Description:

LAVRENTY BERIA
(1899 - 1953) Gregorian Bolshevik, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Chief of NKVD, and the longest-lived and most influential of Stalin's secret police chiefs, wielding his most substantial influence during and after World War II. Unusual typed D.S. signed ‘D[a]. L. Br. 29/9' in blue indelible pencil at left margin, 1p. legal folio, Aug. 9, 1946, in Russian to the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. In one of his softer moments, Beria asks consideration in the treatment of German POWs at work in stripping Germany of its post-war industrial assets. In part: ‘…At the shipment bases of the Ministry of the Armed Forces of the USSR…in connection with the disbandment of trophies [i.e., captured German equipment], the only remaining labor force consists of German prisoners of war. With this labor force, it is necessary to carry out large volumes of work involving the unloading and loading of equipment being removed from Germany, and its preservation: cleaning, lubricating, re-packing…For the purpose of stimulating military personnel and prisoners of war who exceed the established norms for loading and unloading equipment, I consider it necessary to introduce changes to the previously-adopted resolutions on issuing bonuses for over-fulfilment of norms, and also improve the food supply of prisoners of war and the organization of their labor…'. File holes at left margin, else very good.

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March 27, 2026 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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