looting

During a disaster, police and military forces are sometimes unable to prevent looting when they are overwhelmed by humanitarian or combat concerns, or they cannot be summoned because of damaged communications infrastructure. Especially during natural disasters, many civilians may find themselves forced to take what does not belong to them in order to survive.{{Cite news|last=Sawer|first=Philip Sherwell and Patrick|date=2010-01-16|title=Haiti earthquake: looting and gun-fights break out|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|language=en-GB|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/haiti/7005554/Haiti-earthquake-looting-and-gun-fights-break-out.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/haiti/7005554/Haiti-earthquake-looting-and-gun-fights-break-out.html |archive-date=2022-01-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2020-07-13|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}} How to respond to that and where the line between unnecessary "looting" and necessary "scavenging" lies are often dilemmas for governments.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/136582.stm | work=BBC News | title=Indonesian food minister tolerates looting | date=July 21, 1998 | access-date=May 11, 2010}}{{Cite journal|last1=Jacob|first1=Binu|last2=Mawson|first2=Anthony R.|last3=Payton|first3=Marinelle|last4=Guignard|first4=John C.|date=2008|title=Disaster Mythology and Fact: Hurricane Katrina and Social Attachment|journal=Public Health Reports|volume=123|issue=5|pages=555–566|doi=10.1177/003335490812300505|issn=0033-3549|pmc=2496928|pmid=18828410}} In other cases, looting may be tolerated or even encouraged by governments for political or other reasons, including religious, social or economic ones.

File:Plundering van Mechelen door Spaanse Troepen 1572 Frans Hogenberg.jpg led by the Duke of Alba, 2 October 1572]]

Looting by a victorious army during war has been a common practice throughout recorded history.{{Cite journal|last=Sandholtz|first=Wayne|date=2008|title=Dynamics of International Norm Change: Rules against Wartime Plunder|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066107087766|journal=European Journal of International Relations|language=en|volume=14|issue=1|pages=101–131|doi=10.1177/1354066107087766|s2cid=143721778|issn=1354-0661|url-access=subscription}} Foot soldiers viewed plunder as a way to supplement an often-meagre incomeHsi-sheng Chi (1976), Warlord Politics in China, 1916–1928, Stanford University Press, {{ISBN|0804708940}}, str. 93{{clarify inline|reason="str." is not a common English abbreviation|date=April 2015}} and transferred wealth became part of the celebration of victory. In the wake of the Napoleonic Wars and particularly after World War II, norms against wartime plunder became widely accepted.

In the upper ranks, the proud exhibition of the loot plundered formed an integral part of the typical Roman triumph, and Genghis Khan was not unusual in proclaiming that the greatest happiness was "to vanquish your enemies ... to rob them of their wealth".Henry Hoyle Howorth (2008). [https://books.google.com/books?id=e4PErdXlLhwC&pg=PA110 History of the Mongols from the 9th to the 19th Century]. Part 1: The Mongols Proper and the Kalmyks. Cosimo.

In ancient times, looting was sometimes prohibited due to religious concerns. For example, King Clovis I of the Franks, forbade his soldiers to loot when they campaigned near St Martin's shrine in Tours, for fear of offending the saint.Gregory of Tours. A History of the Franks. Pantianos classics, 1916

