1960 Soferman / Luria Hebrew Map of Southeast Asia, Cold War
SoutheastAsiaHebrew-soferman-1960$300.00
![לאוס בין הגושים / [Laos between the Blocs]. - Main View](https://www.geographicus.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/L/SoutheastAsiaHebrew-soferman-1960.jpg)
Title
לאוס בין הגושים / [Laos between the Blocs].
1960 (undated) 13 x 18.5 in (33.02 x 46.99 cm) 1 : 8250000
1960 (undated) 13 x 18.5 in (33.02 x 46.99 cm) 1 : 8250000
Description
This is a c. 1960 map of Southeast Asia produced by the Israeli cartographic firm Carta for Ben-Zion Luria's Aṭlas Yedi'ot Aharonot. It highlights the Cold War ideological struggles in the region, particularly the Laotian Civil War (1959 - 1975).
A textbox in the South China Sea explains the end of French colonialism in Indochina and the division of Vietnam according to the 1954 Geneva Accords. Additional text boxes and explanatory notes point out the wartime capital of the Pathet Lao at Viengxay, a helicopter base in northern Thailand (Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base), and the fact that Okinawa was under U.S. military administration. Cities, major roads, and railways are also recorded throughout.
Israel's role in all this was minimal; although many Zionists were socialists of one stripe or another and the Soviet Union supported Israel in its early years, the State of Israel eventually aligned with the anti-Communist bloc in the Cold War, while the Soviet Union supported Arab states. However, the close attention to detail in this map reflects a desire to understand distant battlegrounds in the emerging Cold War and Israel's place in the global confrontation.
A Closer Look
The map covers from southern China and northern Burma southwards to northern Malaysia and Borneo, focusing on Mainland Southeast Asia. Communist countries (China and North Vietnam) are shaded red, while U.S.-aligned countries are shaded blue, including Laos, Cambodia, South Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, the Republic of China (on Taiwan), and the eastern portion of Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand, along with the U.S., were members of the Southeast Asian Treat Organization (SEATO ; םיטו - ברית ההגנה לדרום מזרח אסיה), modelled on the North Atlantic Treat Organization (NATO). The SEATO headquarters in Bangkok is noted with a text box at left, while an air supply route from Manila to Mainland Southeast Asia is traced (a similar air route for Communist forces is noted between Hanoi and the Pathet Lao-controlled parts of Laos).A textbox in the South China Sea explains the end of French colonialism in Indochina and the division of Vietnam according to the 1954 Geneva Accords. Additional text boxes and explanatory notes point out the wartime capital of the Pathet Lao at Viengxay, a helicopter base in northern Thailand (Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base), and the fact that Okinawa was under U.S. military administration. Cities, major roads, and railways are also recorded throughout.
Laotian Civil War and the Vietnam War
This map was created in the early stages of the Laotian Civil War (1959 - 1975), fought between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government. The Laotian Civil War became entangled with the Vietnam War (1955 - 1975) and became a proxy war between Cold War powers, meaning that not only were the opposing Laotian forces fighting each other but that North Vietnamese, American, Thai, and South Vietnamese forces were also involved, with the Pathet Lao receiving supplies from Communist China and the Soviet Union. The Ho Chi Minh Trail, a key logistical artery for the North Vietnamese to infiltrate men and supplies into South Vietnam, traversed most of the length of Laos before entering South Vietnam. Communist Pathet Lao forces emerged victorious at the end of the war in 1975, with up to 300,000 people fleeing Laos into Thailand after their takeover.Israel's role in all this was minimal; although many Zionists were socialists of one stripe or another and the Soviet Union supported Israel in its early years, the State of Israel eventually aligned with the anti-Communist bloc in the Cold War, while the Soviet Union supported Arab states. However, the close attention to detail in this map reflects a desire to understand distant battlegrounds in the emerging Cold War and Israel's place in the global confrontation.
