In this project, we are creating an interactive map of graves of Holocaust victims. It includes only burial sites whose location is known, either because they are commemorated or because they can be identified as being located in Jewish cemeteries. At current stage, the map covers the General Government (occupied Polish territories that were not incorporated into the Reich) only. The map is based on data collected in the USHMM “Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945”, which for selected sites we are gradually supplementing with other sources.
The information can be searched for using such criteria as place name, number of victims, or location of burial sites within or outside Jewish cemeteries. The map is also enriched with additional cartographic data, the compilation of which is unique in the context of Holocaust research. We are interested in the history of the so-called dispersed Holocaust and the memory of it. We study the mass crimes against Jews, as well as the Sinti and Roma murdered outside the camps. We also look at places where their remains are buried. The sites shown on the map are usually the graves of victims of Operation Reinhardt, the most deadly phase of the Holocaust in the General Government, which lasted from April 1942 to November 1943. During this period, the Germans murdered almost all the Jews in the area. In addition to deportations to death camps – primarily Belzec, Treblinka and Sobibor – the perpetrators shot the victims in their cities, towns and villages. These places call for description and understanding.
Many burial locations are unknown. Information on the search for unknown or uncommemorated Jewish graves from the Second World War can be found on the website of the Zapomniane (Forgotten) Foundation. Likewise, no complete data is available on the commemorations of individual sites. If you would like to share your knowledge of tombstones, monuments or plaques commemorating mass burial sites of Holocaust victims, please contact us at holocaustmassgraves@dhi.waw.pl.
Background graphics: “Landscape of our Memory”, courtesy of Gabriela Bulisova and Mark Isaak
Many burial locations are unknown. Information on the search for unknown or uncommemorated Jewish graves from the Second World War can be found on the website of the Zapomniane (Forgotten) Foundation. Likewise, no complete data is available on the commemorations of individual sites. If you would like to share your knowledge of tombstones, monuments or plaques commemorating mass burial sites of Holocaust victims, please contact us at holocaustmassgraves@dhi.waw.pl.
Background graphics: “Landscape of our Memory”, courtesy of Gabriela Bulisova and Mark Isaak