Extraordinary State Commission
The Extraordinary State Commission researches the crimes of German Nazis at Janowska concentration camp, 1944
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| Date | 1940 – 1947 |
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| Location | Territories liberated during Soviet counter-offensive |
| Coordinates | 49°51′15″N 23°59′24″E / 49.85417°N 23.99000°ECoordinates: 49°51′15″N 23°59′24″E / 49.85417°N 23.99000°E |
| Also known as | Extraordinary State Commission for ascertaining and investigating crimes perpetrated by the German–Fascist invaders and their accomplices |
| Cause | Mass murder, destruction and looting |
The Extraordinary State Commission was a Soviet government agency formed by the Council of People's Commissars on 2 November 1942, by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. It was tasked with investigating World War II crimes against the Soviet Union and collecting documentation which would confirm material losses caused by Nazi Germany. Its full ceremonial name was: "Extraordinary State Commission for Ascertaining and Investigating Crimes Perpetrated by the German-Fascist Invaders and their Accomplices" (Russian: Чрезвычайная Государственная Комиссия, ChGK). The official aim of this agency included "punishing for the crimes of the German–fascist aggressors." According to its own data, 32,000 organization staff took part in the work of ChGK and around 7,000,000 Soviet citizens had participated in the collection of materials and evidence.
The Extraordinary State Commission was also tasked with compensating the state for damages suffered by the Soviet Union because of the war. This specific aim of the agency is usually referred to by historians as the work of the Trophy Commission which led the trophy brigades behind the frontline. The plunder of artwork was directed by Igor Grabar of the Bureau of Experts. The commission became instrumental in the removal of industrial installations, materials, and valuables from all Soviet-occupied territories during the Vistula–Oder Offensive of the Red Army including Hungary, Romania, Finland and Poland (within its prewar borders), and later, from the Soviet Zone of Germany. The commission's Arts Committee headed by Andrei Konstantinov was in charge of the registration and Soviet distribution of trophy artworks beginning June 1945. The transports included valuables stolen by Nazi Germany from as far as Latvia and Italy, appropriated by the Soviets.
The 27 reports of the ChGK were the majority of Soviet evidentiary material in the Nuremberg process and the Japanese war criminals' process. The reports appeared in English in the daily publication Soviet War News issued by the Press Department of the Soviet Embassy in London. The first report, Protocol on the plunder by the German–Fascist invaders of Rostov Museum at Pyatigorsk, was published on June 28, 1943 and the last report, Statement on "Material Damage caused by the German-Fascist invaders to state enterprises and institutions, collective farms, public bodies and citizens of the U.S.S.R" was published on September 18, 1945. A complete collection of the 27 communiqués issued by the commission appears in the Soviet Government publication, Soviet Government Statement on Nazi Atrocities.
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