Publication History and Census
This map was prepared by Amnon Soferman (אמנון סופרמן) and Emmanuel Hausman (עמנואל האוזמן) of Carta, the Jerusalem-based cartographic firm that the two men founded. It was printed by Emil Pikowsky (פיקובסקי אמיל), son of Michael Pikowski, the father-son team who were pioneers of Israel's printing industry, with pattern printing by Offset-Printing Siyon Ltd. (דפוס-אופסט סיון בע”מ). The map appeared in the Aṭlas Yedi'ot Aharonot (אטלס ידיעות אחרונות), edited by Ben-Zion Luria, arranged by the Yedi'ot Aharonot (Latest News), a newspaper in Tel Aviv, and published by the Kiryat Sefer Publishing House (קריית ספר). An atlas with this title was published for many years by the newspaper between the 1930s and 1990s. Although the map is not dated, its style and content would suggest that it was published in an edition of the atlas from the early 1960s. The map is not individually cataloged with any institution, while editions of the atlas from this era are held by the National Library of Israel, the Newberry Library, and the Library of Congress.CartographerS
Ben-Zion Luria (בן-ציון לוריא; April 4, 1905 - April 4, 2002) was a Polish-Israeli historian, cartographer, geographer, and educator who was an expert on the history and geography of the Holy Land. Born in Bialystok, Poland, he attended the Hebrew Gymnasium there before emigrating with his family to Palestine. In 1929, he enrolled at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and began an extensive course of Biblical study and research on the history of Eretz Isreal. He spent years determining the location of places mentioned in the Bible and assigning (or reassigning) them Hebrew names (he later was active in the Jerusalem Naming Committee, which assigned Hebrew street names in the holy city). He became editor of Beit Mikra (בית מקרא), a scholarly journal of Biblical studies and criticism. Luria was an active member of the Eretz-Israel Wanderers Association, a hiking club dedicated to helping members understand the history and geography of the Holy Land. Over his career, Luria published dozens of articles and books, and by the time of the founding of the State of Israel was one of the most prominent geographers in the country. More by this mapmaker...
Carta (1958 - Present; כרטא) is an Israeli publisher of maps and atlases. Also known as 'Carta-Jerusalem' and 'Carta, The Israel Map and Publishing Company, Ltd.', the firm's primary focus is biblical subjects. One of the principal cartographic publishers in Israel, the firm publishes Israel's national atlas alongside motorist road maps. The firm is also known for its historical atlases, and is the licensed publisher of the Hebrew edition of the Guinness Book of World Records. Carta was founded by Emanuel Hausman (עמנואל האוזמן) and Amnon Soferman (אמנון סופרמן). Learn More...
Kiryat Sefer Publishing House (1933 - present קריית ספר) is a publisher of primarily Hebrew-language textbooks, fiction, reference works, and children's books based in Jerusalem. Beginning as a bookstore in the heart of the city (at the intersection of King George / Strauss St. and Jaffa St.) before quickly moving into publishing its own works, especially educational and reference texts dealing with the Bible and the history and geography of Eretz Israel. The firm also published well-known guides to Jerusalem for many years. As a result of long-running legal disputes, the company has officially operated from outside of Israel since 1996 and has largely ceased publishing since then. Learn More...
Michael Pikowski (מיכאל פיקובסקי; June 7, 1866 - October 21, 1943) was a Russian-born Israeli printer. Born in Elizabethgrad in the Russian Empire (now Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine), Pikowski attended a Russian gymnasium before moving to Vienna to learn the printing trade. He then retuned to Ukraine, opening a printshop in Odessa specializing in zincography and editing a newspaper. In 1924, he moved to Jerusalem and established a new printshop, also publishing a bi-weekly paper titled Polygraph Pages (דפים פוליגרפיים). In Jerusalem, he published a wide variety of maps, particularly of Palestine and locales therein. Many of the firm's publications were for the Mandatory Press Office of the British government of Mandatory Palestine, but at night the shop secretly printed works for the Zionist cause. Underneath the shop was a secret headquarters of the Haganah Zionist militia. After Michael's death, his son Emil took over the firm. After the founding of the State of Israel, the firm continued to print works for the new government and was also the first to publish the Isiah Scroll, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The printshop continued to operate until 1997, with its last owner being Yeshayahu Atia, a longtime employee. Learn More...
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. Learn More...
Condition
Very good. Some light toning in lower right margin.