Document for the Medal for the Defense of Odessa, awarded on 23 October 1944 to Technician-Quartermaster, 1st Class (equivalent of Lieutenant) Aleksey Mitsul.
The document is in fair to good condition. It has been folded in four as was customary and has separations along the fold lines partly repaired with strips of paper as well as clear backing tape applied on verso. The backing paper along the left horizontal fold (viewed from the front) has since separated and is in need of further repair; nevertheless, the document remains sound and may
The document is in fair to good condition. It has been folded in four as was customary and has separations along the fold lines partly repaired with strips of paper as well as clear backing tape applied on verso. The backing paper along the left horizontal fold (viewed from the front) has since separated and is in need of further repair; nevertheless, the document remains sound and may be displayed as it is. It must be handled with caution however to avoid further damage.
There are some small clips along the edges but no significant missing parts. The document remains very clean and free of the usual fingerprints, foxing or stains, showing only a light age toning. The text is completely legible.
Based on the information available on the Russian archival websites, Aleksey Mitsul was born in 1911 in Kishinev (Chișinău), the capital city of Moldavia, then a part of the Russian Empire. He joined the military on 22 June 1941, the first day of the Patriotic War. In the early part of the war, he served as a political officer with the 74th Rifle Division, 9th Army, initially deployed at the Romanian border trying to defend Mitsul's native city of Kishinev. It is not clear what was Mitsul's role during the defense of Odessa, but he was one of some 86,000 Red Army personnel who had managed to escape from the besieged city by the time of its eventual capture by the Axis forces in October 1941. Mitsul was honorably discharged from the military during the following year, most likely due to a severe injury or illness. It is interesting to see that the award certificate for the Odessa Medal refers to him as Technician-Quartermaster, 1st Class - the rank he had at the time of his retirement and by late 1942 replaced by the new rank of Technician-Lieutenant. The document is quite uncommon in this respect.
No additional details about Mitsul's biography could be found at this time. We know however that he was still alive in 1985, at which point he was awarded with the "Jubilee" issue of the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd cl.
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