1812: The mystery of looted treasures - version 3

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The Voice of Russia World Service presents another program in the series we have prepared ahead of the upcoming bicentenary of Russia’s victory over Napoleon in the 1812 Patriotic War. In our previous editions we told you about two existing versions concerning the mystery around the fate of Moscow treasures looted by the French.

To begin with, let’s briefly run through the first two versions. According to version 1, nearly 80 tons of gold, silver, jewelry and other valuables were buried deep under ground in the woodlands near the town of Maloyaroslavets, some 100 miles southwest of Moscow.

Another version suggests that the treasures were dumped in a forest lake near Smolensk, 150 miles west of the Russian capital. The third version of the jewels’ whereabouts came about following numerous failed attempts to find them in one of the two mentioned places.

Historians who took the liberty of introducing this version, argue that there is every reason to assume that Napoleon was hardly capable of sacrificing the looted valuables at the very first stage of his army’s retreat from Russia. He took great pains to keep them as long as possible, until the situation for both his soldiers and himself became absolutely hopeless, even though he struggled to avoid this.

According to some scientists, this happened when Napoleon’s troops found themselves trapped by the Russian army in an attempt to cross the Berezina River located on the territory of present-day Belarus - in other words, just a stone’s throw from the then western border of the Russian Empire, from which the French Emperor started his invasion.

By that time, the French Grande Armée (or its feeble remains, to be more precise) was a sight for sore eyes - starving, freezing and almost completely demoralized soldiers were forced to get rid of everything that hindered a swift retreat. Some of them even abandoned their arms - there was no ammunition left after all.

At the same time, loot-carrying carts were being preserved desperately, in accordance with the Emperor’s order. The army’s strength was gone right after it reached the River Berezina, a wide and swift-flowing river with ice-cold waters, which appeared to be the most serious obstacle in the path of the retreating French forces.

Furthermore, all bridges across the river located in that area had been either destroyed or controlled by the advancing Russian army. The French saw no other possible way than to build a temporary bridge that proved to be incapable of withstanding the weight of the heavy load. Apart from that, the French lacked time to carry all 200 carts of loot across the river amid the Russian army’s whirlwind attack and massive shell fire.

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