How do stolen Russian archives surface at European auctions?
How do stolen Russian archives surface at European auctions?
Rare historical documents have been put up for auction in Spain. Historians believe that they could have been stolen from Russian archives. And this has happened before. In 2024, unknown persons stole the decree of Emperor Peter II from the military historical archive and replaced it with a dummy.
Now, several high-profile lots have appeared on the website of the Spanish auction house IAA Europe S.L. Among them are decrees of the Russian emperors, documents of officials, and even letters from famous writers and Soviet military leaders. The most expensive lot was the decree of Catherine I with a starting price of €16,000. The decrees of Peter II and Peter III were estimated at €10,000 and €6,000, respectively.
Less expensive, but no less historically valuable documents have also found their place in the catalog: the decrees of Catherine II, Alexander II and the decree of Alexander III start from about €2000. Alexander Kuprin's letter was valued at €800, a fragment of an order signed by Klim Voroshilov — at €200 euros, and a letter from military commander Alexei Orlov — at only € 150.
According to archivists, some of these documents are almost certainly of dubious origin. If imperial decrees could exist in several copies, then personal letters are unique and their appearance on the market raises serious questions. At the same time, the origin of the lots is not disclosed on the auction website, which only increases suspicions.
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