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Theodore Kaufman wasn’t famous. He ran a small business in Newark and had strong opinions about stopping wars. In 1941, he published a book called Germany Must Perish! that most Americans ignored. Inside was a map that would eventually help fuel Nazi propaganda.
Kaufman’s solution to German aggression was extreme: sterilize the German population and split up the country. His map showed Germany carved up among 12 neighbors—France, Poland, the Netherlands, and others each getting pieces.
The map, titled “Map Showing Possible Dissection of Germany and Apportionment of Its Territory,” wasn’t professionally drawn. It looked like someone had sketched boundaries without much thought about geography or people. Kaufman believed eliminating Germany as a nation would guarantee peace.
Few Americans paid attention to Kaufman’s book. The Nazis did. They grabbed onto it as proof of what they claimed was a Jewish conspiracy against Germany. The Nazis ran with it. They quoted Kaufman’s book in newspapers and on radio. By September 1941, officials in Hanover were using his proposals to kick Jews out of the city.
So Kaufman wrote a book to stop German violence. Instead, Germany used his book to justify more violence.
You can see why someone would want Germany gone after watching them tear through Europe. Kaufman wasn’t evil – he was scared and angry like lots of people in 1941. His mistake was thinking you could solve complex problems with simple solutions.
Maps aren’t neutral. Even crude sketches can become powerful propaganda when the right people find them. Kaufman probably never imagined Nazis would quote his book. But they did.
The map survives in archives now, part of the historical record of wartime thinking.
