Iron Cross, Ukrainian National Republic, sold

A first edition of the Iron Cross (No. 48) was sold on June 20, 2008 by the Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co auction house for €12,000 ($18,753).

The Iron Cross was a military order established by Otaman Symon Petliura on 19th October 1920 for military valour or patriotic service in the First Winter Campaign. The order was minted in Warsaw, Poland. The Army of the Ukrainian National Republic was made up of various armed volunteer units, but was never a regular, well-structured organization compared to theUkrainian Galician Army (Ukrainska Halytska Armiia - UHA). In the fall of 1919, the UNR Army found itself near Chortoryia in Volhynia, surrounded by Polish troops, by the Bolsheviks, and by Anton Denikin's army. Without any possibility of maintaining a regular front, it was forced to resort to guerrilla warfare. From December 6, 1919 to May 6, 1920, the UNR Army under the command of Gen Mykhailo Omelianovych-Pavlenko, commander in chief, carried out an underground operation known as the First Winter Campaign in the Kirovohrad region against the Soviet 14th Army. In this campaign the following divisions took part: Zaporozhian Division, Volhynian Division,Kyiv Division (Peasant), and some detachments of the Sich Riflemen. In May 1920, 2,680 men returned from the campaign. The war of independence continued until Nov. 20, 1920 when the UNR Army retreating from the Red Army, crossed theZbruch River in Poland.