In warfare in ancient times, the spoils of war included the defeated populations, which were often enslaved. Women and children might become absorbed into the victorious country's population, as concubines, eunuchs and slaves.John K. Thorton (1996). "African Background in American Colonization". In Stanley L. Engerman, Robert E. Gallman (ed.), The Cambridge Economic History of the United States, Cambridge University Press, 1996, {{ISBN|0521394422}}, p. 87. "African states waged war to acquire slaves ... raids that appear to have been more concerned with obtaining loot (including slaves) than other objectives."John Bagot Glubb, The Empire of the Arabs, Hodder and Stoughton, 1963, p. 283. "... thousand Christian captives formed part of the loot and were subsequently sold as slaves in the markets of Syria". In other pre-modern societies, objects made of precious metals were the preferred target of war looting, largely because of their ease of portability. In many cases, looting offered an opportunity to obtain treasures and works of art that otherwise would not have been obtainable. Beginning in the early modern period and reaching its peak in the New Imperialism era, European colonial powers frequently looted areas they captured during military campaigns against non-European states.{{cite book|first=James|last=Cuno|authorlink=James Cuno|title=Whose Culture?: The Promise of Museums and the Debate over Antiquities|date=2002|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0691154435}} In the 1930s, and even more so during the Second World War, Nazi Germany engaged in large-scale and organized looting of art and property, particularly in Nazi-occupied Poland.J. R. Kudelski (2004), {{lang|pl|Tajemnice nazistowskiej grabieży polskich zbiorów sztuki}}, Warsaw {{in lang|pl}}.{{cite news| url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/2291481.stm | work= BBC News | title= Nazi loot claim 'compelling' | date= October 2, 2002 | access-date= May 11, 2010}} Soviet Union did likewise.{{Cite journal |last=Akinsha |first=Konstantin |date=May 2010 |title=Stalin's Decrees and Soviet Trophy Brigades: Compensation, Restitution in Kind, or "Trophies" of War? |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-cultural-property/article/abs/stalins-decrees-and-soviet-trophy-brigades-compensation-restitution-in-kind-or-trophies-of-war/B25E3F28D47558EE022591FFA0231EB5 |journal=International Journal of Cultural Property |language=en |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=195–216 |doi=10.1017/S0940739110000093 |issn=1465-7317}} On the smaller level, looting was done by other Allied forces too.{{Cite journal |last=Givens |first=Seth A. |date=2014-01-01 |title=Liberating the Germans: The US Army and Looting in Germany during the Second World War |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0968344513504521 |journal=War in History |language=EN |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=33–54 |doi=10.1177/0968344513504521 |issn=0968-3445|url-access=subscription }}

Looting, combined with poor military discipline, has occasionally been an army's downfall{{Citation needed|date= August 2018}} since troops who have dispersed to ransack an area may become vulnerable to counter-attack, a good example being during the 1967 First Invasion of Onitsha, where the victorious Nigerian troops were encircled and annihilated while looting. In other cases, for example, the Wahhabi sack of Karbala in 1801 or 1802, loot has contributed to further victories for an army.Wayne H. Bowen (2008), [https://books.google.com/books?id=S6J2Q3TlJpMC&pg=PA73 The History of Saudi Arabia], Greenwood, p. 73. {{ISBN|0313340129}} Not all looters in wartime are conquerors; the looting of Vistula Land by the retreating Imperial Russian Army in 1915{{in lang|pl}} Andrzej Garlicki (1986), {{lang|pl|Z dziejów Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej}}, {{lang|pl|italic=no|Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne}}, {{ISBN|8302022454}}, p. 147 was among the factors sapping the loyalty of Poles to Russia. Local civilians can also take advantage of a breakdown of order to loot public and private property, as took place at the Iraq Museum in the course of the Iraq War in 2003.Myers, Steven Lee (February 23, 2009), [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/world/middleeast/24museum.html "Iraq Museum Reopens Six Years After Looting"], The New York Times. Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy's novel War and Peace describes widespread looting by Moscow's citizens before Napoleon's troops entered the city in 1812, along with looting by French troops elsewhere.

