Who's behind Europe's largest rare book heist?

谁是欧洲最大古籍盗窃案的幕后黑手?

The Documentary Podcast

2025-09-13

26 分钟
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The University library in Tartu, in Estonia, is a large brutalist complex, surrounded by concrete water fountains and futuristic steel sculptures. But inside this unassuming building lies a hidden treasure: rare books worth thousands. In April 2022, some of these books were stolen, including historic editions by Alexander Pushkin. According to Europol, the European law enforcement agency, this theft was part of a criminal operation that targeted national libraries in 12 countries, including the Baltic states, Poland, Finland, Germany and France. It's been described as Europe’s largest book heist since War World Two. Who was behind it? My colleague Nina Nazarova from BBC Russian has been investigating this story. Plus, 7-year-old Nigerian online musical sensation Emmanuel plays keyboards and drums, and has been captivating audiences online, as BBC Pidgin’s Adesola Ikulajolu reports. This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world. This is an EcoAudio certified production. (Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)
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  • Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service.

  • This is the fifth floor at the heart of global storytelling with BBC journalists from all around the world.

  • I'm your host, Farnak Amidi.

  • The University Library in Tartu, in Estonia, is a large,

  • brutalist complex surrounded by concrete water fountains and futuristic steel sculptures.

  • But inside this unassuming building lies a hidden treasure.

  • Rare books worth thousands.

  • In April 2022, some of these books were stolen.

  • According to Europol, the European Law Enforcement Agency,

  • this theft was part of a criminal operation that targeted national libraries in 12 countries,