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Emplacement des Camps de Prisonniers de Guerre en Allemagne, issued in 1942 by the French Secretary of State for War, offers an intimate, chilling perspective of the landscape of the Second World War. Providing a unique cartographic record of the placement of prisoner-of-war camps in Germany, the map reflects a tragic facet of wartime history, embodying the tension between military strategy and human suffering.
The map was created under the auspices of the Service des Prisonniers de Guerre, based in Lyon, and is reflective of the conditions and information available as of October 1, 1942. In the face of war's chaos, the document exemplifies the administrative attempts to systematize and track wartime realities. The objective, clinical listing of camps contrasts starkly with the human turmoil contained within them, highlighting the intersection of bureaucracy and conflict in times of war.
The map solely includes camps housing French prisoners of war as of the specified date. Additional camps, shown on the map, represent former locations temporarily unoccupied by French prisoners of war at the time. This temporal snapshot reveals the shifting dynamics of war, with prison camps not as static constructs, but as fluid entities subject to the tide of conflict.
In its cartographic lexicon, the map differentiates between the headquarters of military regions, important cities, Stalag and Oflag camps, and various other camps. This systematic delineation underscores the complexity of the war landscape, helping historians and scholars alike to understand the structure of the German prison camp system during World War II. The map, in its austere simplicity, serves as a stark reminder of the grim realities of war and its far-reaching impacts on individuals and societies.
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