Polish Cartographical Review Vol. 52, 2020, no. 3, pp. 124–139 DOI: 10.2478/pcr-2020-0011 EUGENIUSZ SOBCZYŃSKI Received: 2.11.2020 Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń Accepted: 28.12.2020 Faculty of History Toruń, orcid.org/0000-0002-4092-940X; [email protected] ADAM SZULCZEWSKI Żyrardów, Poland orcid.org/0000-0002-2519-4513; [email protected]

Camouflaging of areas occupied by units of the (NGF) on Polish and Soviet military topographic maps

Abstract. The authors present the political conditions in Poland after World War II which influenced the development of military topographic maps. The article shows examples of camouflaging on topographic maps of garrisons and field facilities occupied in Poland by the Northern Group of Forces of the Soviet Army (NGF). Keywords: military topographic maps, camouflaging military facilities, Northern Group of Forces ofthe Soviet Army (NGF)

1. Introduction These Soviet activities also extended to the area of mapping. In the countries of the In order to explain the secrets of camouflaging Eastern Bloc, within one to two years, legal on topographic maps of military facilities, it is acts modelled on Soviet solutions were intro- necessary to outline the political and military con- duced. The first such act, which limited the ditions which accompanied their development. free development of mapping in Poland, was After World War II, as a result of the decisions the decree of April 26, 1948 on the right to take of the leaders of world powers, Poland found aerial photos. In the following year (October 26, itself within new borders. The country’s area, 1949), a decree was issued on the protection in relation to its pre-war territory, was reduced of state and official secrets, which made maps subject to strict supervision by the government and moved west by several dozen kilometres. apparatus. This was to ensure the implemen- Poland also did not regain full sovereignty, since tation of the Soviet imperial political and military belonging to the Eastern Bloc meant that the doctrine. The decree introduced a into Soviets and the Polish Communists decided state and official secrets. State secrets con- about the future of the country. Even though stituted “all messages, documents and other the war was over, many units of the items which, due to the defence, security or were stationed in western Poland. Followed by important economic or political interests of the a gradual militarization of the country, the arms Polish State or its allied countries, may be made race between the Eastern Bloc and the Western available only to authorized persons”. Bloc meant that most sectors of the national The conferences of surveying services of economy were aimed at satisfying the needs socialist countries and conferences of the heads of the army. Until 1956, all important positions of military topographic services of the in the Polish Army were held by Soviet officers, Pact countries had the greatest impact on the supported by several hundred specialists and changes in geodesy and cartography in countries “advisers” (E. Sobczyński 2017). of the Soviet bloc. They were held in various Camouflaging of areas occupied by units of the Soviet Army Northern Group of Forces.. 125 countries in the years 1952−1989. After each Defense Committee of September 25, 1969 on conference, individual countries issued legal acts the increased protection of geodetic and carto- obliging civil and military surveying services to graphic materials, forbidding civil entities to undertake organizational work and activities use the “1942” system and the interwar “Borowa in accordance with Soviet recommendations. Góra” system. Simultaneously with this resolu- The most important arrangements were adopted tion, Order of the Prime Minister No. 102 was at the first conference held in Sofia from June published on the list of typical geodetic, carto- 22 to July 1, 1952. At that time, Poland and graphic, geological and gravimetric documents other countries were obliged to constituting a state secret. This regulation adopt geodetic coordinate systems and map already in the preamble ordered “increased standards used in the . protection” of maps and geodetic documents, The introduction of the Soviet in “1942” significantly increasing the number of documents coordinate system1 in Poland was also asso- and maps classified as secret and confidential. ciated with a great obstacle, which consisted Another document that led to the complete in making topographic maps and geodetic cut-off of the civil services from topographic coordinates secret and restricting access to maps was the Ministry of National Defense these maps for civil services2. Resolution of Order No. 4/MON of February 17, 1971. Under the Council of Ministers No. 570/52 of July 9, this order, the topographic maps of the “1942” 1952 on the classification of topographic maps system in the possession of the civil services and the Order of the Prime Minister No. 60 of had to be destroyed. In its place, for the needs July 29, 1964, as well as the instructions issued of geodetic measurements and civil topogra- on the basis of them on the protection of clas- phic mapping, the “1965” system developed by sified information limited the access of civil military surveyors3 was introduced, while keeping services to topographic maps and general its mathematical foundations secret. All civilian geographical maps up to the scale of 1:500,000 topographic maps were derived from military included (geological up to 1:1,000,000). This maps and were heavily censored, and their order reads: “Topographic maps at the scale content was distorted and falsified. Despite 1:100,000 (1:50,000) compiled in the period such restrictions, most of these maps were still 1930−1954 and at scales greater than 1:100,000 confidential. B. Konopska (2012) and W. Gry- published in the years 1920−1954 are confiden- gorenko (1991) have extensively written about tial”. Only schematic tourist maps and sche- the influence of the government apparatus in matic administrative and communication maps the years 1944−1989 on Polish cartographic shall remain public. publications for general use, especially about During the conference of surveying services the censorship and deformation of civil maps. of socialist countries in Moscow in 1965, the The Order of the Prime Minister No. 75 was Deputy Chief of Staff of the United Armed Forces issued on December 31, 1976 and listed in detail of the Warsaw Pact, General Anatoly Gribkov, geodetic data, cartographic, photogrammetric, categorically ordered all heads of state delega- gravimetric and magnetic materials subject to tions to take decisive actions (within 3 years) special protection. Thus, it concerned most to limit the “1942” system only for the army and cartographic materials produced in the country, state security services (Historie... 1993, p. 81; e.g. even sheet indexes of maps in the “1965” D. Unverhau 2006, p. 59). coordinate system were subject to protection. In Poland, the withdrawal of the “1942” system This order also concealed most of the geodetic from civil geodesy and cartography was a con- data and cartographic materials, and listed sequence of the Resolution of the National several dozen types of field facilities that were forbidden to be displayed on confidential to- 1 The “1942” system was introduced on the territory of pographic maps, e.g. high-voltage lines, water the USSR by the decision of the Council of Ministers No. 760 intakes, pumping stations, pipelines, equipment of April 7, 1946, but had been used in the production of maps at railway stations, and state triangulation points. in decimal scale systems since the 1920s. Open topographic maps were not in civilian use. 2 Although the civil services had limited access to military maps, Head Office for the Control of Press, Publications and Performances, established in 1946, also censored civil topo- 3 In the Soviet Union, the “CK-63” system had been intro- graphic maps. duced into civil surveying two years earlier. 126 Eugeniusz Sobczyński, Adam Szulczewski

