WATCH: This 1950s map of Ukraine has relevance today

• The map is printed on silk for several reasons
• It would have allowed pilots to escape the USSR
• The map has ironic relevance in todays conflict

A map of Ukraine designed for British or NATO pilots to evade capture during the Cold War is on display at Okanagan College.

The silk map is part of the private collection of Terence Day, a geography professor at the Kelowna campus, and it depicts regions of western Ukraine and surrounding countries.

“It was produced primarily for pilots who would be flying over what was then the Soviet Union,” Day told Kelowna10. “The idea of the map is that it’s printed on silk, it folds over, it doesn’t rustle at all, and it’s waterproof.”

The map was created this way in case pilots crashed or parachuted into enemy territory and needed to escape. It could also be stitched directly into clothing to prevent enemies from finding it if they were captured.

At the time the map was produced, Ukraine was part of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics (USSR), so the map gives context to the current war in Ukraine.

“There is a long history of NATO involvement in terms of Ukraine [and] it goes back to the idea that before 1990, Ukraine was very much part of the Soviet Union,” Day explained

Ukraine is not a member nation of NATO, and the map highlights the country’s precarious position in the region.

According to Day, the borders in this area are not usually well defined in terms of physical geography. Historically, the borders have been frequently crossed, resulting in people of Russian heritage in Ukraine and people of Ukrainian heritage in Russia.

“There’s a certain irony to the fact that this escape map was designed to help an individual escape Ukraine, someone who was not Ukrainian,” Day said.

“Nowadays of course, people who are escaping Ukraine are Ukrainians, and it’s not just one pilot, there are millions of people who are trying to flee Ukraine.”

The map, along with other resources displayed at the library, give some context to the unfolding events in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It will be on display throughout April.