06-18-2003, 12:35 PM
Another way that stuff came out of museums is through museum closures.
As anyone who visited the USSR knew there were small museums everywhere - every small town and large factory had one. Many were "owned" by party organizations or town soviets. Some had surprisingly good stuff in them - victory parade uniforms of general born in that town, etc. As the nasty nineties rolled on many of these museums were closed and their stock was sold off. This was done by the museum directors or their bosses in the local party or soviet organization and hence was legal.
However, whether any of the proceeds of these sales ever made it to the party or soviet coffers is another question.
Shawn
As anyone who visited the USSR knew there were small museums everywhere - every small town and large factory had one. Many were "owned" by party organizations or town soviets. Some had surprisingly good stuff in them - victory parade uniforms of general born in that town, etc. As the nasty nineties rolled on many of these museums were closed and their stock was sold off. This was done by the museum directors or their bosses in the local party or soviet organization and hence was legal.
However, whether any of the proceeds of these sales ever made it to the party or soviet coffers is another question.
Shawn