On December 14, 1982, another act on the pro- frastructure of , China and other Eastern tection of state and official secrets was issued, Bloc countries using remote images. which stated that: “... a state secret is a mes- The control of the distribution of military sage, the disclosure of which to unauthorized maps and the camouflaging of militarily important persons may endanger the defence, security facilities are characteristic not only of the “Cold or important interests of the state, concerning War” times and of Soviet and Polish cartography. in particular: data in the field of geodesy, carto- In the history of military cartography, numerous graphy, topography, (...), aerial and photogram- examples are known in this regard, and some metric photographs...”. Despite these restrictions, date back to the 16th century. The most famous military maps were also subject to strict inven- concerns the King of , Frederick II the tory and distribution control. Each year, special Great (1712−1786), who was almost paranoid commissions checked all the maps, and used in controlling access to his Plankamer. The king copies were destroyed by a commission. ordered a secret instruction to be drawn up for An additional safeguard of military secrets4 the use of the maps, and each viewing required on secret maps was the camouflaging of military his personal consent. facilities and others important for the security In the interwar period, 1:25,000 and 1:100,000 of the state. Not only garrisons and facilities oc- maps, issued by the Polish Military Geographi- cupied by units of the Polish Army were camou- cal Institute, did not show the full content of the flaged, but also Soviet units stationed in Poland. military sites either. Today, in some countries, The camouflaging concerned maps at scales the camouflaging of important military and in- from 1:10,000 to 1:200,000, and consisted in dustrial facilities is still used on topographic maps, fictitious representations of the field situation of although in the age of widespread access to military facilities and omitting names and descrip- satellite images and the mass use of unmanned tions suggesting the existence of such facilities. spy devices, it seems unjustified and ineffective. The greatest censorship interference concerned In this article, for the first time in Poland, the large-scale maps: 1:10,000, 1:25,000 and authors analyse the methods of camouflaging 1:50,000. The number of camouflaged facilities facilities occupied by the Northern Group of Soviet has changed over the years, but in 1980 in Po- Forces on Polish and Soviet military maps. land there were several thousand facilities oc- The camouflaging of facilities occupied by the cupied by the Polish Army and the Soviet Army. Polish Army on Polish maps was not analysed. The methods of camouflaging the facilities occupied by NGF in Poland on the maps issued 2. Bases, barracks and training grounds by the Topographic Board of the General Staff occupied by the Northern Group of the Polish Army and the General Staff of the of the Soviet Army (NGF) Soviet Army differ. The camouflaging was ineffec- tive as it concerned most of the facilities built In order to realize how many areas and faci- before and during the World War II by the Third lities were camouflaged on the maps, it is nec- German Reich for the needs of the . essary to provide at least basic information During the war, the Wehrmacht was stationed about the state of Soviet troops stationed in in Polish pre-war military facilities and facilities Poland after World War II. Although not all fa- in the western areas of the USSR, using the cilities were completely camouflaged, the inter- training grounds of these countries. After the ference of censorship and the generalization war, most of the German documents were in of content applied to most of them. It should be the hands of the Americans and the British. remembered that the garrisons and training Moreover, the Americans launched the “Coro- grounds where NGF was stationed and trained na” satellite program in 1958, which made it were extraterritorial, and therefore excluded from possibile to monitor changes in the military in- the administrative division of Poland. Military topographers were not allowed to visit these facilities during fieldwork and map updates. 