After receiving general instructions from the Commissariat, its representative in Kavala Slavcho Yonchev and the local police commander Asen Trifonov prepared a detailed plan for the roundup of the city's Jews, their detention, and later deportation. On March 4, 1943 at around 2 am Kavala was surrounded by Bulgarian soldiers. The area of the city where most of the local Jews resided was sealed off until 11 am. The Jews were told to prepare themselves within half an hour, taking with them luggage not exceeding 40 kg per adult and 20 kg per child. They were instructed to take clothes, bedding, blankets and cutlery, as well as all of their money and valuables. The Jews were led to a temporary assembly site in the city that had been set up in the tobacco warehouse of the Commercial Company of Saloniki. On the same day 16 Jews from the island of Thasos and five Jews from Eleftheroupoli were also brought there. Immediately upon arrival, the Jews were searched by special teams of policemen and officials and all their money and valuables were confiscated and deposited in the Bulgarian National Bank. According to reports issued by the Bulgarian authorities, 1,484 Jews from Kavala were arrested and detained at the assembly site during the operation. Since there was no rail connection between Kavala and Bulgaria, after a few days, on March 7 and 8, they were all taken by army and civilian trucks to the nearest city with a train station, Drama. There, most of them were immediately loaded onto trains and transported to the prewar territory of Bulgaria where transit camps in Dupnitsa and Gorna Dzhumaya were set up. The rest replaced at the assembly site their local compatriots who had already been transported....