Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Since 2022, more than 170 rare books have vanished from libraries across Europe: specifically, first editions of Russian Golden Era writers like Alexander Pushkin. Their total value is more than $2.6 million and they’ve disappeared from libraries in Riga, Vilnius, Berlin, Munich, Helsinki, Paris, and others and replaced by high quality copies (78 vanished from the University of Warsaw alone). French police are investigating what could be a “vast, coordinated” operation, reports the NYT, with nine people arrested so far. Police are not ruling out Russian state involvement, although sanctions preventing Western book dealers from selling to Russian residents have created a black market where wealthy Russians are reportedly seeking specific trophy titles. Libraries are seen as easy targets – less security than museums, and more open to public requests.