4 Masking – a type of combat security covering all activi- Immediately after World War II, the number ties aimed at misleading the opponent or concealing own of Soviet troops in Poland was, according to troops (combat readiness, completion, activities), combat equipment, fortification and rear facilities as well as actions various sources, from 300,000 to 400,000 sol- and intentions of the command (Słownik... 1977, pp. M 6-7). diers. In the first years after the end of the war, Camouflaging of areas occupied by units of the Soviet Army Northern Group of Forces.. 127 there were no legal regulations concerning the an armored division was stationed in a city in- stay of the Red Army in Poland5 and only on habited by approx. 12 thousand soldiers and December 17, 1956, the governments of Po- their families, and the nearby training ground land and the USSR signed an agreement “On covered 15,896 ha. Both garrisons were not the legal statute of Soviet troops temporarily included in the list of places administered by stationed in Poland”. Nevertheless, the Polish Poland. They were completely camouflaged government did not know the actual data on the and removed from Polish topographic maps. state of the Soviet troops and it was the Polish- Two regiments – mechanized and armoured -Soviet Inventory Commission established in – were stationed in the Pstrąże (Trzebień) gar- 1958 that finally prepared a record of the oc- rison, and the nearby Przemkowo training cupied areas and facilities. The largest areas ground with an area of 23,133 ha was the largest were occupied by military training grounds with in Poland. garrisons in Przemków-Trzebień, Świętoszów, The 24th Missile and Torpedo Brigade of the and . The vast majority of these Baltic Fleet was stationed in Świnoujście and facilities were located in forested or undeveloped occupied 4,340 m of the coast, 3 ha of port areas. In the 1960s, all barracks and training quays, and two port basins. grounds were expanded, and the area occupied Air bases were of great importance among by the Soviet army was enlarged. A full inventory the Soviet garrisons, 7 of which were places of the real estate occupied by NGF became where air regiments were permanently stationed, possible only after 1989, as a result of political and 6 were used as backup facilities, shared changes. with the Polish army. Air bases usually covered The number of garrisons occupied by the an area of several hundred hectares. Soviet army changed: in 1958 it amounted to 74, We should also mention the facilities ada- in 1985 it decreased to 42, and in the autumn pted to the storage of weapons of mass de- of 1990 to 34. The size of the garrisons varied, struction (WMD), i.e. nuclear weapons. In the some had areas of up to tens of square kilo- years 1967–1970, three such facilities were built: meters. They were mostly located in western • Podborsko near Białogard (facility 3001), and north-western Poland. Only the most im- • Brzeźnica-Kolonia near Borne Sulinowo portant and the largest will are presented in (facility 3002), this article (fig.1). • Templewo near Trzemeszno (facility 3003). Until 1984, played a key role among In total, NGF used approx. 70.5 thousand ha, half of which was covered by forests7. the garrisons. It housed the command and 6 In the years 1990−1993, approximately 56 staff of NGF, later transferred to Świdnica . thousand soldiers and 7.5 thousand civilian The command of the 4th Air Army and a brigade employees left Poland, accompanied by approx. of operational and tactical missiles were also 40 thousand family members. In addition, large stationed here. In Legnica, the Russians owned amounts of weapons were withdrawn. The last 1,203 facilities covering about 430 ha, of which transport with Russian soldiers and military 228 ha was occupied by an airport which had equipment left Poland on September 17, 1993, been built by the . on the 54th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s The largest tactical unit, the mechanized divi- aggression against Poland. sion, was based in Borne Sulinowo. An oper- ational and tactical missile brigade was also stationed there. In this garrison, which was 3. Examples of camouflaging and a separate city, there were 10−12 thousand presenting the field situation on Polish soldiers and more or less twice as many of and Soviet 1:25,000 military topographic their families and civilian employees, and the maps in areas occupied by Soviet troops nearby training ground covered 18,573 ha. The second large garrison was Świętoszów, where The camouflaging of protected areas and fa- cilities on military maps8, in accordance with the