In 1990 and 1991, during the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein's soldiers caused significant damage to both Kuwaiti and Saudi infrastructure. They also stole from private companies and homes.{{Cite magazine|last=Kelly|first=Michael|date=1991-03-24|title=The Rape and Rescue of Kuwaiti City|magazine=The New Republic|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/76724/rape-rescue-kuwait-iraq-saddam-hussein|access-date=2020-06-10|issn=0028-6583}}{{Cite web|date=2016-09-02|title=Oil Fires in Iraq|url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/88666/oil-fires-in-iraq|access-date=2020-06-10|website=NASA Earth Observatory|language=en}} In April 2003, looters broke into the National Museum of Iraq, and thousands of artefacts remain missing.{{Cite news|last=Barker|first=Craig|title=Fifteen years after looting, thousands of artefacts are still missing from Iraq's national museum|url=http://theconversation.com/fifteen-years-after-looting-thousands-of-artefacts-are-still-missing-from-iraqs-national-museum-93949|access-date=2020-07-13|website=The Conversation|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Samuel|first=Sigal|date=2018-03-19|title=It's Disturbingly Easy to Buy Iraq's Archeological Treasures|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/iraq-war-archeology-invasion/555200/|access-date=2020-07-13|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US}}

Syrian conservation sites and museums were looted during the Syrian Civil War, with items being sold on the international black market.{{Cite news|last=Swann|first=Steve|date=2019-05-02|title='Loot-to-order' antiquities sold on Facebook|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47628369|access-date=2020-07-10}}{{Cite magazine|last=Harkin|first=James|title=The Race to Save Syria's Archaeological Treasures|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/race-save-syrias-archaeological-treasures-180958097/|access-date=2020-07-10|magazine=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}} Reports from 2012 suggested that the antiquities were being traded for weapons by the various combatants.{{Cite magazine|last=Baker|first=Aryn|date=2012-09-12|title=Syria's Looted Past: How Ancient Artifacts Are Being Traded for Guns|language=en-US|magazine=Time|url=https://world.time.com/2012/09/12/syrias-looted-past-how-ancient-artifacts-are-being-traded-for-guns/ |access-date=2020-07-10|issn=0040-781X}}{{Cite news|last1=Jaber|first1=Hala|last2=Arbuthnott|first2=George|title=Syrians loot Roman treasures to buy guns|newspaper=The Times|language=en|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/syrians-loot-roman-treasures-to-buy-guns-q5z9fgzs9t0|access-date=2020-07-10|issn=0140-0460}}

Both customary international law and international treaties prohibit pillage in armed conflict. The Lieber Code, the Brussels Declaration (1874), and the Oxford Manual have recognized the prohibition against pillage. The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 (modified in 1954) obliges military forces not only to avoid the destruction of enemy property but also to provide for its protection.Barbara T. Hoffman (2006), [https://books.google.com/books?id=yvXTcGC5CwQC&pg=PA57 Art and Cultural Heritage: Law, Policy, and Practice], Cambridge University Press, p. 57. {{ISBN|0521857643}} Article 8 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court provides that in international warfare, "pillaging a town or place, even when taken by assault", is a war crime. In the aftermath of World War II, a number of war criminals were prosecuted for pillage. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (1993–2017) brought several prosecutions for pillage.

The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 explicitly prohibits the looting of civilian property during wartime.E. Lauterpacht, C. J. Greenwood, Marc Weller (1991), [https://books.google.com/books?id=5xVSkGtcT5YC&pg=PA154 The Kuwait Crisis: Basic Documents], Cambridge University Press, p. 154. {{ISBN|0521463084}}

Theoretically, to prevent such looting, unclaimed property is moved to the custody of the Custodian of Enemy Property, to be handled until returned to its owners.

File:Graffiti outside looted Aldi store on May 28, 2020 in Minneapolis (51237052782).jpg and looted Aldi store during the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis, May 28, 2020]]

Despite international prohibitions against the practice of looting, the ease with which it can be done means that it remains relatively common, particularly during outbreaks of civil unrest during which rules of war may not yet apply. The 2011 Egyptian Revolution, for example, caused a significant increase in the looting of antiquities from archaeological sites in Egypt, as the government lost the ability to protect the sites.{{Cite magazine |last=Gannon |first=Megan |title='Space Archaeologists' Show Spike in Looting at Egypt's Ancient Sites |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/space-archaeologists-show-spike-in-looting-at-egypt-s-ancient-sites/ |access-date=2022-09-20 |magazine=Scientific American |language=en}} Other acts of modern looting, such as the looting and destruction of artifacts from the National Museum of Iraq by Islamic State militants, can be used as an easy way to express contempt for the concept of rules of war altogether.{{Cite web |title='Cultural War': Iraq Mourns Relics Destroyed by ISIS |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-uncovered/national-museum-iraq-director-discusses-isis-destruction-relics-n383706 |access-date=2022-09-20 |website=NBC News |date=29 June 2015 |language=en}}

