Despite the German withdrawal on the Eastern front and the heavy aerial bombardment of German cities, the deportation of Jews from German cities did not stop. On December 18, 1943, a circular signed by Gestapo chief Heinrich Müller was sent out to all Sipo (Security Police) local headquarters. It permitted the deportation of Jews, whose marriage to non-Jews had terminated due to divorce or death of the non-Jewish spouse.
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The transport left Ried im Innkreis, located in the vicinity of Linz, on January 19, 1944. It arrived in Theresienstadt on January 20. There was only one deportee: Dr. Julius Donath.
Donath was a prominent dentist and a decorated war veteran, who had converted to Christianity. Following the aryanization process carried out in 1938, Dr. Donath’s clinic was seized and transferred to an "Aryan" dentist named Dr. Oswald. At the beginning of 1944, Dr. Oswald, apparently feared his professional future due to the course of the war and demanded the deportation of Dr. Donath. In spite of the fact that both of Donath’s sons had served in the Wehrmacht and received decorations, he was sent to Theresienstadt.
Donath was first sent to Vienna. There, he was put on passenger train no. 723, which left daily at 6 PM from the Nordbahnhof (Northern Railway Station) and travelled via Breclav (Lundenburg) to Brno (Brünn). In Brno he was transferred to a train run by the "Protektoratsbahnen" (the company that operated trains in the so called "Protektorat") destined for Prague (Praha). From there, the journey continued to Theresienstadt.
Upon arrival, the transport was listed in the Ghetto records as IV/14 p EZ. The Roman numeral IV represented Vienna as city of origin.
Dr. Julius Donath survived and was released on June 5, 1945.
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