"Sonderfahndungsbuch Polen. The Special Book of the Wanted in Poland" - Exhibition Fragment at MSWW

The narrative of the main exhibition at the Museum of the Second World War focuses on, among other things, the tragic experiences of Poles under German occupation. Many of them were murdered as part of the "Aktion Intelligenz" (Intelligenzaktion) from the autumn of 1939 or the "Aktion AB" in 1940 – the Extraordinary Pacification Action (Außerordentliche Befriedungsaktion). The names of Polish activists were known to the Germans through publications such as the "Sonderfahndungsbuch Polen – The Special Book of the Wanted in Poland". Copies of this book are presented in our exhibition.

"Sonderfahndungsbuch Polen" is a special publication – an expanded version of the Sonderfahndungsliste, which were proscription lists given to the German invaders when they entered Poland in September 1939. The Einsatzgruppen – German police and security service operational groups – gathered information based on these lists to create the later wanted book. It serves as both an important historical document and one of the numerous pieces of evidence of the criminal intentions of the German occupiers.

A copy of the first page of this publication is displayed in the main exhibition at the MSWW. It is located in the section dedicated to German occupational terror, alongside the names of Polish elites who were murdered by the invaders in the first months of the war.

As stated in the preface by Grzegorz Bębnik in the reprint of the "The Special Book of the Wanted in Poland.":

In this book of nearly two hundred pages, often incomplete, personal data of nearly 8.8 thousand individuals, citizens of the Second Polish Republic or the Free City of Gdańsk, are listed. These individuals, due to their activities (often of a social or political nature) or their specific attitudes, drew the interest of the German police authorities. The names are listed in alphabetical order, and after each subsequent letter, a blank space is left – usually two or three pages for additions that were printed after the publication of the Book.

We encourage you to explore the main exhibition of the Museum of the Second World War, where we discuss this aspect of the martyrdom of Poles from 1939 to 1945 and other tragic aspects of this 20th-century history. We also recommend purchasing the reprint of the book, available for sale in our store located on level -3 of the museum building.

You can also read more about the book: