Transport from Kolo, Ghetto, Poland to Chelmno, Extermination Camp, Poland on 10/12/1941

The mass deportation from the Koło ghetto started on December 7, 1941. On December 9, the remaining Jews in the ghetto were ordered to gather in front of the Judenrat office at Nowy Rynek (New Market) square, renamed Theaterplatz (Theater Square) by the Germans. The procedure of the two previous days repeated itself. An unknown number of Jews – men, women and children (likely again around 500) – were selected for deportation from a list created by the Germans upon the information provided by the Judenrat. The Jews were told that they would be sent to western Poland to perform various construction work. They were allowed to keep only some personal items but no suitcases, and were then herded into the main synagogue next to the Judenrat office. This synagogue, the largest in Koło, was incinerated by the Germans on September 20, 1939, resulting in its interior being entirely destroyed. The devastated building, nevertheless, served as an assembly hall where most of the deportees were detained overnight without provisions or water. The next morning, on December 10, an SS officer again read out each name. Other SS men checked the personal belongings, confiscating valuables including cash. Each deportee then had to climb into a truck. In groups of approximately 70 to 80 people, the Jews were tightly herded into an unknown number of trucks. The loading procedure was brutal, accompanied by shouting, abuse, and beatings. Those who complained or did not move fast enough were shot on the spot. It is likely that the action was carried out as on the previous days by the local Orpo (Ordnungspolizei – Order Police – the regular uniformed police force). On the back of each open truck stood an armed police officer from the special force (Sonderkommando) Kulmhof, who was ordered to shoot any deportee who tried to escape. It took the trucks about half an hour to drive the 10 kilometers to the Chełmno (Kulmhof) extermination camp, which had been readied to operate for the first time. The trucks waited in line outside the closed gate of the "palace compound" – a large two-story brick country house, enclosed by a tall wooden fence. The perimeter was guarded by men of the Polizeibataillon Posen (Poznań)....