Activity of the state defense committee on the use of trophies during the Great Patriotic War

The article briefly analyzes the historiography of use of the war spoils by the Soviet Union history during the Great Patriotic War. It is noted that, despite the great interest of historians, publicists and journalists, many aspects of the problem are still almost unknown. Among the unstudied side of the h istory of trophies - the activities of the State Defense Committee on organizing the collection of war trophies, sorting and further transmission to the troops or structures serving the needs of the front. Scientific novelty of article consists in the introduction of the information of documents stored in the Russian state archive of socio- political history into scientific circulation. For the first time the authors analyze the content of the decisions and orders of the State Defense Committee on the organization of work of various Soviet and military authorities on the use of trophies in the interests of the national economy. The article traces the dynamics of the use of trophies depending on the situation at the front. It is noted that for the first time the State Defense Committee decided to take control under the use of trophies in January 1942. Since that time, the State Defense Committee supervised the collection and distribution of trophies until the end of the Great Patriotic war, and also after its completion. In this article the activities of the State Defense Committee is considered in the period from January 1942 through May 1945. Collection of trophies was carried out not only in the USSR but also on the territories of Germany, Austria, Finland, Poland, Hungary and Romania. The authors conclude that trophies played a significant role in the development of the Soviet economy during the Great Patriotic war.