Transport from Westerbork, Camp, The Netherlands to Bergen Belsen, Camp, Germany on 19/05/1944

On May 19, 1944 a further transport left Westerbork for Bergen-Belsen. Once again this was part of a deportation train carrying several separate transports: at the front of the train, 6 third class passenger cars carrying 238 Jews were bound for Bergen-Belsen; in the freight cars that followed, 453 Jews were bound for Auschwitz; in the last freight cars 245 Roma and Sinti were also destined for Auschwitz. One passenger car was for the guards. According to a diary written by an OD-employee from Westerbork (Ordnungsdienst, Jewish police in the camp), the train left at 13:00 due to a technical delay. The train stopped in Assen. There a Belgian transport that had left on the same day from the Mechelen transit camp was connected to the train. It was designated No. XXV and carried 507 deportees. As far as we know the only deportation train ever filmed was this train while it was stationed in Westerbork. Camp-photographer and German Jewish camp inmate Werner Rudolf Breslauer filmed a documentary about the daily life in Westerbork by order of camp commander Albert Konrad Gemmeker. Breslauer was later deported to Auschwitz and also murdered there. Among the 238 deportees to Bergen-Belsen 8 were listed as sick and 51 were children under the age of 18. The youngest deportee was Truida Rebecca Asscher, born in the Westerbork camp (30.12.1943) and not even half a year old when she was shipped away with her three brothers and parents to Bergen-Belsen....