1971 Polish Map of Nazi Crimes in Poland

A chilling 1971 wall map documenting Hitler's war crimes in Poland published for the Polish commission established to hunt and prosecute Nazi war criminals. The map's scope, focus, and execution transcend the purely geographic in illustrating the horrors of the Holocaust. Its extreme significance reflects broad efforts by scholars, mapmakers, and other researchers throughout the 1960s-70s to record and preserve knowledge of the Holocaust. It is ever more poignant in the light of modern revisionist historical research that has re-evaluated the Polish role in the Holocaust, as well as efforts by the current Polish government to legislate and control the historical record.

A Closer Look

This massive map was published for use by students studying World War II and the Holocaust in Poland. Coverage embraces all of Poland and is minimalist except in its illustration of death camps, labor camps, and the sites of mass executions. Most prominent are the large furnaces representing the most notorious extermination camps: Chelmno, Sztutowo (Stutthof), Treblinka, Majdanek, Sobibor, Kraków-Płaszów, Oswiecim (Auschwitz), Rogozinca (Gross-Rosen), Brzezinka (Birkenau). German Iron Crosses mark mass execution sites - the size of the cross emphasizing the numbers killed, the largest being Warszawa, the location of the Wola Massacre. Burned towns and villages where part or all of the inhabitants were slain are also noted, as are branch extermination camps, work camps, and POW camps. Execution sites and mass graves associated with Polish and Soviet POWs are especially emphasized. Along the bottom, text in multiple languages, including English, describes the horrors perpetrated on Poland during the war.

Through a Soviet Lens

When this map was issued, Poland was firmly part of the Soviet Eastern Bloc. While the map is sensitive to the plight of Poles in general and especially the Soviets who suffered under the Nazis, this map is representative of the Soviet party line regarding 'Hitler's atrocities' - that all nations suffered, fought, and won equally. Aside from the Soviets and Poles, there is no mention of any specific ethnic or religious group. There also is naturally no mention of the Soviet Union's repressive actions and war crimes against Poles.

This derives from the necessity of kowtowing to Soviet censorship. Although the Nazis and Hitler specifically are demonized, there is no clear anti-German bias. The map appears to have been produced from impartial sources to represent Nazi war crimes accurately. Through this and similar maps, much of the current leadership of Poland, who grew up in the Soviet Era, received their education and understanding of the Holocaust.

Today, historical revisionism regarding Poland's role in the Holocaust encompasses a contentious area of public discourse. The narrative traditionally highlights Poland as a nation under German occupation, with Poles risking their lives to help Jews. This happened. However, current scholars are bringing to light instances where some Poles collaborated with Nazis or participated in the persecution of Jews. This revisionism has sparked intense debate, influenced by broader considerations of national identity, memory, and responsibility. Current efforts by the Polish government to legislate how the Holocaust is remembered, particularly laws making it illegal to accuse the Polish nation of complicity in the Holocaust, have further intensified these debates, highlighting the ongoing struggle over the historical memory.

Publication History and Census

This map is based on research compiled by the Jewish lawyer and historian Janusz Gumkowski, Stefan Guirardm, and Kazimierz Leszczynski. It was designed by the Polish cartographer and war veteran Jan Laskowski. The map was first published in 1962, with subsequent editions in 1968 and 1971. This 1971 edition is the first to include English text at the bottom. In 1971, it was published both in wall format (as here) and in a smaller poster format. This edition and wall map variant is rare. We note 4 examples of this 1971 wall map edition in OCLC: the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, the Biblioteka Narodowa, the Jewish National Library, and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. The smaller format variant, about half this size, is more widely represented.