Rekwizycja czy rabunek?
Requisition or robbery?

A case study of usurpation of property by the Red Army – resorting to the example of Września county in 1945

Summary/Abstract: This article is dedicated to the phenomena of requisitions and robberies committed by the soldiers of the Red Army in Września county (Poznań province) in 1945–1946. It is a case study which refers to a broader issue of Soviet troops stationing in the province. Their impact on the economic conditions and the financial situation of the civilians was significant. While in the definition context, the difference between requisition and robbery in unambiguous, it was in fact blurred in the reality of 1945–1946. Cooperation between the military administration of the Red Army with the war commandants representing it and the Polish administration was in fact very difficult. Frequently, the “right of power” was the determinative factor in the relations between civilians and the Red Army soldiers.

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