In the case of a sudden change in a country or region's government, it can be difficult to determine what constitutes looting as opposed to a new government taking custody of the property in question. This can be especially difficult if the new government is only partially recognized at the time the property is moved, as was the case during the 2021 Taliban offensive, during which a number of artifacts and a large amount of property of former government officials who had fled the country fell into the hands of the Taliban before they were recognized as the legitimate government of Afghanistan by other countries. Further looting and burning of civilian homes and villages has been defended by the Taliban as within their right as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.{{Cite news |date=2021-07-07 |title=Taliban looted, torched Afghan homes after evicting residents – Human Rights Watch |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taliban-looted-torched-afghan-homes-after-evicting-residents-human-rights-watch-2021-07-07/ |access-date=2022-09-20}}

Looting can also be common in cases where civil unrest is contained largely within the borders of a country or during peacetime. Riots in the wake of the 2020 George Floyd protests in numerous American cities led to increased amounts of looting, as looters took advantage of the delicate political situation and civil unrest surrounding the riots themselves.{{Cite web |last=Wagner |first=Dennis |date=2020-06-15 |title='Peaceful protests got hijacked': Some criminals used George Floyd protests as cover for looting, police say |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2020/06/15/criminals-used-george-floyd-protests-cover-looting-police-say/5324881002/ |access-date=2022-09-20 |website=USA Today |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Tingston |first=Nhx |date=June 6, 2020 |title=Looter from BLM and George Floyd Protest Bragged About Theft on Facebook While Offering Stolen Goods for Sale |url=https://www.techtimes.com/articles/250229/20200610/looter-from-blm-and-george-floyd-protest-bragged-about-theft-on-facebook-while-offering-stolen-goods-for-sale.htm |access-date=March 5, 2024 |website=Techtimes}}{{Cite web |date=2020-06-01 |title=List: Austin businesses looted during protests |url=https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/austin-protests-looting-george-floyd-mike-ramos/269-c532c593-a681-42db-8558-6b97a9e9f241 |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=KVUE |language=en-US}} Up to 175 Target stores closed Nationwide during the disturbances.{{Cite web |last=Voytko |first=Lisette |date=2020-05-31 |title=Target Closes 175 Stores Nationwide In Wake Of George Floyd Protests, Looting |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2020/05/31/target-closes-175-stores-nationwide-in-wake-of-george-floyd-protests-looting/ |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=Forbes |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2020-05-28 |title=VIDEO: People loot Minneapolis Target in wake of George Floyd protests |url=https://www.kron4.com/news/national/video-people-loot-minneapolis-target-in-wake-of-george-floyd-protests/ |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=KRON4 |language=en-US}}

During the ongoing Kashmir conflict, looting of Kashmiris trapped between the Indian and Pakistani militarized zones is common and widespread.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-12 |title=Two arrested for beating, looting homeless man in Srinagar: Police |url=https://thekashmirwalla.com/two-arrested-for-beating-looting-homeless-man-in-srinagar-police/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220912093349/https://thekashmirwalla.com/two-arrested-for-beating-looting-homeless-man-in-srinagar-police/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=September 12, 2022 |access-date=2022-09-20 |website=The Kashmir Walla |language=en-US}}

