Table 1 Overview of the Majdanek mapping... | Emerald Publishing

Table 1

Overview of the Majdanek mapping lesson

	Introduction	Lublin cityscape	Topographic mapping	Corroboration	Summation
Instruction	Discussion around background knowledge and the definition of “The Holocaust.”	Students analyze maps of Majdanek and Lublin	Understand “line of sight” and topography	Students analyze primary and secondary sources to corroborate their maps	Viewing a present-day photo from Majdanek looking toward Lublin, discuss the concluding questions
Instruction		Discuss Knowles' (2024) critiques of Holocaust maps	In groups, students create elevation profile maps of Lublin and Majdanek	Discussion of sources
Questions	When you hear the term “Holocaust,” what comes to mind? When we think of the killing centers (Treblinka, Auschwitz, etc.), where do you envision them located? Why? Where were killing centers located? What did witnesses know?	When you think of a map, what do you expect it to look like? How does this map of Lublin fit that expectation? What does this map tell us that USHMM maps do not? What does this (not) tell us about Lublin? What would Knowles say about this map?	If someone lived downtown, could they see what was taking place in the camp?	What questions are answered by these maps? What questions are generated by these maps? To what extent does the evidence in the resources support your elevation profile map?	How did the geographic analysis offer a new perspective of the Holocaust?
			Can we see 2.5 miles?		How did the activity help you think about the connection between atrocity and the landscape / cityscape?
			Can we use topography to demonstrate that people in Lublin would have seen what was occurring in Majdanek?		What is our responsibility to act when we see persecution / atrocity occurring?
Resources	United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) definition of the Holocaust	USHMM maps of Majdanek and Lublin	Local map to demonstrate “line of sight”	Eyewitness testimony, historians' accounts, and photographs	Present-day photographs
Resources		1942 topographic map of Lublin	Free mapping tools	Eyewitness testimony, historians' accounts, and photographs	Present-day photographs

	Introduction	Lublin cityscape	Topographic mapping	Corroboration	Summation
Instruction	Discussion around background knowledge and the definition of “The Holocaust.”	Students analyze maps of Majdanek and Lublin	Understand “line of sight” and topography	Students analyze primary and secondary sources to corroborate their maps	Viewing a present-day photo from Majdanek looking toward Lublin, discuss the concluding questions
Instruction		Discuss Knowles' (2024) critiques of Holocaust maps	In groups, students create elevation profile maps of Lublin and Majdanek	Discussion of sources
Questions	When you hear the term “Holocaust,” what comes to mind? When we think of the killing centers (Treblinka, Auschwitz, etc.), where do you envision them located? Why? Where were killing centers located? What did witnesses know?	When you think of a map, what do you expect it to look like? How does this map of Lublin fit that expectation? What does this map tell us that USHMM maps do not? What does this (not) tell us about Lublin? What would Knowles say about this map?	If someone lived downtown, could they see what was taking place in the camp?	What questions are answered by these maps? What questions are generated by these maps? To what extent does the evidence in the resources support your elevation profile map?	How did the geographic analysis offer a new perspective of the Holocaust?
			Can we see 2.5 miles?		How did the activity help you think about the connection between atrocity and the landscape / cityscape?
			Can we use topography to demonstrate that people in Lublin would have seen what was occurring in Majdanek?		What is our responsibility to act when we see persecution / atrocity occurring?
Resources	United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) definition of the Holocaust	USHMM maps of Majdanek and Lublin	Local map to demonstrate “line of sight”	Eyewitness testimony, historians' accounts, and photographs	Present-day photographs
Resources		1942 topographic map of Lublin	Free mapping tools	Eyewitness testimony, historians' accounts, and photographs	Present-day photographs

Source(s): Authors' own work based on Eargle and Sanders (2026)