This sapper spade from the Great Patriotic War era has an interesting backstory: at the end of the war, it was presented as a sign of gratitude to Alexey Nikolaevich Kosygin, a Soviet statesman and twice a Hero of Socialist Labor. The sapper spade, along with the note, was gifted by Anatoly Sergeyevich Boldyrev, who from 1942 led the Red Army Engineering Group of the Directorate of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union.

The note read,

On June 24, 1941, Alexey Nikolaevich Kosygin was appointed deputy chairman of the Evacuation Council under the Council of People’s Commissars, de facto — he was responsible for evacuation of industrial enterprises to the East. With his personal participation, by the end of 1941, it was possible to completely or partially evacuate 1,523 enterprises, including 1,360 large ones. Most of them quickly reopened in new places.

From January to July 1942, as an authorized representative of the State Defense Committee in besieged Leningrad, Kosygin worked on supplying the civilian population of the city and troops, and also participated in the activities of local Soviet and party organizations, and the Military Council of the Leningrad Front. At the same time, he oversaw the evacuation of civilians from the besieged city and participated in the formation of the “Road of Life”.

At the end of June 1942, the chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars redistributed responsibilities among his deputies. Alexey Nikolaevich Kosygin was ordered to take charge over providing the army with engineering and sapper equipment. In six months, he managed to double the number of factories that supplied the needed products to 1,500.

On April 2, 1943, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded orders and medals to 369 workers, engineers, designers, managers, and military personnel for the successful completion of tasks for the manufacture and supply of engineering equipment to the army. Alexey Nikolaevich Kosygin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.