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Hersh Gordon: Maps

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Lithuania Kovno deportations Auschwitz Dachau occupation Baltic countries

Hersh Gordon was born to a Jewish family in Kovno, Lithuania, in 1925. After Germany occupied the city in 1941, Kovno's Jews were forced into a ghetto. In 1944, Hersh was deported to Auschwitz and then Dachau. He immigrated to the United States after the war.

These maps add geographic context to Hersh's experience.

Europe 1933, Baltic Countries indicated

Europe 1933, Baltic Countries indicated [LCID: eur69510]

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Baltic Countries, 1933

Baltic Countries, 1933 [LCID: bal19010]

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Baltic Countries 1933, Kovno indicated

Baltic Countries 1933, Kovno indicated [LCID: kov79060]

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Ghettos in the Baltic Countries, 1941-1943

Ghettos in the Baltic Countries, 1941-1943 [LCID: bal19020]

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Europe 1943-1944, Auschwitz indicated

Europe 1943-1944, Auschwitz indicated [LCID: auc62040]

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Auschwitz environs, summer 1944

Auschwitz environs, summer 1944 [LCID: auc42030]

Auschwitz was the largest camp established by the Germans. It was a complex of camps, including a concentration, extermination, and forced-labor camp. It was located at the town of Oswiecim near the prewar German-Polish border in Eastern Upper Silesia, an area annexed to Germany in 1939. Auschwitz I was the main camp and the first camp established at Oswiecim. Auschwitz II (Birkenau) was the killing center at Auschwitz. Trains arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau almost daily with transports of Jews from virtually every German-occupied country of Europe. Auschwitz III, also called Buna or Monowitz, was established in Monowice to provide forced laborers for nearby factories, including the I.G. Farben works. Approximately one million Jews were killed in Auschwitz. Other victims included between 70,000 and 75,000 Poles, 21,000 Roma, and about 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war.

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Auschwitz

Auschwitz played a central role in the "Final Solution," the Nazi plan to murder the Jews of Europe. The Nazis deported Jews from nearly every European country to the Auschwitz II (Birkenau) killing center in occupied Poland. In all, more than 1.1 million people died at Auschwitz, including approximately one million Jews.

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Major Nazi camps in Europe, Dachau indicated

Major Nazi camps in Europe, Dachau indicated [LCID: dac72090]

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Dachau environs, 1944

Dachau environs, 1944 [LCID: dac42070]

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Dachau concentration camp, 1944

Dachau concentration camp, 1944 [LCID: dac22030]

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