“Fascists have destroyed the fruit of my honest work”. The Great Patriotic War, International Law and the Property of Soviet Citizens
Abstract
“Fascists have destroyed the fruit of my honest work”. The Great Patriotic War, International Law and the Property of Soviet Citizens Based upon newly declassified archival fonds of the Soviet procuratorship, central and local, and on other judicial material the article reveals that important shifts happened at the end of World War II in the perception and the very concept of private property. When preparing conceptions for trials on war criminals and reparation demands, Soviet authorities had to take into account the judicial systems and norms of its allies and to present its own judicial system as compatible with them. As a consequence, a survey of damages and losses of property was made, which in turn strengthened the concept of private property in the population and even induced the authorities to enhance its protection by the law.