Transport from Ciechocinek, Aleksandrow Kujawski, Warszawa, Poland to Chelmno, Extermination Camp, Poland on 22/04/1942

Ciechocinek is a small town located on the Vistula (Wisła) river. Annexed by the Germans on October 26, 1939 it became part of Landkreis Nessau (Nieszawa County), which was renamed Hermannsbad (Ciechocinek) in 1940.^[1] German records indicate that almost 4,000 Jews lived in the county,^[2] around 800 of them in Ciechocinek.^[3] By January 1940, most of the 800 Jews had been expelled, with some deported to the General Government (Generalgouvernement, the zone of Nazi-occupied central Poland not formally annexed to the Reich).^[4] According to a report by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, between 1,530 and 2,188 Jews were left in the county in June 1940, with between 120 and 350 of them in Ciechocinek.^[5] Those who remained in Ciechocinek were forced to move into one house, where they suffered from overcrowding, hunger, and disease. In the summer of 1941, another dozen young Jews were deported to a labor camp in Inowrocław (Hohensalza).^[6]

A report written on March 27, 1942 by the Gendarmerie Department in Radziejów notes that the Jews in the county anticipated their imminent deportation:

Recently, about 100 Jews from these three locations [Radziejów, Piotrków Kujawski, and Osięciny] fled, primarily to Upper Silesia (Kłobuck), for fear of the impending resettlement (extermination). In general, there is quite a stir among the existing Jews, since everybody suspects that the destruction is imminent. Rumors to that effect spread among Jews after they learned with certainty from unknown sources in those counties [Landkreise] in which similar operations had occurred [in the Jewish communities] (Warthbrücken [Koło] and Kutno).^[7]...