National library in The Hague robbed of 6 rare Russian books

The Dutch national library in The Hague is calling for more cooperation among heritage institutions about how to combat physical and online threats after thieves stole six rare Russian books.

The books were stolen in 2023 but the robbery has not been made public until now because of an ongoing police investigation.

Europol suspects the robbery was the work of a Georgian gang which has been active throughout Europe. So far, no proof has been found but experts have said the theft of the books tallies with the gang's objective of stealing historic and patriotic Russian literature.

Now that the investigation has reached a dead end, library director Wilma van Wezenbeek hopes the public can help. “We want the books back. Perhaps someone has information,” she told Trouw. The library has put the theft on its website, with tips on how to recognize the books.

Among the books are early 19th-century editions of Alexander Pushkin's Boris Godunov (1825) and Ruslan and Ludmila (1817-1820). The library has not said how much they are worth but Europol estimates that the total of the 170 stolen books in Europe is around €2.5 million.

The modus operandi of the robbers differed from country to country, Europol said. They often photographed the works for “study purposes” using the photographs to put copies in their place on the next visit. The KB did not say in what way the robbers got the books except to say it was “ingenious”.

Other stolen books have ended up at auctions in Russia but the books stolen from the The Hague library have not been traced.

Apart from physical threats to the collection, the library and other institutions are increasingly concerned by cyber sabotage attempts. The library is inundated by requests every day aimed at gathering information with which hackers can disable access to the collection. More openness and better cooperation between heritage institutions is needed, Van Wezenbeek said .

“In the past, heritage institutions kept quiet for fear of damage to their reputation,” Van Wezenbeek said, “and you don't want to draw attention to the weak spots in your organization.”

Van Wezenbeek cited the cyber attack on the British Library in 2023 as “the most horrifying example” of what might happen if institutions don't join forces. Some 600 GB of data was put online, including personal data from staff and users when the library refused to pay the ransom demanded by the hackers.