In 2022, international observers accused Russia of engaging in large scale looting during the Russo-Ukrainian War, reporting the widespread looting of everything from food to industrial equipment.{{cite news |last1=Fylyppov |first1=Olexsandr |last2=Lister |first2=Tim |title=Russians plunder $5M farm vehicles from Ukraine – to find they've been remotely disabled |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/01/europe/russia-farm-vehicles-ukraine-disabled-melitopol-intl/index.html |access-date=21 June 2022 |work=CNN |date=May 2, 2022}} Despite the publication of numerous photos and videos by Ukrainian journalists and civilians, numerous Russian commanders have denied these claims. International observers have theorized that this looting is either the result of direct orders, despite to Russia's claims to the contrary, or due to Russian soldiers not being issued with adequate food and other resources by their commanders.{{cite web |title='Hungry' Russian Soldiers Loot Ukrainian Shops |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-soldiers-loot-ukraine/31732450.html |date=2 March 2022 |work=Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty |access-date=21 June 2022}} On 18 November 2022, the University of Miami estimated that Russian forces in Ukraine had destroyed, pillaged, and looted at least 40 museums in Ukraine.{{cite web | url=https://international-and-comparative-law-review.law.miami.edu/ukrainian-culture-at-risk-the-legalized-looting-of-ukrainian-territories-under-russian-control/ | title=Ukrainian Culture at Risk: The "Legalized" Looting of Ukrainian Territories Under Russian Control | International and Comparative Law Review | date=18 November 2022 }}

{{Further|Grave robbery}}

The term "looting" is also sometimes used to refer to antiquities being removed from countries by unauthorized people, either domestic people breaking the law seeking monetary gain or foreign nations, which are usually more interested in prestige or previously, "scientific discovery". An example might be the removal of the contents of Egyptian tombs that were transported to museums across the West.{{cite news

|first=Brian

|last=Handwerk

|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/10/061024-hawass.html

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061106190429/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/10/061024-hawass.html

|url-status=dead

|archive-date=November 6, 2006

|work=National Geographic News

|title=Egypt's Antiquities Chief Combines Passion, Clout to Protect Artifacts

|date=October 24, 2006

}}

As part of World War II reparations, Soviet forces systematically plundered the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, including the Recovered Territories, which later transferred to Poland. The Soviets sent valuable industrial equipment, infrastructure and whole factories to the Soviet Union.{{cite web|url=http://www.ipn.gov.pl/biuletyn/13/biuletyn02_2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050321165047/http://www.ipn.gov.pl/biuletyn/13/biuletyn02_2.html |title=Między Modernizacja a Marnotrawstwem |archive-date=2005-03-21 |publisher=Institute of National Remembrance |language=pl}} See also [http://www.niniwa2.cba.pl/komunizm_gospodarka_prl_ipn.htm other copy online] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070426011453/http://www.niniwa2.cba.pl/komunizm_gospodarka_prl_ipn.htm |date=2007-04-26 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.ipn.gov.pl/biuletyn/4/biuletyn4_51.html|title=Armia Czerwona na Dolnym Śląski |publisher=Institute of National Remembrance|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050321233124/http://www.ipn.gov.pl/biuletyn/4/biuletyn4_51.html|archive-date=2005-03-21|language=pl}}

Many factories in the rebels' zone of Aleppo during the Syrian Civil War were reported as being plundered and their assets transferred abroad.{{Cite web|title=Turkey looted Syria factory: Damascus – World News|url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-looted-syria-factory-damascus-38824|access-date=2020-07-10|website=Hürriyet Daily News|date=10 January 2013 |language=en}}{{Cite book|last1=Webel|first1=Charles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IiIlDwAAQBAJ&q=looted+syria+industry+aleppo+factory&pg=PA75|title=Assessing the War on Terror: Western and Middle Eastern Perspectives|last2=Tomass|first2=Mark|date=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1315469164|language=en}} Agricultural products and electronic power plants were also seized, to be sold elsewhere.{{Cite book|last1=Aljaleel|first1=Alaa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T2GHDwAAQBAJ&q=stealing+of+copper+wire+aleppo&pg=PT112|title=The Last Sanctuary in Aleppo: A remarkable true story of courage, hope and survival|last2=Darke|first2=Diana|date=2019|publisher=Headline|isbn=978-1472260550|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Badcock|first=James|date=2019-01-14|title=Turkey accused of plundering olive oil from Syria to sell in the EU|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/14/turkey-accused-plundering-olive-oil-syria-sell-eu/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/14/turkey-accused-plundering-olive-oil-syria-sell-eu/ |archive-date=2022-01-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2020-07-13|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}