5 In 1946, the name was changed to the Soviet Army. 7 6 Data on the number of garrisons, their area, manpower M. Czulicki (2014, p. 18) and M.L. Krogulski (2001, p. 56). and equipment are based on: M.L. Krogulski (2001) and 8 These are the so-called closed areas, classified as con- M. Czulicki (2014). stituting a state or official secret. 128 Eugeniusz Sobczyński, Adam Szulczewski

Fig. 1. The location of Soviet bases in Poland provisions on the protection of classified infor- complete information about Soviet facilities. Such mation, consisted in its fictitious presentation, information was in the possession of the Polish as well as excessive generalization. Facilities Government Plenipotentiary for the Stay of Soviet were partially or completely camouflaged. They Forces in Poland and the General Staff of the included­ airfields, military ports, armament and Polish Army. The Topographic Board of the ammunition depots, command bunkers, fuel General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, which depots, military railway sidings, water intakes, was responsible for the development and pub- telecommunications facilities and devices9. The lishing of maps, agreed twice a year with the infrastructure of military training grounds was Camouflaging Division and the Military Censor- camouflaged or simplified on maps. The removed ship Division which facilities should be camou- facilities were often replaced with forests, groves, flaged and to what extent. These arrangements meadows, wetlands and roads. There were no were also the basis for further camouflaging legal acts or strict instructions on camouflag- and deformation of maps for civilian use. ing, just general guidelines for map editors. Topographers who prepared topographic This method of camouflaging applied to garri- surveys or updated maps in the field, took into sons and facilities occupied by both the Polish account the full terrain situation in the areas Army and NGF. The map authors did not have occupied by the Polish Army, but were not allowed to perform measurements on the sites occupied by the NGF. Exceptionally in the 1970s, 9 Much more masking of military facilities concerned civi- lian topographic maps. B. Konopska (2012) writes in more Polish topographic units carried out a cursory detail about it. update of the topographic maps of 1:25,000 Camouflaging of areas occupied by units of the Soviet Army Northern Group of Forces.. 129

Fig. 2. Parts of maps at the scale of 1:25,000 of the Świętoszów garrison (sheet M-33-19-D-d): on the left − the Polish map, 1956, on the right − the Soviet map,1979 military training grounds occupied by NGF. Maps for the “General Staff” edition On maps of the territory of Poland, the Soviets (1954−1960) used the method of camouflaging Polish facili- ties adopted by , while camouflaging the Soviet garrisons in Poland were located facilities occupied by their army in a different way. mostly in the areas previously occupied by the As a result, map users perceived the camou- German , and then by the Wehr- flaging as errors in their development, raising macht, and the ready barracks and training reservations and comments to the publisher − grounds infrastructure was used. Probably for the Topographic Board of the Polish Army. this reason, some of the first post-war maps Supervision over the protection of classified show all military facilities without camouflaging, information in the Armed Forces of the Polish e.g. the garrisons of Świętoszów and Toruń. People’s Republic was exercised by the Secret The Świętoszów garrison and the nearby Protection Division of the General Staff of the training ground were one of the largest German Polish Armed Forces (formerly the Military Cen- military facilities from . The 20th Zve- sorship Division, established in 1944) and the nigorodskaya Armored Division was stationed Military Counterintelligence. It was on their ini- in them from 1951. The map at the scale of tiative that legal acts concerning the classifica- 1:25,000, sheet M-33-19-D-d from 1956 shows tion of topographic maps and the camouflaging the full range of social and living facilities (1), of facilities important for the security and defense barracks buildings, armored equipment gara- of the country were prepared (Zarys... 2002). ges (2), ammunition storage (3) and technical The methods of camouflaging military facilities infrastructure of the training grounds (4). It also have changed in accordance with the changes included the ruined buildings of the former Ger- in the regulations on the protection of classi- man POW camp from World War I and II (5). fied information. This can be traced in sub- Both here and on the Soviet sheet from 1979, sequent map editions. no military facilities were camouflaged (fig. 2). 130 Eugeniusz Sobczyński, Adam Szulczewski

Fig. 3. The Soviet base in Toruń shown on the Polish map 1:25,000 (part of sheet N-34-98-C-c Toruń, General Staff of the Polish Army, 1956, second edition) and on an American satellite image from July 28, 1969

Fig. 4. A comparison of camouflaging of the same facility on maps at different scales: on the left − a part of the Polish map 1:25,000 (sheet N-33-98-C-c Toruń), 1988, updated from 1986–1987; on the right − a part of the Soviet map 1:10,000, 1986, updated from 1982. Neither map shows the Soviet base, and despite the different scales of the maps, the same camouflaging method was used Camouflaging of areas occupied by units of the Soviet Army Northern Group of Forces.. 131

Table 1. List of the contents of the maps of the “General Staff” edition concerning the most important Soviet military air bases

Technical Residential Map sheet, Runways Aircraft facilities Barracks and Airfield facilities publication year and taxiways hangars (sidings, staff facilities in the bases fences) N-33-113-B-b, partially not presented presented presented presented 1955 presented M-33-19-B-b, Stara partially not presented presented presented presented 1957 Kopernia presented M-33-32-A-b, Krzywa not presented presented presented presented presented 1957 M-33-47-B-d, partially partially presented presented presented 1957 presented presented N-33-68-A-d, 1955 Bagicz not presented not presented not presented not presented not presented (temporary ed.)

