Jump to content

Soviet plunder

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Soviet plunder refers to the large-scale seizure of cultural, industrial, and personal property which occurred during and after World War II as a result of the armed forces of the Soviet Union entering non-Soviet territories (Poland, Germany, and others, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe).

Initially framed as restitution for the USSR’s wartime cultural losses, these activities expanded into systematic plundering by Red Army soldiers and specialized "trophy brigades," targeting Germany, Poland, and other occupied areas. The looted items ranged from artworks and museum collections to industrial equipment and household goods,. Despite some early post-Soviet efforts at restitution, Russia has largely maintained legal and political justifications for retaining these materials, often citing them as compensation for Nazi crimes againsts the USSR.

Background

[edit]

Plunder and looting has been a traditional consequence of military activities through the human history. Russian forces have plundered before the establishment of the USSR, for example during World War I, and in the conflicts following it, such as the Soviet invasion of Poland in the aftermath of World War I.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

World War II

[edit]

Bureau of Experts

[edit]
A 2021 Russian stamp sheet featuring a 1934 self-portrait of Grabar and his paintings

In 1943 Soviet artist and scholar Igor Grabar proposed tit-for-tat compensation of Soviet art treasures destroyed in World War II with art to be taken from Germany. The idea was approved by the Soviet authorities, leading to the establishment of the Bureau of Experts, tasked with compiling lists of items which the USSR wanted to receive as “restitution in kind” to compensate for its own cultural losses, both from state institutions but also from various private collections. The Bureau was headed by Grabar himself; its other members included Viktor Lazarev and Sergei Troinitsky.[7][8]: 20–24  While the this topic would be subject to discussion among Allies of World War II, eventually it was not subject to any common ruling, as estimating the losses proved difficult since many Soviet cultural institutions had no reliable catalogues, and poorly developed art market in Russia made establishing market value of many Russian works of art virtually impossible; additionally, once the Soviet forces entered non-Soviet territories, they quickly engaged in large scale and poorly documented looting, while refusing to provide the lists of items removed from the Soviet occupation zone in Germany.[7][8]: x  The Bureau would finish compiling its initial and still highly incomplete list only in 1946.[7]

Looting by individuals

[edit]

In 1944 a Soviet counteroffensive on the Eastern Front succeeded in pushing Germans back, and Soviet troops began entering non-Soviet territories. On December 26, 1944, an official Soviet decree authorized soldiers to mail packages, monthly, from the front, with the weight varying according to rank (5 kg (11 lb) for rank-and-file soldiers, 10 for officers, and 15 kg for generals). It was inspired by similar system introduced by the German army, and "was considered an open invitation to [Soviet] soldiers to seize what they could" and the beginning of the Soviet institutionalization of looting. This resulted in a significant increase of the packages sent by Soviet soldiers, which led to the overburdening of the official system. In turn, families of soldiers begun to make requests of specific types of items (such as items of clothing) that they wanted to be "acquired". Soldiers also carried large packages when returning home; in extreme cases individual soldiers had declared "bags" weighting close to a ton.[9][10]: 304–308 

Polish territories were among the first non-Soviet territories that the Red Army units entered, however, Polish authorities were generally not allowed to assume control over the town for several days after it was "liberated", which was understood as a period of grace during which the Red Army soldiers were allowed to loot it.[2][11][12] In some cases, looting and victory celebrations by the Red Army soldiers led to additional damage, for examples from fires (over 80% of the Polish town of Lubawa has been damaged by a fire attributed to the drunk Red Army soldiers celebrating their capture of the town).[2][13]: 359 [10]: 273  Bogdan Musiał estimates that through large scale vandalism and arson, the "In pre-war East German territories, Red Army soldiers destroyed more cultural assets and works of art than they managed to confiscate and take to the USSR.".[10]: 297  Complains by Polish communist authorities about looting by Soviet soldiers were often ignored by the relevant Soviet authorities; in extreme cases, this even led to violent clashes between Red Army soldiers and police forces operated by the Polish communists.[11][10]: 273 [14]: 74–78  The devastation and robberies became increasingly severe in territories Soviets considered to be German.[12]

Institutionalized looting and the trophy brigades

[edit]
A factory of butteries and pipes in Changchun in China by USSR Army in 1946.