File:Sebastiaan Vrancx (1573-1647) - De plundering van Wommelgem (1625-1630) - Düsseldorf Museum Kunstpalast 15-08-2012 15-08-12.JPG|The aftermath of the plundering of the village of Wommelgem in 1589. Eighty Years' War, painting by Sebastiaen Vrancx

File:Saks Fifth Avenue Boarded Up During Black Lives Matter Protests New York City - 49984780162.jpg|Private security guards, barbed wire fencing, and boarded up windows to prevent looting of department stores in New York City during mass unrest in the United States, 7 June 2020

File:Beit Ghazaleh Alep Dec 2017.jpg|The Beit Ghazaleh Museum of Aleppo was looted of its contents prior to being hit by explosions (photo 2017)

File:Eisenhower, Bradley and Patton inspect looted art HD-SN-99-02758.JPEG|General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gen. Omar N. Bradley, and Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr., inspect art treasures stolen by Germans and hidden in salt mine in Germany (1945)

File:2011 London riots.jpg|Looters attempting to enter a cycle shop in North London during the 2011 England riots

{{Portal|Crime|History}}

• Arson
• Banditry
• Conflict resource
• Depredation
• Hijacking
• Piracy
• Prize of war
• Spolia opima, armour and arms a Roman general stripped from the body of an opposing commander slain in single combat
• Vandalism
• Thak Thak gang

{{Reflist|30em}}

• Abudu, Margaret, et al., "Black Ghetto Violence: A Case Study Inquiry into the Spatial Pattern of Four Los Angeles Riot Event-Types", 44 Social Problems 483 (1997)
• Curvin, Robert and Bruce Porter (1979), Blackout Looting
• Dynes, Russell & Enrico L. Quarantelli, "What Looting in Civil Disturbances Really Means", in Modern Criminals 177 (James F. Short Jr., ed., 1970)
• Green, Stuart P., [https://ssrn.com/abstract=917440 "Looting, Law, and Lawlessness"], 81 Tulane Law Review 1129 (2007)
• Mac Ginty, Roger, "Looting in the Context of Violent Conflict: A Conceptualisation and Typology", 25 Third World Quarterly 857 (2004). {{JSTOR|3993697}}.
• Stewart, James, [https://ssrn.com/abstract=1875053 "Corporate War Crimes: Prosecuting Pillage of Natural Resources", 2010]
• Kończal, Kornelia (2017), Politics of Plunder. Post-German Property and the Reconstruction of East Central Europe after the Second World War. EUI Florence.
• Kończal, Kornelia (2014), Das Schreiben und das Schweigen über die Plünderung des deutschen Eigentums. Die identitätsstiftende Figur des szabrownik im Nachkriegspolen, in: Włodzimierz Bialik, Czesław Karolak und Maria Wojtczak (ed.): Ungeduld der Erkenntnis. Eine klischeewidrige Festschrift für Hubert Orłowski, Peter Lang, Frankfurt a. M., p. 155–170.
• Kończal, Kornelia (2017), The Quest for German Property in East Central Europe after 1945: The Semantics of Plunder and the Sense of Reconstruction, in: Yvonne Kleinmann among others (ed.): Imaginations and Configurations of Polish Society. From the Middle Ages through the Twentieth Century, Göttingen: Wallstein, p. 291–312.
• Kończal, Kornelia (2021), German Property and the Reconstruction of East Central Europe after 1945: Politics, Practices and Pitfalls of Confiscation, in: European Review of History. Revue européenne d’histoire 28 (2), p. 278–300.

• {{Commons category-inline|Looting}}

{{Types of crime}}

{{War crimes}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Property crimes