Niepoliczone i niepoliczalne (?) ofiary broni chemicznej, maj 1915 r.

Abstract

The subject of this discussion are the almost forgotten victims of chemical weapons on the Eastern Front of World War I. Source data related to military operations, in particular to the German gas attacks in the region of the Bzura and Rawka rivers, are the basis for presenting problems related to the estimation of the number of victims of poisonous chlorine gas in the period between May and July 1915. Using the example of selected data relating to the wave attack of May 31, 1915, I show the specificity and complexity of the source documents closely related to the problem under consideration, that is the issue of the countability of victims of chemical weapons. Indirectly, I show the need and legitimacy of systematizing and interpreting all available information on what resulted from the historical use of chemical weapons. This would be conducive to deepening our knowledge about the fallen soldiers and their resting places. It would be helpful to initiate work on a digital repository of knowledge on the use of chemical weapons in the past, taking into account the very diverse descriptions of events and victims of chemical weapons from the Eastern Front of the Great War. Such a digitized resource could contribute to the systematization of highly dispersed source data, their further interpretation and reinterpretation, and their social activation, for the benefit of deepening knowledge about history and historical awareness and preventing the threat of again turning to the use of such weapons of mass destruction.