During the war years, special trophy teams worked on the battlefields both from the Wehrmacht and from the Red Army. These are special units of military personnel who collect absolutely all the material assets of their own troops and enemy troops left lying on the battlefield after the battle. In addition, Soviet trophy brigades were responsible for the preservation of cultural property.
«And through the smoke, through the smoke, through the soot,
European winners,
Everywhere Russians scurry about;
They put themselves in the body:
Vacuum cleaners, candles, wine,
Skirts, rags and paintings» - A. AND. Solzhenitsyn, "Prussian Nights".
It is absolutely incomprehensible what kind of vacuum cleaners could be stolen, according to Mr. Solzhenitsyn, by the Red Army in 1945-1946, if only because that the vacuum cleaner became the property of the general public, including the European public, after the Second World War in the early 1960s. And no matter what anyone says, however, the acts of robbery of the civilian population in the Red Army were never encouraged and their eyes were not closed. By the way, from the "white and fluffy" Wehrmacht, consisting of "just soldiers", which in 1941 German propagandists publicly "liberated from the chimera called conscience."
However, let us return directly to the spoils of war. There are many misconceptions and myths around this topic. Here the main thing should be clarified: the trophy teams collected absolutely all material property, including damaged or destroyed ones. The trophies were sorted, after which they were sent to the rear for storage, disposal, followed by processing, alteration, or transferred to linear units. Of particular interest to the captured teams were ammunition and ammunition, military equipment (especially trucks, cars and tractors), steel helmets (helmets), heavy infantry weapons: machine guns, mortars, anti-tank rifles, grenade launchers (at the final stage wars).
Soviet and Russian cinema firmly fixed the image of captured weapons in the Red Army. It really was, however, the total percentage of German "trunks" relative to the entire mass of small arms and heavy weapons was extremely small. First of all, due to the fact that enemy weapons cannot be stably and reliably provided with suitable ammunition. It also most often does not have spare parts for repairs.
There is an opinion that has strengthened on the Internet that German soldiers took off warm clothes from the dead Red Army soldiers. Although this cannot be completely denied, in the photographs the Germans in Soviet warm clothes were only seen in one place - in Soviet captivity. And, as a rule, already after the end of the Second World War. It is important to understand here that there is a concept of a uniform, and it is unlikely that Wehrmacht officers would allow (including for security reasons) their soldiers to dress haphazardly. Although the German winter uniform was worse, it still existed. Moreover, a pea jacket from a dead soldier is most likely covered in blood, it will be dirty, damp and will stink: wearing a tatka is not only unpleasant, but also dangerous in severe frosts.
Often, soldiers of the line units were also involved in the collection of trophies. Actually, they were often engaged in the capture of enemy weapons: after occupying and securing in positions, everything captured was surrendered to the captured brigades by the Red Army men themselves. For the delivery of some trophies, the soldiers were paid extra. It would be foolish to deny the fact that there were cases of looting in the war. And if the robbery of the local population in the Red Army was punished by the command and the NKVD, then the eyes were turned a blind eye to petty looting, which accompanied the collection of trophies. However, it was allowed to appropriate only any useful little thing like razors, cigarette cases, belts, daggers and knives. Commanders often took away German binoculars and chronometers (watches with a particularly accurate course). But for the appropriation of watches and jewelry in the Red Army, they did not stroke the head at all. With the latter, it was much easier in the Wehrmacht, at least until the appropriation of other people's property began to undermine discipline in the unit.
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If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about how Soviet soldiers left many autographs on the ReichstagWhat happened to them after the war.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/180921/60590/
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