In February 1945, shortly after returning from the Yalta Conference Joseph Stalin issued several decrees outlining the principles and rules for the Soviet removal of cultural and industrial property from foreign territories controlled by the Red Army; they concerned not only German territories but other regions, such as these of Axis-aligned countries like Hungary, but also of Allied countries, such as Poland or China (in territories captured from the Japanese).[2][7][10]: 249–251, 274–275, 279, 319  This led to institutionalized looting carried out by specialized groups operating on the orders of the Soviet government, the so-called Soviet "trophy brigades", composed of experts including art historians, museum officials, artists and restorers, tasked with finding objects of cultural value to be seized and send to the USSR. Items seized by them were stored in the places called "trophy warehouses".[7][8]: x  The brigades were operated by several agencies of the Soviet government, their coordination was poor and in some cases, they were described as competing.[7]

In addition to art and household and luxury items (clothing, furniture, vehicles), another major categories of items seized by the Soviets included scientific (see Russian Alsos), and in particular, the industrial equipment.[2][7] Bank vaults were also emptied.[7] Soviets dismantled and moved entire industrial plants, leaving empty walls. They have also removed infrastructure elements, such as thousands of kilometers of train tracks.[10]: 276–277  The first theater of operations for the trophy brigades, in February 1945, was the German part of Silesia and adjacent areas (which, once stripped from items of interest to the Soviets, would be handed to Poland, as Recovered Territories).[2][7][11][13]: 359 [10]: 259, 272–273, 276, 295–296 [15] In a number of cases, the Soviets also looted areas which have been part of the Second Polish Republic in the interwar period (for example, the towns of Września, Włocławek and Grudziądz).[2][15][11] In other cases, the Soviet authorities, after initial looting of an industrial object, relinquished it to the Polish communist authorities for repair, then seized again for another round of looting, before returning it again.[2]

As the war ended, the Soviet Union also instituted rules legitimizing "trophy" purchases, some covered by the state, and based on soldier's rank. Anecdotal evidence from the period suggested that most highly placed officials, such as General Georgy Zhukov, acquired so much loot that they charted entire planes to carry them.[9] In better documented examples, from June 1945, Red Army generals in Germany and similar territories could receive, at no cost, a car, while lesser officers were offered motorcycle or bicycles. Other items distributed by the Soviet authorities to its personnel, at no cost or for a small fee, included items such as furniture (including pianos and clocks), wristwatch, carpets, cameras and similar.[9] Even more items were traded on a black market.[9]

This resulted in a significant influx of various goods to the Soviet Union, which much of the luxury items initially acquired and used by the family members of the military personnel serving serving in non-Soviet, occupied territory.[9]

After the war

[edit]
Manchuria Sumitomo Metal Industry in Anshan, China, looted by USSR Army in 1946

Konstantin Akinsha wrote that "by the second part of 1945 the necessity to compensate for Soviet cultural losses by equally important artifacts from specific named German collections was forgotten and replaced by the conception of total removal of cultural property from the Soviet-occupied territories".[7]

After the war, the process of looting was further transformed into that of war reparations (specifically, the World War II reparations).[9]

Soviet looting of occupied territories, including those nominally under control of their allies, such as Polish, continued for several years after the war ended.[12][10]: 300 [16]

The vast amount of industrial loot (machinery, resources, and associated technologies) have been described as a significant factor for the fast rebuilding of the USSR after the war, leading to its emerging as a global power in the second half of the 20th century.[10]: 330–348 

Concealment and museum storage

[edit]

Initially Stalin had plans for a "super museum" celebrating the Soviet victory, similar to the Hitler's planned Führermuseum.[10]: 294 [17] Most cultural items seized by the Soviet state were concentrated in few institutions in major centers such as Moscow and Leningrad (in particular, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow and the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad), with little compensation reaching cultural institutions in more provincial areas. Exhibitions of trophy art were prepared but never opened to general public, accessible only to high ranking Soviet officials. Shorty afterward. Stalin ordered such collections to be considered top secret, which has been understood as an attempt to hide the scope of Soviet looting from the international public opinion.[7][10]: 299  Since then, the USSR has been generally denying that it held any more significant seized trophy art.[18]

Soviet authorities have been described as very tolerant towards the theft of enemy property, although there were cases of more or less official taxation, extending into bribery, as well as resulting arrests, including for soldiers who were considered too ambitious and greedy. Theft from trains and warehouses carrying loot, including reparations, became a serious problem for several years. Some crimes were committed by armed gangs; others involved corrupted officials illegally seizing and reselling goods. In some cases, corrupted officials would steal from veterans and their families, including seizing decorations and documents that gave them access to certain privileges. To address the issues, particularly the theft or state property, a number of new laws were passed, particularly in 1947.[9]

Post-1991 revelations

[edit]
Copies of artifacts looted by Soviets during WWII in a German museum.

