Transport from Rodi, Dodecanese Islands, Italy to Auschwitz Birkenau, Extermination Camp, Poland on 23/07/1944

In the afternoon of Sunday, July 23, the deportation of the Jews began. More than 1,600 people, including men, women, children and the elderly were led out of the Aeronautica building to the island's port via the city center. Upon arrival at the port, they were loaded onto three old open boats. This action marked the end of the Jewish community in Rhodes that had lived on the Island continuously for many centuries. The journey from Rhodes to Piraeus lasted around ten days under horrible conditions. The heat was unbearable and the boats were so full that the detainees could not make the slightest move. Seven people died during the voyage and their bodies were thrown into the sea. On the way to Piraeus, they made a short stop to add the Jews from the neighboring island of Kos to the already severely overcrowded boats. Rivka Franco Capilotto recalls: "The next day we waited for the boats from Rhodes. They put us together with the Jews from Rhodes to take us to - I don't know where". The deportees arrived in Piraeus on August 3, 1944 and were immediately transported by truck to the Haidari transit camp. There they suffered all kinds of humiliations and hardships. Mathilda Cohen recalls: "In Haidari it was even worse than in Auschwitz, we were not even given any water. My grandfather died during the night"....