Jan Laskowski. Zbrodnie Hitlerowskie Na Ziemiach Polski W Latach 1939-1945 [“Nazi Crimes in Polish Territories During the Years 1939-1945.”]
AUCTION 72 |
Thursday, March 16th,
2017 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Holy Land Maps & Fine Art
Lot 133
(HOLOCAUST).
Jan Laskowski. Zbrodnie Hitlerowskie Na Ziemiach Polski W Latach 1939-1945 [“Nazi Crimes in Polish Territories During the Years 1939-1945.”]
Warsaw: Wydawnictw Kartograficznych 1962
Est: $1,500 - $2,000
PRICE REALIZED $1,750
Map of hundreds of Nazi camps and execution sites in Poland during 1939-1945. Each camp or site is marked by a specific symbol, which is explained in Polish, French, English, German and Russian at the bottom left of the cartogram. Particularly striking is the contrast between the bright pastel pink and light blue colors which dominate the map and the skull and cross bones indicating the grizzly reality the map seeks to portray.
The map was compiled on the initiative of the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites in Poland and based on the work by Stefan Guiard, Janusz Gumkowski and Kazimierz Leszczynski, authors of “War Crimes in Poland: Genocide 1939- 1945.”
Based on the fact that the map was published in 1962 and is written in five languages, it would appear that it was utilized for the second round of Auschwitz Trials held in Germany (1963-65).
Towards the bottom of the map, Jan Laskowski, the editor, records in Polish: “Attention, due to legibility, the map marks points that represent only some 10% of the crimes (which took place in Poland.)”