The use of non-invasive techniques in locating graves of Holocaust victims; the Rejowiec case study

• Autorzy: Różycki S. , Nieradko A. , Karczewski J. , Schwarz A.

Warianty tytułu

PL

Wykorzystanie nieinwazyjnych metod w lokalizacji grobów ofiar Holocaustu; Rejowiec - studium przypadku

• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

The Holocaust - the almost total extermination of European Jews by the Germans during World War II (1939-45) is primarily associated with such German extermination camps as Auschwitz, Bełżec, Majdanek, Sobibór or Treblinka. In addition to these places, Central and Eastern Europe, including territory, within the present Polish borders, is literally dotted with forgotten individual and mass Jewish war graves. These are the graves of Jews who were not sent to the German death camps during the liquidation of the ghettos during Reinhardt’s operation (March 1942 - November 1943), but were murdered during and after the mass extermination. These Jews were buried in nameless graves located in forests, roadside ditches, arable fields, etc. In most cases, their number and exact location are unknown, both for scientists and descendants of victims, although they often exist in the memories of the last living witnesses of the Holocaust and local communities . One of the statutory tasks of the Rabbinical Commission for Jewish cemeteries in Poland is to search for the forgotten graves of Holocaust victims and restore the identity of the murderers who were taken away from them. The Commission, as a religious entity, headed by the Chief Rabbi of Poland, operates in support of the Jewish law - Halacha, whose regulations define the method and methodology of research. Halacha prohibits opening graves and moving the remains of the dead. All investigations specifying the location and size of the graves they must be carried out in a non-invasive manner, without interfering with the soil structure. In this study, the authors present the first results of work on the location of places of execution and mass graves of Jews from World War II, which were carried out using methods respecting the provisions of Jewish law. To locate these places, the following methods are used: the Holocaust witness account, documents from the Institute of National Remembrance, data from laser scanning, GPR measurements, historical and current aerial photographs. The authors will present the methods of their work and the problems they faced during the research.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

mass graves; Rejowiec; aerial photography; GPR; Holocaust

PL

groby masowe; Rejowiec; fotografia lotnicza; GPR; Holokaust

• Wydawca: Polskie Towarzystwo Geograficzne, Oddział Teledetekcji i Geoinformatyki
• Czasopismo: Teledetekcja Środowiska
• Rocznik: 2016
• Tom: T. 54
• Strony: 51--60
• Opis fizyczny: Bibliogr. 12 poz., rys.

Twórcy

autor

Różycki S.

• Zakład Fotogrametrii, Teledetekcji i Systemów Informacji Przestrzennej, Wydziału Geodezji i Kartografii Politechniki Warszawskiej. Telefon [phone]

autor

Nieradko A.

• Komisja Rabiniczna ds. Cmentarzy Żydowskich, 00-950 Warszawa, ul. Twarda 6; Telefon/Fax: [phone]

autor

Karczewski J.

• Katedra Geofizyki, Wydział Geologii, Geofizyki i Ochrony Środowiska, Akademii Górniczo-hutniczej im Stanisława Staszica w Krakowie, tel: [phone]

autor

Schwarz A.

• Komisja Rabiniczna ds. Cmentarzy Żydowskich, 00-950 Warszawa, ul. Twarda 6; Telefon/Fax: [phone]

Bibliografia

• ABICHT M. J., 2010. Using Wartime aerial photographs to locate lost Graves sites in Landscapes Through the Lens: Aerial Photographs and the Historic Environment, pp. 263-265.
• COWLEY D., FERGUSON L., WILLIAMS A., 2013. The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives: A Global Aerial Photographic Collection. In: Hanson W., Oltean I., eds. Archaeology from Historical Aerial and Satellite Archives, pp 13-30, New York: Springer.
• DANIELS D.J., 2004. (Ed.), Ground Penetrating Radar (2nd Edition). IEE, ISBN 0-86341-360-9.
• GODZIEMBA-MALISZEWSKI W., 1995. Katyń: An Interpretation of Aerial Photographs Combined with Facts and Documents. Fotointerpretacja w Geografii no 25. Warszawa: Polskie Towarzystwo Geograficzne.
• GODZIEMBA-MALISZEWSKI W., 2010. GX of the Solovetskiye Island, Russia: using World War II Luftwaffe aerial photographs. Landscapes Through the Lens: Aerial Photographs and the Historic Environment, pp. 281-285.
• KARCZEWSKI J., 2011. Application of GPR method to investigate in protected areas. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, vol. 20 no. 4A pp. 115-119.
• KUWAŁEK R., 2004. Getta tranzytowe w Dystrykcie Lubelskim. Akcja Reinhardt. Zagłada Żydów w Generalnym Gubernatorstwie, red. Dariusz Libionka, Warszawa.
• MYCKE-DOMINKO M., 1992. Zmiany na obszarze Lasu Katyńskiego w latach 1942-1944 na podstawie zdjęć lotniczych. Fotointerpretacja w Geografii no 21, pp. 111-121.
• NIERADKO A., 2015. Rabbinical Commission for Jewish Cemeteries in Poland. Killing Sites Research and Remembrance, ed. International Holocaust Rememberance Alliance, Berlin.
• PŁOTKOWSKI L., 2008. Afforestation of agricultural land In the Programme of Rural Development for 2007-2013. Zeszyty Naukowe Szkoły Głównej Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego w Warszawie 5(20), pp. 116-125.
• RÓŻYCKI S., 2012. Ziemia zatrzymana w kadrze. Odkrywca, Militaria Magazine 9, pp. 6-9.
• SCHWIDEFSKY K., 1959. An outline of Photogrammetry. Pitman Publishing Corporation (first English edition of book: Einfuhrung in die Luft- und Erdbildmessung, 1939, Teubner-Verlag, Stuttgart).