Following a deportation order issued by the Gauleiter of Pomerania, SA-Obergruppenführer Franz Schwede-Coburg, on February 21, 1940, 544 Jews living in over a dozen Jewish communities in the districts of Köslin (Koszalin), Stettin (Szczecin), and Grenzmark-Posen Westpreussen (Marchia Graniczna Poznańsko-Zachodniopruska)—including the area formerly belonging to Brandenburg (Brandenburgia)—were deported by trucks and buses to assembly sites in Schneidemühl (Piła), located roughly 14 km from the border of the Reichsgau Wartheland.
The division of the deportees who were concentrated in Schneidemühl was supervised by an RSHA (Reichssicherheitshauptamt, Reich Security Main Office) official from Department IV A5 b responsible for deportations, SS-Hauptsturmführer Walter Jagusch. They were divided between several locations, including the mortuary of the Jewish cemetery, the local beer garden named “Bürgergarten,” and the premises of the Jewish community. The Jews were also classified depending on their age, physical condition, and ability to work. ...