The scope of Soviet looting came to light in the early 1990 and 1991, with revelations about the Soviet trophy brigades and stockpiles of looted WWII-era art still lingering in hidden warehouses. The initial revelations came from Russian art historians Konstantin Akinsha and Grigorii Kozlov, who published their findings in the American ARTnews magazine. They were covered by major media outlets worldwide, leading to public discussion such as the symposium on the The Spoils of War.[18][19][20][21] One of the notable early works on this was the the1994 book Loot: The Secrets of German Reparations (Добыча: тайны германских репараций) by Russian military historian Pavel Knyshevskii (Павел Николаевич Кнышевский).[7]

In Russia, following a slight thaw in relations with the West after the collapse of the Soviet Union, international public option pressure led to some early restitutions. growing opposition from nationalists in the Russian Duma led to a law halting further cultural restitution. Subsequently, the legality of Soviet removal of cultural objects from Germany has been addressed by the 1998 Russian cultural property law, which broadly justifies the Soviet actions, affirms the legality of de-facto nationalization of World War II-era "trophies", and continued the Soviet trend of denying most compensation claims.[7][17][22][21] Additionally, information about Western Allies' restitution of Soviet property to the USSR has been suppressed in the Soviet Union and is still mostly unknown or denied in Russia, with incorrect claims persisting in modern Russian media that much of the Soviet cultural artifacts looted by the Germans remains in the West (instead, much of it has been returned shortly after the war through the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program).[23]

The value of Soviet loot has been estimated at many billions of dollars.[10]: 316–320 

Controversies

[edit]
The Eberswalde Hoard (replica pictured) from Germany disappeared in 1945 from Berlin and was located in 2004 in a secret depot within Moscow's Pushkin Museum.

The Soviet actions violated the Hague Convention of 1907, which forbids the seizure of cultural property during wartime.[18][21]

According to Akinsha, Soviet actions have resulted in "the complete destruction of the museums of East Germany and western Poland".[7] Akinsha also noted that "losses of Soviet museums were of moderate quality", as Germans never reached and thus were unable to plunder the largest Soviet collections, and many others were evacuated east before Germans seized them; which makes the Soviet seizure of German property disproportional to the losses incurred.[7] Soviets seized so many items, that those of mostly local interest and low value have been even described as becoming a "a burden to Soviet cultural institutions".[7] Others have languished in secret warehouses, never shown to public; some have never been catalogued to this day; some more perishable ones, like written documents or delicate objects, have perished during transportation or through improper storage.[7][10]: 296, 301–302, 321 [21][24]

The "big" diadem of Priam's Treasure in an exhibition at Pushkin Museum in 2011

Some of the items seized by the Soviets and subsequently transferred to the USSR included those formerly belonging to state institutions or collectors from European countries looted by Germans during the war (ex. from the Polish National Museum in Poznań[10]: 296 ), including from the Jewish victims of the Holocaust; the Soviets (and later, Russia) has steadily refused to return the items to such parties or otherwise compensate them.[7][17][22][25] Exceptions included some collections of state museums returned to Soviet satellite states in the De-Stalinization period, aiming at appeasing them following events such as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.[7] Nonetheless, eve such exceptional restitutions to the Soviet satellite states have been described as minimal, and any restitutions to private collectors or other countries have been seen as even more marginal.[7][17][26][27][28] The relatively rare more modern returns concern less valuable items such as archives, and have been accompanied with requests for payment of "storage fees" and "equivalent return" of Russian artifacts held by the receiving countries.[17][26][27] Examples of major cultural artifact that remains in Russian possession, looted during WWII, include the Priam's Treasure, the Baldin Collection or the Eberswalde Hoard.[24][22][29]

The return of items to countries, even ones outside the Axis Powers, remains deeply unpopular with Russian populace. In 2005, a Russian official in a cultural heritage agency said "Everything that the Soviet Union took as compensation... is not subject to return".[24] This has been explained by the "manipulation of historical memory" by the Soviet and Russian governments, which steadily reinforces the image of the "trophies" as just compensation for the cultural losses suffered by Russia (even through majority of such losses occurred in territories of modern Ukraine).[17] Return of the art is an anathema to Russian nationalists, who believe that any such action signifies the weakness on the part of Russia, while on the contrary, keeping them proves that Russia is a great power who does not bow down to the West.[8]: 255 

[edit]
The original photo of Raising a Flag over the Reichstag (top) was altered (bottom) by editing the watch on Ismailov's right wrist.