It was similar in the case of the Toruń garrison. On the Soviet map, some of the buildings were Before World War I, warehouses for arma- presented as “ruins”. Most of the fences around ments plants and an ammunition factory were the base have been removed, no description built in the northern part of the city. In the inter- of the purpose of the facility is provided. Both war period, the facility was taken over by the maps do not differ in cartographic design, except Polish army, and after World War II by the Soviet for the replacement of Polish names with Cyrillic army, which placed a depot of ammunition and names on the Soviet map. aviation weapons here. On the Polish map at the This method of camouflaging is also charac- 1:25,000 scale from 1956, this facility is shown in teristic of other Soviet airports located in Po- its entirety, without camouflaging (fig. 3), while land. Table 1 contains a comparative list of the on maps from the 1980s – Polish 1:25,000 and infrastructure of the most important Soviet air Soviet 1:10,000 the facility was completely bases on the Polish maps of the General Staff camouflaged (fig. 4). edition. The presentation of NGF airfields on Airports were camouflaged slightly differently these maps and on analogous Soviet maps on the maps. The Soviet army took over a dozen consisted of camouflaging only the most im- or so airports in Poland built by the Germans. portant airport infrastructure and omitting infor- The way of presenting these facilities can be mation about the purpose of the facilities. seen on the example of the airport in Chojna Maps of the “Polish People’s Republic (fig. 5). In 1951, the airport was expanded by Edition” and others from 1960–1990 dismantling the old runway and replacing it with a new, concrete one along with taxiways From the second half of the 1960s, the devel­ and a parking place for planes. The works were opment of new topographic surveys at the scale completed in the mid-1950s, that is during the of 1:10,000 and the publication of maps of preparation of the Polish and Soviet 1:25,000 “Polish People’s Republic Editions” based on scale maps, sheet N-33-113-B-b Chojna. them began in Poland. An interesting example Both maps (fig. 5) have camouflaged the run- of camouflaging NGF facilities on these maps is way, the taxiway and the plane of the aircraft the Pstrąże (Strachów) garrison, one of the parking, while the facilities outside the runway, largest in Poland, with an area of 20.7 thousand including the railway siding and aircraft revet- ha, where the Soviet armored forces were sta- ments, are presented in detail (1). The maps also tioned. On the map at the scale of 1:25,000 take into account the entire hangar infrastruc- (sheet M-33-20-C-a Leszno Górne) “First edi- ture left by the Germans (2), the barracks with tion of the Polish People’s Republic”, 1967, and the head­quarters of the unit (3) and buildings (4). the second edition, 1976, the garrison was com- 132 Eugeniusz Sobczyński, Adam Szulczewski

Fig. 5. The method of camouflaging the Chojna airfield on the Polish and Soviet maps from 1956 pletely camouflaged, including the residential characteristics of the forests and the access part, by removing the buildings (fig. 6). The tech- road. Although the entire garrison was camou- nical infrastructure of the nearby training ground flaged in the first edition of the map, in the se- was generalized, and the tactical training strips cond edition some embankments, training ground were replaced with dirt roads, leaving only the roads and a railway siding were removed. The

Fig. 6. The method of camouflaging the Pstrąże (Strachów) garrison on maps 1:25,000 (sheet M-33-20-C-a Leszno Górne): 1) the “First Edition of the Polish People’s Republic” map, 1967, 2) the Soviet map, 1978 Camouflaging of areas occupied by units of the Soviet Army Northern Group of Forces.. 133

Fig. 7. Camuflaging of the “Granit” shelter in the Pstrąże (Stachów) garrison

1:25,000 Soviet map, published in 1978, is missile transporters (6). The hiding places for significantly different from the Polish map. It the rocket launchers were “Granit” type rein- shows the complete buildings of the garrison forced concrete crossing bunkers, covered with (1), armoured equipment garages (2), fuel earth and camouflaged with vegetation. Figure 7 and lubricant storage areas (3), ammunition shows a part of the Soviet map at the scale of storage areas (4), tactical training strips (5), 1:25,000 from 1979, a satellite image from the and partially a special zone to hide armoured construction period of the facility and a Lidar

Fig. 8. Removed name of the Polish topographic map 1:25,000 sheet Borne Sulinowo. The barracks were completely camouflaged on the Polish map, and the relief on the Soviet one was excessively generalized 134 Eugeniusz Sobczyński, Adam Szulczewski

