Sign In

A Pro-Soviet Look At The Conquest of Poland By The Nazis and Subsequent Liberation By Russian and Polish Forces

This 1972 Polish educational wall map, titled Walki Zbrojne z Najeźdźcą Hitlerowskim na Ziemiach Polski w Latach Wojny 1939–45 ("Armed Campaigns in Poland Against the Nazi Invader, 1939–45"), was published by the state cartographic agency Państwowe Przedsiębiorstwo Wydawnictw Kartograficznych (PPWK) in Warsaw.

Designed as both an instructional and commemorative artifact, it visualizes the military struggles that took place on Polish soil during World War II. The map presents battles, campaigns, and resistance actions primarily through the lens of Soviet and Polish People's Army narratives, emphasizing the Red Army's role in liberating Poland while omitting episodes such as the 1939 Soviet invasion and subsequent Soviet atrocities.

The map employs a system of symbols to denote the activities of different military forces. Red stars indicate Soviet army operations, yellow crosses mark Polish regular forces, green crosses represent Polish guerrilla and diversionary units, and yellow crosses with swords denote Czechoslovak People's Army operations. Yellow seals represent actions by German anti-fascists. These markers appear throughout Poland, illustrating a dense network of engagements—particularly in the country's eastern and southern regions. The color-coded symbols provide a striking visual accounting of resistance and conflict, reinforcing the ideological message that Poland’s liberation was achieved through coordinated Soviet and socialist efforts.

Inset maps at lower left expand on two themes: guerrilla attacks on German railway infrastructure, and the campaign routes of the Polish People’s Army as it advanced westward alongside the Soviet military toward Berlin. These additions underscore the role of Polish partisans in undermining Nazi logistics and emphasize the Soviet-organized Polish military as a central agent in the defeat of Germany. The map’s bilingual and multilingual annotations—in Polish, Russian, English, French, and German—suggest its function as both a domestic educational tool and an international statement of wartime narrative.

While the map honors the suffering and resistance of the Polish people during the Nazi occupation, it is shaped by Soviet-era historiography. There is no mention of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Katyn massacre, or the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland, and non-communist resistance movements, including the Armia Krajowa (Home Army), are notably absent. By focusing solely on communist-aligned forces and framing victory through Soviet assistance, the map contributes to the broader Soviet objective of legitimizing post-war political control and historical interpretation in the Eastern Bloc.