Polesian National Park

Lore & Background

The idea of creating a national park in the Polish part of Polesia first appeared in 1959. Over the following years, several preserves were organized, and in 1982 the government announced the creation of Polesie Landscape Park. The national park was finally created in 1990 over an area of 48.13 square kilometres, covering former peat-bog preserves: Durne Marsh, Moszne Lake, Długie Lake, and Orłowskie Peatland. In 1994 its size was augmented by the addition of Bubnów Marsh, a swampy terrain adjacent to the park. Currently, the park occupies 97.62 km², of which forests make up 47.8 km², and water and wastelands 20.9 km².

During World War II, after the invasion of Poland, Nazi Germany planned to set up a 'Jewish reservation' in the Lublin region, though not specifically within today's Polesie National Park. Adolf Eichmann was assigned the task of removing all Jews from Germany, Austria, and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to this reservation. The first short-term plan to be implemented was to concentrate the Jews around Nisko and the San River. Deportations began in October 1939. The 'Nisko Plan' initially intended to remove 80,000 Jews from the so-called Greater German Reich, was scrapped in April 1940. By that time 95,000 Jews chiefly from Germany, Austria, and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia were already deported to this area. They were pressed to work in RSHA camps, though this was separate from the later Generalplan Ost. By mid-October however, the idea of a 'Jewish reservation' was revived. Resettlement actions connected to this plan continued until January 1941 under Globocnik, and included both Jews and Poles. Some 51 camps were created, but further plans of deporting up to 600,000 additional Jews to the Lublin reservation failed because of logistical factors. Notably, in less than two years the whole district would lend itself to the industrialized murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews during Operation Reinhard.

The park lies on the Łęczna-Włodawa Lakeland. Its terrain is flat, with numerous lakes and peat-bogs. The ecosystems of swamps and peat-bogs are considered very delicate and can easily be influenced by several outside factors. Some unfortunate changes were made by draining swamps, which took place mainly during World War II, when the area became the focus of the Nazi German 'Lublin und Nisko Plan'.

Reader's Guide

Polesian National Park holds significance both as a protected natural area and as a site of historical tragedy. Ecologically, it preserves unique tundra-like forests and delicate peat-bog ecosystems that are rare in continental Europe, and it is part of the West Polesie biosphere reserve designated by UNESCO in 2002. The park is also protected under the Ramsar convention as an important wetland site. Its biodiversity includes boreal and Atlantic flora, 21 species of fish, 12 amphibians, 6 reptiles, up to 150 bird species (including endangered eagles), and 35 mammal species such as Eurasian otters, elks, Eurasian beavers, and bats.

Historically, the park's area was central to the Nazi German 'Nisko Plan' for a 'Jewish reservation' during World War II. Deportations of Jews from Germany, Austria, and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia began in October 1939, and by April 1940, 95,000 Jews had been deported there. The plan was scrapped but revived later, with resettlement actions continuing until January 1941 under Globocnik. Some 51 camps were created, though further deportations of up to 600,000 additional Jews failed due to logistical factors. The draining of swamps during this period caused ecological damage. The park's legacy thus intertwines conservation with the memory of Nazi crimes, and it remains rarely visited despite developed infrastructure.