Fig. 9. The garrison of Borne Sulinowo with a training ground on the maps 1:25,000: on the left – the Soviet map, 1979, on the right – the Polish map, 1975 image with the “Granit” shelters (1) and main- carried out, showing much more field details. tenance buildings (2) marked. Figure 9 presents parts of both maps: the Another place where troops were stationed Soviet map contains detailed buildings of the was the barracks and training ground area of town (1), garages and technical facilities (2) and Borne Sulinowo. It was the largest and most tactical training strips (3), while the topogra- numerous base of Soviet troops in Poland, phy is highly generalized; it does not show nu- housing the command and staff of the 6th Guards merous pits (holes after artillery firing). Although Vitebsk-Novgorod Motor Rifle Division with it seems that this map has complete field con- subordinate units and the 116th Orshanskaya tent, a comparison with aerial photographs in- Brigade of Operational and Tactical Missiles, dicates that the ground buildings used to store whose launchers were adapted to launch mis- tactical missiles were camouflaged (4). siles with nuclear warheads. On the 1:25,000 Particularly noteworthy is the Polish map of map of the 1970 “First Edition of the Polish Borne Sulinowo at the scale 1:25,000, the “Krągi” People’s Republic”, a deep camouflaging of this sheet, developed in the years 1985−1986, base was carried out, covering both the training published in 1988. Figure 10 shows a part of ground infrastructure, technical facilities and the map with the complete military infrastruc- the entire garrison town. Despite the complete ture of the garrison, including tactical missile camouflaging of the base, numerous training warehouses (4) and a military railway siding. ground roads were left. On the Polish map, even This is the only known case of a complete the name of the map was changed. “Borne Su- abandonment of the camouflaging of Soviet mi- linowo” (as on the Soviet map) was replaced litary facilities on the Polish map prior to 1990. with the name “Warnia Góra”, derived from the South of Borne Sulinowo, in Brzeźnica-Kolo- name of a nearby hill (fig. 8). On the Soviet nia, there was a military facility of particular map from 1979, compiled on the basis of aerial importance for Russians, code-named 3002. photographs from 1978, less camouflaging was It was a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) Camouflaging of areas occupied by units of the Soviet Army Northern Group of Forces.. 135

in December 1969, giving it a camouflaging name “3016 Depot of Armored Equipment”. The magazine is located on the Soviet map 1:25,000 sheet N-33-94-C-a Sypniewo (updated 1978). The entire unit with access roads was camou- flaged. Figure 11 shows a part of this map with a satellite photo from 1969, which shows the warehouse in the final stage of construction. In the 1960s, the Russians expanded all the airports they used, which resulted from the adoption of supersonic aircraft and rockets. At the Chojna airfields, the runway was extended to 2,500 m, a separate technical area for rocket weapons was built, as well as a new fuel and lubricant storage facility. A large expansion of the airport took place in the years 1968−1970, then 38 aircraft shelters were built located on the outskirts of taxiways and apron areas. The Fig. 10. Part of the Borne Sulinowo garrison on the infrastructure of this base is visible in the aerial 1:25,000 map (Krągi sheet) with complete military photo. On the maps of the First and Second infrastructure Edition of the Polish People’s Republic, the air- port in Chojna and other NGF air bases were completely camouflaged, showing meadows storage unit, in which nuclear warheads were or pastures in their place (fig. 12). This concerned stored in two underground shelters. The building the entire map series 1:25,000 − 1:200,000. with an area of 147 ha was put into operation Airfields were also not shown on city maps at

Fig. 11. Camouflaged WMD storage unit (object 3002) near Borne Sulinowo on a Soviet map 1:25,000 from 1979. Next to it, a satellite image of this warehouse from 1969 and a nuclear weapons warehouse diagram from a CIA note, based on satellite images 136 Eugeniusz Sobczyński, Adam Szulczewski

Fig. 12. Camouflaged airfield in Chojna: on the left – the Soviet map 1:50,000 (1972), on the right – the Polish map 1:50,000 (1986) and an aerial image from 1969 with visible airfield infrastructure the scale of 1:10,000 issued by the Topographic Board of the Polish Army and the General Staff of the USSR. Analogous Soviet studies for the area of the German Democratic Re- public contained in most cases the complete topographic content of mili- tary facilities. All Polish maps of the “Edition of the Polish People’s Republic” were characterized by exceptional meticu- lousness when disguising military facilities, all content suggesting the military purpose of facilities was re- moved from them. The Soviet maps published at that time contained the full content of military garrisons, only the most important facilities of the base were camouflaged (rocket warehouses and launchers, runways and taxiways, special weapons stores).