Widespread Soviet looting led to a Central and Eastern Europe stereotype of Soviet soldier as a looter "with many wristwatches".[6][13]: 359 [14]: 76 

An iconic photo from the end of the war, the Raising a Flag over the Reichstag, which became a symbol of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, captured Senior Sergeant Abdulkhakim Ismailov, who is supporting the flag-bearer, as wearing two watches, which could imply he had looted one of them. To cover that embarrassing detail, the photo was edited.[30][31]

It was also a subject of literary works. A Russian writer and former Red Army officer during World War II, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, wrote a long poem describing the Red Army's march across East Prussia, Prussian Nights, a passage of which describes the looting:[13]: 359 

The conquerors of Europe swarm,
Russians scurrying everywhere,..
In their trucks they stuff their loot:
Vacuum cleaners, wine, and candles,
Skirts, and picture frames, and pipes,
Brooches, and medallions, blouses, buckles,
Typewriters (not with Russian type),
Rings of sausages and cheeses,
small domestic ware and veils,
Combs, and forks, and wineglasses,
Samplers, and shoes, and scales...
--Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: from Prussian Nights'[13]: 359 

Historiography

[edit]

In historiography, the topic of Soviet looting is considered understudied.[9] Some key documents, including decrees issued by Joseph Stalin in 1945 for the Soviet removal of cultural property from territories occupied by the Red Army, have still been classified and not disclosed to historians as of mid-2010s.[7] Others are assumed to have already been destroyed, to prevent embarrassment or hinder investigations into Soviet crimes.[7][10]: 259, 272–273 

