Cartographic Visualization of Jewish Heritage in Cross-Border Tourist Project Shtetl Routes (Poland, Belarus, Ukraine)*
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Polish Cartographical Review Vol. 48, 2016, no. 4, pp. 173–183 DOI: 10.1515/pcr-2016-0013 JAKUB KUNA Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin Department of Cartography and Geomatics [email protected] Cartographic visualization of Jewish heritage in cross-border tourist project Shtetl Routes (Poland, Belarus, Ukraine)* Abstract. The aim of the author of this article is to present cartographic visualizations designed for an inter- national tourist project Shtetl Routes. The methodology consists of the study of early topographic maps, field studies, GIS analyses and 3D modelling. 63 town maps, 15 virtual mock-ups and a large thematic map have been developed as results. Multiple methodological problems are discussed. Cartographic products designed for the project have already been published or will be published in the near future. Keywords: cartographic visualization, Historical GIS, 3D, Shtetl Routes, Jewish heritage 1. Introduction1 the spatial turn in humanities (A. Knowles 2002, D. Bodenhamer et al. 2010), cartographic me- During the World War II, German Nazis held thods of research and GIS tools were present a near total extermination of Jewish community at every stage of the project: starting as a base of eastern interwar Poland (1918–1939). Shtetl material for field study, setting domain for the Routes: vestiges of Jewish cultural heritage in collection of data and finishing as a complete cross-border tourism is an interna tional project set of products for tourists. that aims to create a supra-regional tourist route based on the Jewish cultu ral heritage of 2. Methodology, acquisition of data border regions of Poland, Belarus and Ukraine (shtetlroutes.eu). The project included three The main idea of the Shtetl Routes project cartographic objectives: designing town plans was to use the remains of Jewish cultural heri- for the guidebook, designing large tourist map tage to create the tourist product that would and developing virtual 3D mock-ups of selected promote the unique beauty of small towns of towns. The mapping of pre served traces of Jew- eastern Poland, western Belarus and western ish culture as well as the most important non- Ukraine. To accomplish ambitiously stated -existent objects of their cultural heritage was goal at the highest standards it was required to a very difficult issue. The creation of cartogra- gather an international team of specialists and phic products for tourists required combining to use an interdisciplinary approach. At the enormous documentation that had been gath- beginning a list of 63 destinations of Shtetl ered during interdisciplinary research. Early Routes (tab. 1) was selected: 20 towns from maps, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Belarus, 21 from Poland and 22 from Ukraine. and cartographic visualization played an impor- Among them 15 were selected for 3D model- tant – if not crucial – role in the project. Following ling (shtetlroutes.eu, poligonstudio.pl). The cri- teria of selection were rather subjective: the * The term “shtetl” (yid. noun, singular) stands for small main points were if any extraordinary examples town with large Jewish population, which existed in Central of Jewish architecture were preserved and if and Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The article is an extension of the analysis presented at the 39th Polish Car- towns were small – generally, population should tographic Conference, Zwierzyniec 2016. be fewer than 50,000. Experts concluded that Unauthenticated Download Date | 3/18/17 7:08 PM 174 Jakub Kuna Tab. 1. List of towns selected for Shtetl Routes. Towns scales from 1:25,000 up to 1:100,000 (tab. 2). with thicked names were selected for 3D modelling Topographic situation presented on plans and Belarus Poland Ukraine maps varied chronologically (P. Cebrykow 2015, A. Czerny 2015, J. Kuna 2014). Among topo- Ashmyany Biłgoraj Belz graphic maps at the scale of 1:25,000 1 German Davyd-Haradok Dukla Berezne map and 17 Polish maps were appropriate for Dzyatlava Izbica Bolekhiv Shtetl Routes, 3 Polish maps and all Soviet Haradzishcha Józefów Brody maps at this scale were out of date. Soviet Roztoczański Red Army’s maps 1:42,000 and 1:50,000 and Indura Kazimierz Buchach Austro-Hungarian Spezialkarte 1:75,000 were Dolny also outdated. All Polish tactical maps at the Iwye Knyszyn Busk scale 1:100,000 were considered adequate. Kobryn Kock Chortkiv At second stage, maps were rectified in GIS Lunna Krynki Delatyn and compared with current spatial data – sa- Mir Lesko Drohobych tellite images, ortophotomaps, maps and plans Motal Łancut Dubno (T. Panecki 2014, J. Kuna 2015a, B. Szady Navahrudak Łęczna Halych 2008). Digitalization of features connected to Ostryna Międzyrzec Khust Jewish heritage (synagogues, cemeteries, etc.) Podlaski resulted in creating a database of possible Pinsk Orla Korets locations of historic sites and monuments. The Pruzhany Rymanów Kosiv database was converted to KML