Maps of the “Model 1990” edition from 1990–1995

A breakthrough in camouflaging on Polish topographic maps took place in the early 1990s. After 30 years, Soviet military garrisons were again presented on newly issued maps. The Russians stayed in Poland until 1993, and by that time only some of the maps had Fig. 13. A part of the map 1:25,000 (“Model 1990”, 1992) of the been updated. Slightly earlier, on Świętoszów garrison with full barracks and training ground May 18, 1992, the M-33-19-D-b sheet infrastructure Camouflaging of areas occupied by units of the Soviet Army Northern Group of Forces.. 137

of the training ground, as well as the garrison buildings, were presented without camouflaging. The artillery warehouse (marked in red) is shown without camouflaging, with the double fence and the warehouses after expansion. Compared to the Soviet map, the entire sheet has richer content, and the barracks buildings are presented in more detail. The Soviet map contains only slightly more details of the training ground infrastructure, a denser network of dirt and field roads. The differences in the camouflaging of military facilities can be seen in figure 14. On the 1:25,000 scale Polish maps with the same validity (1983): on the 1985 map the facility was completely camouflaged (up), and on the later map (model 1990) it is shown with full details. NGF aviation remained in Poland until 1992. In the years 1990–1992 the Topographic Board of the Polish Army updated sheets on which there were Soviet airports in Stara Kopernia (sheet M-33-19-Bb) and in Krzywa (sheet M-33-32-A-b). The newly released maps contain a complete picture of runways, taxiways and aprons. This is a novelty compared to all previous map editions in the “1942” layout. Technical buildings (including weapon storage area), barracks and housing estates of military families also “returned” to the maps. The 1993 map of the Krzywa airport also shows the surface-to- -air missile division protecting the airport. This is previously unseen on the maps of this series, as well as on modern maps, because active missile units are still subject to information pro- tection. It can be presumed that after the Rus- Fig. 14. The “Trzebień” facility in the Pstrąże garrison sians left Poland, the camouflaging of facilities on Polish maps of various editions at the scale of of this type ceased to apply. An issue that requires 1:25,000 in-depth analysis is the lack of aircraft shelters on the new 1:25,000 maps. These massive fa- cilities with an area of over 300 m2 were intended to protect combat aircraft. The shelters, although of the map at the scale 1:25,000 was issued, camouflaged with a 2-meter-thick layer of earth, based on the materials from 1983, without a field are perfectly visible from the air due to their di- update (fig. 13). A comparison of this sheet with mensions, yet the map “Model 1990” at the air- previous editions (fig. 8), especially the Soviet port in Krzywa does not show shelter hangars. one from 1979 and the Polish one from 1956, An interesting exception is the attempt to mark leads to interesting conclusions. The map was aircraft shelters on the M-33-19-B-b Stara Ko- developed from scratch − the relief and other pernia map (fig. 15) published in 1993 (updated field details were taken from the map at the scale from 1983), where they are presented as of 1:10,000 (after generalization). It features mounds. Considering that the map was devel- numerous craters after explosions, and the oped while the area was still occupied by the characteristics of forests and surface waters Soviet army, it can be assumed that its update were changed. Details of the technical facilities was based solely on aerial photos from 1983. 138 Eugeniusz Sobczyński, Adam Szulczewski

Fig. 15. The differences between the ways of presenting the aircraft shelters on the maps “Model 1990”: on the left − the marking “mound” at the Stara Kopernia airfield, on the right − no markings at the Krzywa airfield. Below are images of the airfields taken by the KH-7 satellite in the late 1970s

* * * available to other countries participating in the NATO “Partnership for Peace” program. The Despite the fact that the Soviet troops left confidentiality of these maps made it difficult to Poland, the legal situation regarding the pres- share them with NATO partners during joint mili- entation of abandoned facilities on military maps was still ambiguous. These facilities, tary exercises. Therefore, the Military Geography mostly under the management of the Polish Board decided to remove the characteristics of Army, were treated as closed areas. After the the facilities from the maps and preserve the amendment of the regulations on the protec- camouflaging of facilities important for the tion of classified information in 1999, military defense and security of the state. Confidential maps were still supposed to be confidential, post-Soviet facilities seized by the Polish Army because they contained the characteristics of were still camouflaged. In the 1980s, there were field facilities (including bridges, roads, hydro- approximately 2,000 camouflaged military faci- technical devices) and presented military faci- lities on Polish topographic maps, and by the end lities classified as secret. Even in the order of of the 1990s this number decreased to 200. the Minister of Regional Development and Con- struction of May 18, 2001, the loads on bridges and viaducts, the voltage of overhead power 4. Summary lines and the efficiency of water intakes re- mained confidential. In Poland and in the countries of the Eastern This problem had to be resolved because since Bloc after World War II, the preparation of topo­ 1995, Polish military maps were often made graphic maps and their distribution was strictly Camouflaging of areas occupied by units of the Soviet Army Northern Group of Forces.. 139 controlled by the state administration. The So- tifying military facilities by potential opponents, viets imposed their spatial reference systems because from the 1960s, world powers placed and mapping patterns on the satellite states reconnaissance satellites in orbits around the for field measurements and mapping. At the Earth, which made it possible to track changes same time, they banned the use of these maps in military infrastructure. The analysis and com- for civilian purposes. All topographic maps parison of Polish and Soviet maps shows that were secret and confidential, and each map the approach to camouflaging was different. sheet was kept under strict records. Despite The Russians camouflaged the facilities in these conditions, military facilities were camou- which they were stationed to a lesser extent, flaged on them. It did not matter much when iden- limiting camouflaging only to key buildings.

