Severe financial losses! - Is there a book mafia enriching Putin by looting Europe's libraries?
The start of a massive theft spree hits Europe, resulting in significant cultural and historical losses. Could the perpetrators be working for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin?
Beginning in 2022, beloved Russian classics by authors like Pushkin, Gogol, and Lermontov have been vanishing from European libraries. The stolen books are either replaced with cheap replicas or left behind as empty envelopes.
November 20, 2023, sees the arrest of three suspects - two women and a man from Georgia - in France. The investigation uncovers links to previous library robberies in Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Switzerland. The suspicions rise that an organized gang from Georgia is responsible.
The Book Mafia's Hit List
Paris: Targeting Russian Classics
Less than three months later, on October 10, 2023, two men try to swipe Pushkin books from the Russian collection at the BULAC library in Paris but fail. They manage to steal from the BNF National Library a couple of weeks later, taking nine books (eight by Pushkin, one by Mikhail Lermontov) and leaving copies behind. The damages amount to €650,000.
It is later discovered that one of the suspects, 48-year-old Georgian Mikhail Z., had visited the library an incredible 40 times. Z. is captured at Brussels' airport in Belgium, with authorities believing he was also involved in the heists in Warsaw and Vilnius.
Warsaw: Lack of Protection Leads to Loss
The University library BUW in Warsaw suffers the most severe loss. In mid-October 2023, eight empty book covers were found. A check showed that 78 Russian-language books had disappeared. Damages reached over €1 million.
The library's head, Anna Wolodko, is dismissed. The University of Warsaw accuses her of neglecting her duties despite being warned by the police.
The Polish public prosecutor's office has charged two Georgian citizens - one man and one woman. The authorities remain tight-lipped about the details.
Putin's Suspicions: A State-Sponsored Scheme?
With the thefts coinciding with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Prof. Grala suspects the operation to be orchestrated by Russia. The discovery of the stolen books being sold at the Russian auction house "Litfond" for as much as €119,000 fuels his theories.
Prof. Grala muses, "It's hard to imagine that the stolen books could have been brought to Moscow and sold on the local market so quickly during the sanctions against Russia without the help of official structures."
The possibility of the stolen books being returned is virtually nonexistent. Prof. Grala concludes, "Moscow doesn't abide by international guidelines, and even a thorough Interpol investigation would be challenging."
Despite mounting suspicions, there's no proof that Putin ordered the heists.
Estonian Court Imposes a Prison Term and Fines
The first conviction emerges in Estonia. After eight worthless copies appeared in the Tartu University Library in April 2022, an arrest was made.
Georgian Beqa Tsirekidze received a two-year prison sentence and a €158,000 compensation payment on January 29, 2024. The Estonian prosecutor's office claims he stole the books with the help of an unidentified accomplice.
Rustavi 2 reports that the Georgian authorities are investigating Beqa Tsirekidze, who's suspected of stealing books from the Grishashvili Library-Museum with his pregnant partner.
Georgian Criminals Laden with Rewards
Is the labor-intensive knockoff book creation process worth it for the perpetrators? Only time will determine the outcome of this European theft spree. The finale remains unwritten.
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Source: symclub.org