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Maziarz, Jakob (2022-12-30). "Matelski, Dariusz. Anatomia grabieży. Polityka Rosji wobec polskiego dziedzictwa kultury od XVII do XXI wieku. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Avalon, 2021 (ss. 928, ISBN 978-83-7730-451-8)". Krakowskie Studia z Historii Państwa i Prawa. 15 (4): 667–670. doi:10.4467/20844131KS.22.049.16746.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Golon, Mirosław (2022-12-30). "Na zapleczu frontów Armii Czerwonej. Sowieckie zbrodnie, represje i grabieże na ziemiach polskich w 1945 r. (na przykładzie wybranych miast)". Fides, Ratio et Patria. Studia Toruńskie (in Polish) (17): 43–74. doi:10.56583/frp.2247. ISSN 2956-3267.
  3. ^ Kunkel, Robert (2015). "Straty polskich dóbr kultury podczas I wojny światowej" (PDF). Rocznik Historii Sztuki. XL: 163–175.
  4. ^ Łaskarzewska, Hanna (2019). "Rola formacji wojskowych w ratowaniu polskich dóbr kultury w latach 1914-1920". Studia i Materiały Centralnej Biblioteki Wojskowej. 10 (1): 51–66.
  5. ^ Krokosz, Paweł (2015). "Obecność wojsk rosyjskich w Bochni i Wieliczce w 1914 roku". Res Gestae. Czasopismo Historyczne. (in Polish) (1): 128–153. ISSN 2450-4475.
  6. ^ a b "Army of marauders: the long history of Russian military looting, pillaging, and stealing". euromaidanpress.com. 2022-06-28. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Akinsha, Konstantin (May 2010). "Stalin's Decrees and Soviet Trophy Brigades: Compensation, Restitution in Kind, or "Trophies" of War?". International Journal of Cultural Property. 17 (2): 195–216. doi:10.1017/S0940739110000093. ISSN 1465-7317.
  8. ^ a b c d Akinsha, Konstantin; Kozlov, Grigorii; Hochfield, Sylvia (1995). Beautiful loot: the Soviet plunder of Europe's art treasures (1st ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-44389-6.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Moine, Nathalie; Angell, John (2013). "Of Loss and Loot:Stalin-Era Culture, Foreign Aid, and Trophy Goods in the Soviet Union during the 1940s". Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales (in French). 68 (2): 317–355. doi:10.1017/S2398568200000224. ISSN 2268-3763.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Musiał, Bogdan (2012). Wojna Stalina: 1939-1945 - terror, grabież, demontaże (in Polish) (Wyd. I ed.). Poznań: Zysk i S-ka Wydawnictwo. ISBN 978-83-7506-813-9.
  11. ^ a b c d Kościuszko, Maciej (2018). "Rekwizycja czy rabunek?". Historia Slavorum Occidentis (in Polish) (1): 72–88. doi:10.15804/hso180104. ISSN 2084-1213.
  12. ^ a b c Kachnicz, Zenon (2010). "Dewastacyjno-rabunkowe działania żołnierzy sowieckich na Pomorzu Zachodnim w latach czterdziestych". Przegląd Zachodni (in Polish). 334 (3): 177–188. ISSN 0033-2437.
  13. ^ a b c d e Davies, Norman (2005-02-24). God's Playground A History of Poland: Volume II: 1795 to the Present. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-925340-1.
  14. ^ a b Zaremba, Marcin (2022-09-06). Entangled in Fear: Everyday Terror in Poland, 1944–1947. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-06310-6.
  15. ^ a b Grygajtis, Krzysztof (2004). "Europa Środkowa i Międzymorze a sowiecka strategia generalna lat 1939-1941". Krakowskie Studia Międzynarodowe (in Polish). I (4): 107–167. ISSN 1733-2680.
  16. ^ Gross, Radosław (2023). "Olsztyńskie "Dzikie Pola". Rabunek i dewastacja wsi na Warmii i Mazurach przez wojska sowieckie w latach 1945–1948". Dzieje Najnowsze (in Polish). 54 (3): 109–130. doi:10.12775/DN.2022.3.06. ISSN 0419-8824.
  17. ^ a b c d e f Grimsted, Patricia Kennedy (May 2010). "Legalizing "Compensation" and the Spoils of War: The Russian Law on Displaced Cultural Valuables and the Manipulation of Historical Memory". International Journal of Cultural Property. 17 (2): 217–255. doi:10.1017/S094073911000010X. ISSN 1465-7317.
  18. ^ a b c Monten, Lina M. (2004). "Soviet World War II trophy art in present day Russia: The events, the law, and the current controversies". DePaul-LCA Journal of Art and Entertainment Law. 15: 37–98.
  19. ^ The Editors (2007-11-01). "Top Ten ARTnews Stories: Tracking the Trophy Brigade". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2025-05-17. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  20. ^ Hughes, Robert (1994-10-17). "MUSEUMS: Russia's Secret Spoils of World War Ii". TIME. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  21. ^ a b c d Loudis, Jessica (2020-01-06). "Soviet seizures of art from Germany". Apollo Magazine. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  22. ^ a b c Akinsha, Konstantin (May 2010). "Why Can't Private Art "Trophies" Go Home from the War?: The Baldin-Bremen Kunsthalle Case: A Cause-Célèbre of German-Russian Restitution Politics". International Journal of Cultural Property. 17 (2): 257–290. doi:10.1017/S0940739110000111. ISSN 1465-7317.
  23. ^ Kennedy Grimsted, Patricia (2002). "Spoils of War Returned". Prologue Magazine. National Archives. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  24. ^ a b c Myers, Steven Lee (2005-05-17). "Cultural divide exists over Russian war loot". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  25. ^ Kishkovsky, Sophia (2022-09-20). "Poland demands Russia return seven paintings it claims were looted during Second World War". www.theartnewspaper.com. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  26. ^ a b Matelski, Dariusz (2013-06-30). "Zabiegi Trzeciej Rzeczypospolitej o restytucję polskiego dziedzictwa kultury z Federacji Rosyjskiej (1992–2012) Część I: W okresie prezydentury Lecha Wałęsy (do grudnia 1995 r.)". Nowa Polityka Wschodnia. 4 (1): 136–167. doi:10.15804/npw2013107.
  27. ^ a b Matelski, Dariusz (2013). "Zabiegi Trzeciej Rzeczypospolitej o restytucję polskiego dziedzictwa kultury z Federacji Rosyjskiej (1992–2012). Część II: Lata sukcesów i porażek (1996–2012)". Nowa Polityka Wschodnia (in Polish). 5 (2): 143–171. doi:10.15804/npw2013209. ISSN 2084-3291.
  28. ^ "Zurück in die Kindheit". Der Spiegel (in German). 1995-04-02. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  29. ^ "The Eberswalde Hoard: what exactly is it?". The Telegraph. 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  30. ^ Sontheimer, Michael (2008-05-07). "The Art of Soviet Propaganda: Iconic Red Army Reichstag Photo Faked". Der Spiegel. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  31. ^ Baumann, Doc (2010-01-03). "Bildfälschung: Dramatische Rauchwolken". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2025-05-17.

See also

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_plunder&oldid=1291870419"