format and shared via Google Maps – researchers working Radun Sejny Kovel in field identified points of interests (POI), cor- Ruzhany Siemiatycze Kremenets rected location (address, GPS coordinates), Slonim Szczebrzeszyn Liuboml updated the status of monuments, created do- Stolin Tykocin Ostroh cumentation (photo), described characteristics Volozhyn Wielkie Oczy Pidhaitsi and filled the database with other places that Zheludok Wojsławice Rohatyn were considered “worth seeing”. Collecting of Włodawa Volodymyr- the data in field required no sophisticated tech- -Volynsky nology as popular smartphone applications Zhovkva seemed sufficient. The majority of field re- searchers used on-line version of Google Maps and Open Street Map (which sometimes had there is no point in promoting big cities (such more detailed layers, especially in Belarus). as Lublin or Lviv) or internationally recognized However, few researchers admitted that tradi- landmarks (such as Zamość). tional equipment (printed map, notebook and At first stage of the project cartographic re- pen) was the most dependable. During the search was focused on gathering archival maps field research, a large number of features, ob- from period 1900–1940 (igrek.amzp.pl, mapy- jects and sites was marked in the project’s wig.org). The research resulted in obtaining Google Maps. Updated layers were reconverted digital copies of 115 early topographic maps at into GIS database, all records were catalogued Tab. 2. List of archival topographic maps gathered for cartographic research Map Scale Sheets Situation Messtischblätter 1:25,000 1 1940 Soviet Red Army (reprints of Half-Verst maps) 1:25,000 6 1885–1904 WIG detailed map 1:25,000 20 1892–1937 Soviet Red Army (reprints of One-Verst maps) 1:42,000 2 1893–1896 Soviet Red Army (redrafts of One-Verst maps) 1:50,000 3 1888–1891 Spezialkarte 1:75,000 3 1874–1914 WIG tactical map 1:100,000 79 1922–1938 Unauthenticated Download Date | 3/18/17 7:08 PM Cartographic visualization of Jewish heritage in cross-border tourist project Shtetl Routes... 175 Fig. 1. Ashmyany (Belarus) 1:35,000 – town map designed for the Shtetl Routes guidebook (sample) in 15 categories: 5 categories referred strictly had started. The only outline for the guidebook to Jewish heritage, 5 categories referred to sacral was the size of a single page (16 cm × 23.5 cm). objects of Christianity (Latin or Orthodox) and GIS analyses revealed that selected towns dif- Islam, other categories included secular fea- fer in many characteristics: number of POIs, tures. Preservation status was coded with Bo- area covered by thematic features, complexity olean: 1 – “preserved”, 0 – “not preserved”. of urban arrangement, etc, therefore there was Comments like “active”, “closed”, “rebuild”, “in no possibility to draw all maps at equal scale. ruins”, “changed usage” were added to records It was decided that dimensions of each map with “true” values. GIS database served as should be constant: rectangular, 12 cm × 8 cm, a foundation for designing maps (J. Kuna horizontal or vertical – depending on the range 2015a). Along with the development of the pro- of presented area. Thus, scales of town maps ject, the idea of designing online, interactive vary from 1:7,500 to 1:40,000 resulting in dif- map was mentioned. Unfortunately, it had to ferent level of generalization and all further be postponed due to the rigid budget. consequences (M.-J. Kraak, F. Ormeling 2010, J. Kuna 2015a). 3. Cartographic products Another methodological problem occurred when the base map was considered. It seemed As three types of cartographic visualization impossible to decide whether the maps should have been developed for the project, different present current or historical situation (B. Szady problems occurred. Methodological questions, 2008). Obviously, current situation is neces- solutions and workflow are described below, sary for map’s user to locate sites and monu- along with each type of the cartographic product. ments in present space of the town. However, thematic layer of designed maps mostly con- sists of historic features, hence presenting in- 3.1. Town maps terwar situation has a logic explanation as well. The aim of the Shtetl Routes project is to The most fundamental methodological ques- invite tourists to participate in a journey that is tions appeared before the design of town maps both physical and mental. The authors decided Unauthenticated Download Date | 3/18/17 7:08 PM 176 Jakub Kuna Fig. 2. Kremenets (Ukraine) 1:20,000 – town map designed for the Shtetl Routes guidebook (sample) to choose compromising solution. While all between features were desired (M.-J. Kraak, other features are drawn up to date, build-up F. Ormeling 2010). Shtetl Routes’s point sym- area is shown at two stages: pre-WW II and bols were designed in the combined manner. current (fig. 1, fig. 2). Cartographic presentation The outer geometrical figure (5 mm × 5 mm) is of change adds another dimension (time) to common for all signs. Signatures are distin- these primarily simple maps, giving them a new, guished by inner shapes, which are: simplified deeper meaning (M.-J.