Following the Wannsee Conference, which took place on January 20th, 1942, Adolf Eichmann, who headed the Jewish desk at the RSHA (Reichssicherheitshauptamt - Reich Main Security Office), informed the Gestapo-leadership on January 31st, that the previous expulsions of Jews from various regions in the Third Reich had constituted only the beginning of the "Final Solution" of the “Jewish Question” in Germany, Austria and the Protectorate."
Show more Eichmann also stressed that the first deportation campaigns had been limited in size, but that new destinations were going to be prepared in order to allow the deportation of additional groups of Jews. Naturally, these preparations would take some time.
On March 6th, 1942, Eichmann convened a meeting of Gestapo representatives from all over the Third Reich to discuss the expulsion of 55,000 Jews from the Reich and from the Protectorate. He instructed the participants not to include elderly Jews among the deportees and not to notify the Jews in advance of their imminent expulsion. Additionally, Eichmann determined that notification of upcoming transports would be sent to local Gestapo offices only six days beforehand, apparently in order to prevent the spread of rumors among the Jewish population.
In May 1942, the Nazi security forces renewed their efforts to implement the "Final Solution"-policy by resuming transports of Jews from the Third Reich to Minsk in Belorussia, which had been stopped several months earlier. However, unlike with previous transports, which had been destined for Minsk Ghetto, from this point on the Jews were transported to the village of Maly Trostenets, situated approximately 15 km southeast of Minsk. Close to the village was a former Soviet kolkhoz, which was now used by the SS.
The Central Office for Jewish Emigration (Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung), under the command of Alois Brunner, was responsible for deportations from Vienna (Wien). As in previous transports of Jewish deportees, the Central Office distributed orders to the Jews on the deportation list, which included instructions where and when they had to report. Each deportee was allowed to take personal luggage weighing no more than 50 kg and cash amounting to 100 Reichsmark (RM).
The Jews that had been selected for this transport had to report to the assembly camp in a former school situated in the 2nd Viennese district, Kleine Sperlgasse 2. In many cases, Jews were brought to the assembly point by SS personnel or by “marshals”, Jews hired by the SS to assist in the deportation process. The very appearance of these Jewish marshals would strike terror in the community as it signaled imminent deportation. At the command of the SS, they blocked off streets inhabited by Jews - usually at night. Then, they forced their way into the homes of those Jews whose names appeared on the deportation list and ensure that that were ready to leave. Where necessary, the Jewish marshals would assist in packing. In cases where potential deportees were not at home, they were in serious danger of being included in the transport themselves, as replacements. On arrival at the school grounds, Jewish deportees had to hand over the keys to their homes.
The assembly camp was supervised by members of the Central Office for Jewish Emigration. Sometimes as many as 2,000 people were stranded for days - even weeks - at the site, awaiting deportation. They would sleep on the floor or on bags filled with straw. The sanitary conditions at the site were terrible, as was the mood of the deportees. Some people suffered nervous breakdowns and some even committed suicide. The two doctors and nurses at the site did all they could to help. While they waited for deportation the Jews underwent a registration process (Kommissionierung), which was often accompanied by violence. The staff of the Central Office for Jewish Emigration in Vienna, along them Anton Brunner, forced the Jews to declare their property. Then they had to sign a document confirming that they transferred everything to the state. They were also forced to hand over all valuables and cash to the representatives of the Central Office for Jewish Emigration. The Jewish property was sold by the Gestapo after the transport left.
Transport No. 41, labeled Da227, departed from Aspangbahnhof on September 14th, 1942, at 7:08 pm and arrived on September 18th at Maly Trostenets. The transport consisted of 1000 Jews, 138 of them were older than 61 years. The average age of the deportees was 43. The train traveled along a route that went through Vienna’s Nordbahnhof, Wolkowysk, Platerowo, Czeremcha, Baranovichi, Koydanovo (Dzerzhinsk), Minsk, Kolodishchi. Fifteen armed uniformed policemen (Schutzpolizei) under the command of First Lieutenant Robert Rill guarded the Jews throughout the trainride.
According to timetable number 62, which had been distributed on August 15th, 1942, by the Central Railroad Administration to the train stations at Wolkowysk, Baranovichi, and the freight train stations at Minsk and Kolodishchi, train Da 227 arrived on September 16th at 4:35 pm at the main train station in Wolkowysk The Jewish deportees were transferred to freight cars, while a passenger car was attached for the guards. The train’s engine was replaced and it left the station at 9:25 pm, arriving on Thursday, September 17th, at 4:01 am to the main train station in Baranovichi. After some maintenance work, the train continued on its way at 7:30 am, reaching Koydanovo at 11:42 am. On September 18th at 2:22 am, the train continued from Koydanovo, arriving at the freight train station in Minsk at 3:49 am. In Minsk the locomotive was replaced another time and at 4 am the train continued on its way, reaching Kolodishchi at 4:37 am.
Commencing in August 1942, following the roundup and murder of the Jews in the Minsk ghetto and in order to save gasoline (and time), the trains were diverted to a seldom-used sidetrack that led from Kolodishchi to an improvised platform in the vicinity of Maly Trostenets. Members of the security service (SD) rounded up the Jews in a meadow close to the Maly Trostenets camp, where they were quickly robbed of their last remaining belongings. The SD-men conducted a selection in which they chose 20 - 50 young men who were then sent to various kinds of forced labor in the camp. The remaining Jews on this transport were brought directly to open pits in Blagovshchina forest, where they were shot to death by SD men. The very old and the very young, which had difficulty walking, were loaded into gas vans – which had been introduced into use at Maly Trostenets in June 1942 – and killed by the engine exhausts.
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