Mapping Modernity

13. Yanova

25 October 2023

Mental maps of Shtetls

In the absence of professionally-made maps, groups of survivors made new maps of their destroyed communities for their memorial books, known as ‘Jizker-bicher.’ These ‘mental maps’ didn’t adhere to topographical standards; rather, they served as testimonials to the world they had lost. For instance, in Yanova, where 80% of its 4,000-strong population was Jewish before the war.

L. Bolnik, Map of Yanova, in: I. Burstein & Sh. Noy, Yizkor Book in Memory of the Jewish Community of Yanova (in Yiddish, Hebrew and English), Tel Aviv 1972. Coll. S/T K.570, 28 x 48.5 cm.