-pointed star.