Transport XI/1, Train Da 77 from Muenster, Münster i. Westf. (Muenster), Westphalia, Germany to Theresienstadt, Ghetto, Czechoslovakia on 31/07/1942

In his statement on February 22 1963 Franz Zimmermann, former head of the department II E 3 (foreign workers) in the Münster Gestapo office claimed that shortly before the start of the transports to Theresienstadt, a coordination meeting was held under the direction of Oberregierungsrat Dr. Kreuz. The main speaker was Dr. Bast, the deputy head of the Gestapo in the city and one of the main people involved in organizing the first deportations departing Münster from the winter of 1941. The transport marked as Da77 left on July 31, 1942, at about midnight from the Münster train station to Bielefeld probably via Osnabrueck. This transport was the largest of five and was originally intended for 925 deportees. On the day it consisted of 901 Jews of whom 561 were women and 340 were men. The deportees came from the districts and cities of Münster, Bielefeld, Osnabrueck, Paderborn, Gelsenkirchen and approximately 30 other smaller cities and villages in the vicinity. The deportation list was made up from a card index (Judenkartei) which the local authorities had begun preparing in 1935....