The BBC complaining for cultural artifacts not returned? Are you joking? Or has suddenly Her Majesty's Government reached agreement with Greece for retrun of the Elgin Marbles? Cleopatra's Needle was a gift from the Turkish viceroy in Egypt, so he had no call to give away what wasn't his in the first place and should be returned to Egypt. All right, the Russians have unreturned war booty, but for the same principle I expect the British Museum (and a damn lot of museums all over Europe!) ought to be half-emptied at least
This is a picture of the Summer Palace in Pushkin, St. Petersburg, which I had the previlege of visiting last year. During the war, the Germans sacked this palace in their siege of Leningrad. When you go inside there is a a few pictures on the wall of what remained when the Germans left. All you see are bear bricks not the beautiful architecture or gold you see in this picture, the Germans even took the paint!!! Till this day not all of the artifacts have been returned or found. It took more then 30 years to restore this Palace and there is still work to be done. Russians were not the only ones to loot. But out of a few pictures that I saw, I would say that the Russians have the right to keep this booty, at least until their's is returned.
Actually there is some church and palatial furnishings pillaged during the Napoleonoic wars, but the French did steal a lot more then.
