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Szlamach Radoszynski: Maps

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occupied Poland Warsaw ghettos Auschwitz Dachau

Szlamach Radoszynski was 27 years old when Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. The following year, Szlamach and the rest of the Jews of Warsaw were forced into a ghetto. After the ghetto uprising in 1943, Szlamach was deported to Auschwitz and, later, to Dachau. He was liberated during a forced march on May 1, 1945.

Poland 1933, Warsaw indicated

Poland 1933, Warsaw indicated [LCID: waz79080]

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The Warsaw Ghetto

Before World War II, Warsaw was a center of Jewish life and culture in Poland. During the war, the Nazis established ghettos where they forced Jews to live under crowded and miserable conditions. At its height, the ghetto in Warsaw—the largest in Europe—held over 400,000 Jews engaged in a constant struggle for survival.

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Warsaw environs, 1940

Warsaw environs, 1940 [LCID: waz44030]

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Warsaw ghetto, 1940

Warsaw ghetto, 1940 [LCID: waz54043]

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Warsaw ghetto uprising, 1943

Warsaw ghetto uprising, 1943 [LCID: waz54063]

The city of Warsaw is the capital of Poland. Before World War II, Warsaw was the center of Jewish life and culture in Poland. Warsaw's prewar Jewish population of more than 350,000 constituted about 30 percent of the city's total population. The Warsaw Jewish community was the largest in both Poland and Europe, and was the second largest in the world, behind that of New York City. The Germans occupied Warsaw on September 29, 1939. In October 1940, the Germans ordered the establishment of a ghetto in Warsaw. All Jewish residents were ordered into the designated area, which was sealed off from the rest of the city in November 1940. The ghetto was enclosed by a wall that was over 10 feet high, topped with barbed wire, and closely guarded to prevent movement between the ghetto and the rest of Warsaw.

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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]

This map shows the Auschwitz camp complex in the summer of 1944.

The SS established Auschwitz in spring 1940 as a concentration camp for Polish political prisoners. It was located in German-occupied Poland on the outskirts of the town of Oświęcim. Over the next several years, the camp was expanded and transformed into a sprawling camp complex. In March 1942, the SS began operating a killing center at Auschwitz where they murdered Jewish people from all over Europe. 

By 1944, the Auschwitz camp complex included multiple camps that served different purposes. The largest of the Auschwitz camps included the Auschwitz main camp (Auschwitz I); Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz II), which included the killing center; and Auschwitz-Monowitz (Auschwitz III). There were also numerous smaller subcamps.

At Auschwitz, the Germans killed about 1.1 million people, including approximately 1,000,000 Jews; 70,000 Poles; 21,000 Roma and Sinti; and 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war.

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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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Last Edited: Aug 17, 2018

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