Transport XVI from Lodz, Ghetto, Poland to Chelmno, Extermination Camp, Poland on 09/03/1942

The details of each March Transport regarding the number of deportees, the number of guards, and the costs can be found In a document dated March 23rd, 1942 which was sent by the Reichsbahn Verkehrsamt (German National Railway – Transportation Authority) to the Gestapo in Litzmannstadt. Each train was marked as "Pj-Zug" (German abbreviation for “Polnischer Judenzug,” a "train with Polish Jews") followed by the word "Transport" and a Roman numeral. Each train had 13 policemen on board; they were guards from the Schupo (Schutzpolizei, the uniformed regular local German police force). The fare for the guards was added to the transportation costs. The Reichsbahn charged 2.80 reichsmarks per person for the 140-km journey from Łódź to Koło. It added the costs of 4 reichspfennigs per kilometer (in total 5,60 RM per person) for each guard for the return trip, thus invoicing an additional 72.80 reichsmarks in total. The return trip was considerably more expensive since the German railway company did not apply the discount for the mass deportations. The Gestapo approved the invoice on March 27, 1942 and sent it to Hans Biebow, the chief of the Nazi administration of the Łódź ghetto. He managed a special bank account (“Sonderkonto 12300”) on behalf of Arthur Greiser, the governor of the Wartheland. This account was used as a deposit account for all the revenue accrued from the so-called evacuation actions — this involved money that was amassed from plundered and confiscated Jewish property. Biebow subsequently used this account to pay the costs associated with the deportation and murder, including the bill of the Reichsbahn for each Transport....