References

Armia Radziecka w Polsce 1944−1956. Dokumenty Zarys dziejów Sztabu Generalnego (Głównego) i materiały, 2003. Elab. Mariusz Lesław Krogulski. Wojska Polskiego 1918−2002, 2002. Warszawa: Warszawa: von borowiecky. Sztab Generalny WP. Czulicki M., 2014, Wybrane aspekty pobytu Północnej Zarządzenie nr 75 Prezesa Rady Ministrów z dnia Grupy Wojsk Armii Radzieckiej w Polsce w latach 31 grudnia 1976 r. Wykaz typowych dokumentów 1945−1993 oraz wykorzystanie infrastruktury po geodezyjnych, kartograficznych, grawimetrycznych jednostkach Armii Radzieckiej po 1993 r. War- i magnetycznych stanowiących tajemnicę pań- szawa: BBN. stwową lub służbową oraz dokumentów do użytku Goryński G., 2013, Prawne podstawy ochrony infor- służbowego i jawnych. macji w Polsce. Chojnice: Wyższa Szkoła Huma- Условные знаки, шрифты и условные сокраще- nistyczna w Chojnicach. ния для топографических карт масштабов Grygorenko W., 1991, Kartografia polska w latach 1:25 000, 1:50 000 и 1:100 000 (1:75 000), 1940. 1945−1990 w potrzasku reorganizacji i cenzury. М.: ВТУ Генштаба Кр. Армии. “Polski Przegląd Kartograficzny” T. 23, nr 1-2, Условные знаки, образцы шрифтов и сокраще- pp. 1−7. ния для топографических карт масштабов Historie Topografické Služby Československě Ar- 1:25 000, 1:50 000, 1:100 000 (1:75 000), 1946. mădy 1918−1992, 1993. Praha: Armáda České ВТУ Генштаба ВС СССР. republiky. Условные знаки, образцы шрифтов и сокраще- Konopska B., 2012, O wpływie aparatu władzy w la- ния для топографических карт масштабов tach 1944−1989 na polskie publikacje kartogra- 1:25 000, 1:50 000, 1:100 000, 1951. М.: Редизд. ficzne do użytku powszechnego. Instytut Geodezji отд. ВТС. i Kartografii, Seria Monograficzna nr 16, Warszawa. Условные знаки, образцы шрифтов и сокраще- Krogulski M.L., 2000, Okupacja w imię sojuszu, ния для топографических карт масштабов Armia Radziecka 1944−1956. Warszawa: von bo- 1:25 000, 1:50 000, 1:100 000, 1959. М.: ВТУ rowiecky. Генштаба. Krogulski M.L., 2001, Okupacja w imię sojuszu, Armia Условные знаки, образцы шрифтов и сокраще- Radziecka 1956−1993. Warszawa: von borowiecky. ния для топографических карт масштабов Słownik podstawowych terminów wojskowych, 1977. 1:25 000, 1:50 000, 1:100 000, 1963. Повторное Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej, Sztab Generalny издание 1973 г. М.: ВТУ Генштаба. WP, Komisja Słownictwa Wojskowego. Условные знаки для топографических карт мас- Sobczyński E., 2017, Wpływ doktryny politycznej штабов 1:25 000, 1:50 000, 1:100 000, 1983. i militarnej ZSRR na polską kartografię wojskową М.: ВТУ Генштаба. w latach 1945−1990. In: Wojna a mapa, Historia Условные знаки для топографической карты i współczesność. Toruń: Uniwersytet Mikołaja Ko- масштаба 1:10 000 издания 1968 г. М.: ВТУ pernika. Генштаба. Unverhau D. (ed.), 2006, State security and mapping Условные знаки для топографической карты in the DDR. Map falsification as a consequence of масштаба 1:10 000, 1977. ВТУ Генштаба ВС excessive secrecy? “Archiv zur DDR-Staatssi- СССР. cherheit“ Vol. 7, .