1941 Yedioth Ahronoth Hebrew Map of Operation Barbarossa, World War II

Following Operation Barbarossa from Palestine.

This is a 1941 Hebrew-language map of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, which appeared in the Tel Aviv newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. The war on the Eastern Front was deeply important for the Jews of Mandatory Palestine, as many had been born in Eastern Europe and retained strong familial and cultural ties to the region.

A Closer Look

This map covers Eastern Europe, displaying international borders (as of 1941), cities, rail lines, canals, and major topographic features. Particular focus is placed, as the subtitle indicates, on the industrial and economic capacities of the Soviet Union, with resources such as wheat (חטה), petroleum (נפט), and machinery (מכונות) labeled in black boxes. Soviet territory is shaded red, with the areas occupied by the Axis forces in the opening phase of the attack shaded white and red. The map was prepared during the earliest days of the offensive, as the Soviets are shown as still in control of Minsk (מינסק), which the Germans captured on June 28, and Pskov (פסקוב), which was captured on July 8.

Following Developments on the Eastern Front from Palestine

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, many Jews in Palestine initially viewed it with cautious optimism, as the USSR's entry into the war on the Allied side was seen as strengthening the fight against Hitler. The Yishuv (the Jewish community in Palestine) followed the progress on the Eastern Front closely, both because many of its members were born in and retained strong ties to the areas being fought over, but also because they recognized that the war's outcome would determine the fate of European Jewry.

As news of German advances and mass atrocities emerged, whatever optimism existed turned to horror and despair. The fear that the Nazis might reach the Middle East during the 1942 campaign toward Egypt and the Caucasus caused widespread panic. Many in Palestine prepared evacuation or defense plans in case of invasion, an event referred to as the '200 Days of Dread,' only relieved by Soviet victories at Stalingrad and Kursk in 1943. For many Jews in Palestine, the Red Army's advance into Eastern Europe was viewed not only as a military triumph but as a kind of retribution for their persecuted kin.

During the war, Zionist leaders and ordinary citizens alike organized rallies, prayers, and efforts to aid the Allied war effort, including enlistment in the British Army and fundraising for Jewish refugees. However, in order to allay Arab concerns about Jewish immigration, the British controversially limited Jewish migration to Palestine in 1939, despite increasing oppression by the Nazis and other governments in Europe. In response, Jews in Palestine organized the 'Aliyah Bet,' a secret effort to rescue Jewish refugees from Europe. Although the odds were stacked against them - many refugees died trying to reach Palestine, even if they could escape Nazi occupation - several tens of thousands of Jews managed to migrate to Palestine despite the British restrictions. After the end of the war, the Bricha ('escape') movement arranged for Holocaust survivors to migrate to Palestine, again in violation of British restrictions. The insistence of the British on limiting refugee migration, even after evidence of the Holocaust was abundant, deeply embittered the Jews of Palestine and likely radicalized their calls for independence.

Operation Barbarossa

After having denounced each other constantly for several years prior, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union shocked the world when they signed a non-aggression pact on August 23, 1939, just a week before Germany's invasion of Poland. Not publicly known at the time was a secret protocol that divided up Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe into Nazi and Soviet spheres of influence. The agreement made sense for both sides, as it allowed Germany to focus on fighting France and Britain without being too concerned about its eastern flank, and it allowed Stalin time to prepare his country for any potential war with Germany (or Japan, or any other adversary). The Nazis and Soviets divvied up Poland without incident and even signed several trade agreements that allowed the Soviets to import German war materiel, but the rapprochement was short-lived, and tensions soon began to build.

Nevertheless, the Soviets were woefully unprepared for the massive German invasion launched on June 22, 1941, which the Nazis codenamed Operation Barbarossa. Despite having received intelligence reports of an impending invasion, the famously paranoid Stalin let his guard down, refusing to believe that such an attack was imminent and erroneously thinking the Germans were still focused on fighting Britain. He had failed to understand (or momentarily forgotten) that, aside from Anti-Semitism, an inevitable and necessary showdown with Communism was at the core of Nazi ideology. Even had he been convinced that an attack was coming, Stalin's purges over the preceding years had virtually eliminated the entire Soviet officer corps, leaving the Red Army without effective leadership.

Thus, when more then three million Axis troops (mostly German, but also with Hungarian, Italian, Slovak, Finnish, and Romanian units) attacked on June 22, they achieved rapid success, reaching Kiev by mid-July, the outskirts of Leningrad by the end of August, and Moscow by early October. It appeared that Hitler's belief that the 'whole rotten structure' of the Soviet Union would rapidly collapse was coming true. But the Nazi offensive began running into several problems, including supply shortages, overstretched supply lines, more effective Soviet resistance, and, above all, Russia's great defender, its weather. Autumn rains made roads muddy and impassable before the onset of the brutal Russian winter, for which the overconfident Germans were underprepared. The Wehrmacht focused its efforts on capturing Moscow, getting as close as 20 miles from the spires of the Kremlin, but its forces were exhausted and unable to advance further.

Now it was the Germans who miscalculated, thinking the Soviets had no reserves left. But Stalin had shifted more than one million troops from Siberia and the Far East (correctly assuming a Japanese intervention was unlikely), allowing for a surprise counter-attack that relieved the Soviet capital and set the course for the Soviets' ultimate victory. Although the Nazi invasion had been halted, it had left a horrifying swath of destruction, including destroyed cities and millions of deaths - not just combat casualties, but Soviet prisoners of war, Jews, and others who were killed or starved to death.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Shlomo Cohen (שלמה כהן) for Yedioth Ahronoth in early July 1941. It was printed by Alexander Mozes (אלכסנדר מוזס), the printing firm of the same family that owned Yedioth Ahronoth. The map is not listed in any institutional catalogs and is scarce to the market.

Cartographer

Yedioth Ahronoth (יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת Latest News; 1939 - present) is a daily newspaper founded in Mandatory Palestine and published in Tel Aviv. Started by Gershom Komarov, Yedioth Ahronoth was the first evening newspaper in the British Mandate of Palestine and attempted to emulate the format of the London Evening Standard. Karomov soon sold the paper to Yehuda Mozes due to financial difficulties, whose sons, Reuben and Noah ran the paper. A large group of journalists and other staff members, led by chief editor Ezriel Carlebach, left Yedioth Ahronoth to form Yedioth Maariv in 1948, which led to a long-standing feud between the newspapers. The feud peaked in the 1990s when it was discovered that both newspapers had bugged their rival's phone lines. Although less well-known outside of Israel than papers such as Haaretz, which is published in both Hebrew and English, Yedi'oth Aharonot in recent decades has been Israel's largest paid newspaper by sales and circulation. It is seen as having a centrist political orientation, publishing editorials from across the political spectrum, and is published in a tabloid format.   Further Details...

Condition

Good. Wear along original fold lines. Verso repair to a fold separation. Closed edge tears professionally repaired on verso. Soiling.