We encourage you to become acquainted with the publication "Sonderfahndungsbuch Poland. Special Book of the Wanted in Poland" (Introduction and Compilation by Grzegorz Bębnik), which is available for purchase in our museum shop. The book is a unique primary source publication – a reprint of the book containing the names of Poles sought after by the German invaders, published during the occupation.
Rarely does a book's publication equate to a death sentence for specific individuals. Such was the case with "Sonderfahndungsbuch Poland." The history of this book is tied to the intention of capturing and neutralizing (eliminating) particularly active Polish social and political activists, who were deemed enemies by the authorities of Nazi Germany.
The publication was a consequence of the practice of compiling various registers that had been used up to that point. Such documents were meant to aid in locating individuals wanted for committing crimes or determining the whereabouts of suspects, all in the interest of maintaining order. These types of lists were given to German police units that entered Poland in September 1939.
Germany quickly realized that these list formats were insufficient, prompting the decision to publish a comprehensive document in October 1939. The book was published, as suggested by its entries, between the fall of 1939 and the beginning of April 1940.
