The war will write off everything. During the Second World War, both sides of the conflict carried out a purposeful collection of war trophies. At the same time, there were frequent cases of looting. For the latter, they were actively punished in the Red Army and somewhat less actively punished in the Wehrmacht, at least during the hostilities on the Eastern Front. It is quite obvious that the soldiers have a custom of taking all the most valuable from the bodies of a defeated enemy. However, some of the things of the Red Army were in great demand among the soldiers of the Reich.
Warm clothes
The Soviet Union was ready for the winter war. The dramatic events of the Finnish campaign helped introduce new Finnish-style overcoats and mittens into the army. And even the famous hat with earflaps was borrowed from the Finnish army. The Germans, in principle, did not prepare for the winter campaign, hoping to end the war before the first frosts. As a result, already in the winter of 1941, due to supply problems, German soldiers individually and German trophy teams literally hunted for Soviet warm clothes.
Cigarettes and cigarette cases
Smoke in a war is one of the most important things. It is a way to calm down and a currency. Therefore, the soldiers of both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany removed cigarettes and tobacco from the bodies of the killed. Cigarette cases were also popular. They were taken away primarily for utilitarian reasons: the cigarette case protects cigarettes from dampness. In a soldier's environment, a cigarette case could also be exchanged for something, for example, for the same tobacco.
Decorations and awards
The most vile marauders did not disdain to remove jewelry and even gold crowns from the bodies of the murdered. They also removed the awards from the bodies, if they ended up on the tunic or in one of the pockets.
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Household items
Not all the soldiers of the Wehrmacht, who were engaged in looting, "went all out", and some values could be found only in a rare Red Army soldier. Things that had an economic or military purpose are another matter. Very often, German soldiers took watches, binoculars, compasses, pocket knives, matches and lighters from the bodies of Soviet soldiers and officers. As a rule, the command turned a blind eye to such looting on both sides of the front.
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SVT and PPSh
Tokarev's rifle and Shpagin's submachine gun enjoyed increased interest among both German trophy teams and marauders. This Soviet weapon was so highly valued in the enemy camp that small workshops even appeared at the front, which tried to reproduce copies of the PPSh and SVT. Moreover, the German semi-automatic rifles and carbines of the Second World War were largely copied from the Soviet models that appeared earlier.
Continuing the topic, you can read about in what area of the military-industrial complex Nazi Germany most of all lagged behind the Soviet Union.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/160820/55689/