“Prior to the German occupation Smolensk contained four museums
with extremely valuable collections.
“The museum of art possessed most valuable collections,
primarily of Russian historic-artistic, historic-sociological,
ethnographic, and other valuables: paintings, icons, bronzes,
porcelains, metal castings, and textiles. These collections were
of international value and had been exhibited in France. The
invaders destroyed the museums and took the most valuable
exhibits to Germany.”