The United Nations War Atlas 1942 – Collection of Strategic Maps published at the height of battles in World War II – Maps published in real time by the Allies documenting the campaign and chances against the armies of Nazi Germany, and the preparations for battles on the various fronts of the Allies in the war against the Axis powers. United States, 1942. The copy of Nazi hunter Eli Wiesel with an ownership inscription in his handwriting on the cover and an interesting note he wrote about the fact that in the maps dealing with attack opportunities against Nazi Germany, there is no mention at all of Nazi concentration camps.
One of the maps titled: “How we can smash the nazis” – describes the fronts through which the Allies planned to attack Germany. Here it is written: “In 1938, Adolf Hitler, apparently driven by the dream of Nazi world domination, began lightning war invasions of Central European countries”. And describes at length Hitler’s various conquests up to that time, and the options of the Allies to stop him. Next to this map is a pinned piece of paper on which Eli Wiesel wrote: “Four maps of troop deployment, no mention of the camps’ existence neither in text nor on the maps, and I have already commented on this”. And indeed, in all the maps in the atlas, there is no mention of the existence of concentration camps in Germany or Poland. Did the Allies at this stage (1942) know of the existence of the death camps? This question is still debated today historically.
The atlas includes war maps: Australia on the front, the war in the Pacific, United States teams around the world, routes to Berlin, Rome and Tokyo, the war in Libya, threat to Gibraltar and Suez, new fronts near Norway, battle at the North Pole, bases maps for bombers against the Axis powers, Nazi plans for the Middle East, world maps for understanding the picture, and more. On the cover is a photo of General Douglas MacArthur the supreme commander of UN forces in Southwest Pacific.
The atlas opens with the publisher explaining the structure of the maps published here: “For the first time in history, men are fighting the same battle across the entire world. This war atlas shows where the conflict is raging – from the struggle for Burma and Australia, across the world to Russia, Libya and the Mediterranean Sea. Since the war is happening not just on land but also the seven seas, maps are provided of the major battlefields in the ocean. A number of maps display the main sea routes along which the United States transfers supplies to global battlefronts. Simple strategy maps point to expected attacks by the Axis powers and counterattacks by the Allied forces. Other maps graphically present the locations of strategic raw materials essential to war industries. This atlas presents the greater scope of the struggle…All the maps in this atlas relate to the geography of the war, thereby bringing the scale of the conflict within the reader’s imagination. They will enable the reader to closely follow the changing course of the war”.
Eliezer Wiesel [“Eli” 1928-2016] French-American Jewish writer, journalist, philosopher and Holocaust survivor intellectual from Transylvania. Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in defense of human rights (1986). Engaged in educational activities to commemorate the Holocaust and prevent mass murders worldwide. In his lifetime, Wiesel was considered a fluent and sought-after writer and lecturer, and one of the most lucid and prominent voices of Holocaust victims and oppressed peoples. In addition to commemorating the Holocaust, Wiesel was active in issues relating to Israel and Zionism, the plight of Soviet Jews and Ethiopian Jews, victims of apartheid in South Africa, and more.
[30] p. 35 cm. Maps in colour and black and white. Each map spans across an entire page. In the center of the atlas a large colorful world map with war strategy markings 48×32 cm. Overall very good condition.