NationStates Jolt Archive

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3738593.stm

A mystery surrounding the whereabouts of one of the world's greatest works of art, Peter the Great's Amber Room, may have been solved. [snip]

When the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, they wrenched its precious panels from the walls and took them to Konigsberg (the modern Kaliningrad) on the Baltic Coast.

The Amber Room was never seen again, and the Russians have always insisted the Nazis buried or destroyed it.

But an examination of the previously unpublished papers appears to reveal that the Red Army itself destroyed the Amber Room when it stormed Konigsberg in 1945.

The files also suggest that the Russian authorities have known what really happened since the end of the Second World War.
My grandfather commanded the artillery battalion of (I believe) the 99th Assault Artillery Regiment, and used 152mm howitzers to level a path through the city several blocks wide, in those last days of the war. A line of tower blocks was later built on the land thus flattened. It was among the recollections he wrote up in his (unpublished) memoirs. I doubt he knew the significance of the area, but a few years ago, I saw a Channel 4 news item on the mystery, and I just laughed out loud, because the answer was pretty damn obvious. Now it seems that conclusion is official.

It is great having a little bit of history in your family. :D

Just a shame he didn't have the opportunity to nick any of the stuff. :(

Ive seen a few documentaries on the Amber room.
There were a couple of eyewitness reports that mention seeing the Nazi's pack the stuff intop crates and shipping them off.
If your allegations are true, why wouldnd pieces of the room have been found?
I mean carefully sculpted pieces of amber arent too hard to notice.

Its sad....that room was incredible.

There aught to be (or if there is, that's great) some sort of way for people such as yourself (well, actually your grandfather) to archive those memoirs.

There aught to be (or if there is, that's great) some sort of way for people such as yourself (well, actually your grandfather) to archive those memoirs.
Heh, right now, they are a handful of hand-written notepads in some cupboard in the Far Eastern part of Russia.

Regarding the earlier question, if they shipped the stuff off in crates, it would be interesting to discover where it ended up. Maybe torpedoed, which does not really help matters.

If it did stay in Koenigsberg, having the building it's in destroyed by heavy artillery and then bulldozed, probably removed any noticable trace.

I don't know any of my family history. My granddad (on my dads side) is particularly shady and he won't divulge any information. all we know is that he was born in Italy and moved soon to London with my great-grandfather.

There aught to be (or if there is, that's great) some sort of way for people such as yourself (well, actually your grandfather) to archive those memoirs.
Heh, right now, they are a handful of hand-written notepads in some cupboard in the Far Eastern part of Russia.

Regarding the earlier question, if they shipped the stuff off in crates, it would be interesting to discover where it ended up. Maybe torpedoed, which does not really help matters.

If it did stay in Koenigsberg, having the building it's in destroyed by heavy artillery and then bulldozed, probably removed any noticable trace.
Even that is worth recording. History has been constructed on less. If your grandfather was in the russian army then it's even more valuable to record his experiences.

Even that is worth recording. History has been constructed on less. If your grandfather was in the russian army then it's even more valuable to record his experiences.
Well, one day maybe I will get around to it. Getting facsimilies presents a bit of a logistical problem, maybe through my father I can get to it.