The first transport to Theresienstadt departed on April 21, 1943. According to the plan, the transport should have set out in early March but, due to epidemic typhus and overcrowding, the gates of the ghetto had been shut forcing Eichmann to postpone the departure. To avoid the languid pace of a special deportation train which usually involved several days in transit, the railroad administration in Utrecht proposed that the Jews be sent in passenger cars coupled to a regular train that would proceed at ordinary speed. Reichskommissar of the Netherlands, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, was also interested in depicting the deportation from the Netherlands to Theresienstadt as a “relocation of residence” (Wohnsitzverlegung), deriving utility from this propaganda. Therefore, he proposed that the train depart directly from Amsterdam and not from the Westerbork transit camp. Eichmann had no objection to this. The decision about the fate and destination of the transport, and guidelines pertaining to the categories of Jews that would determine its manifest, were received from Eichmann’s department at the RSHA. This information was forwarded to Zöpf in The Hague, who was in charge of implementing the transport. Zöpf shared it with Aus der Fünten and the commanders of Westerbork and the Vught camp, as well as the branch offices in the provinces who were instructed to transfer the Jews in their districts to Westerbork. Afterward, the deportation list for the transport was drawn up; it was amended several times, and whenever new names were added, the list required approval from Seyss-Inquart, Rauter, and Wilhelm Harster, Commander of Security Police and SD (BdS—Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD). Although the names of 362 Jews appeared in the final manifest, only 295 left for Theresienstadt. Aus der Fünten explained the reasons for the disparity to the BdS in The Hague: some of the Jews listed had already reached Auschwitz whereas others had died or had been evicted from the provinces and therefore had not received the summons, or had not managed to arrive from Westerbork in time. The diverse groups of Jews who were placed on the deportation list included prominent personalities who had made important contributions in the civilian field "Friedensverdienste" to the Reich (Friedensverdienste). Most of them were German Jews. One was Fritz Rathenau, a judge by training and one of the highest officials in the Prussian Interior Ministry of the Weimar Republic. The few Dutch Jews who were recognized for membership in this group had served lengthy terms of service for German institutions in the Netherlands, such as Roosji Manheim, secretary of the former German crown prince. Others were erstwhile members of the NSB (Nationaal Socialistische Beweging—the Dutch National Socialist Party) or beneficiaries of the personal protection of the party leader, Anton Mussert. Their names and those of their families were marked on the restricted list and a Blue Rider (Blauer Reiter) icon was affixed alongside them. One of these Jews was the famous cartoonist and illustrator Jo Spier. The question of how to treat the NSB Jews placed the Nazis in some difficulty. Eichmann rejected a proposal that would have allowed them to emigrate, deciding instead that they would be among the last to be deported. Also included in the transport were war veterans, their families, and spouses of intermarried Jews whose mixed marriages had ended. After receiving a summons, the Jews were ordered to leave their belongings in their homes. The Germans, aided by Dutch police, visited the apartments and meticulously recorded every object there. Afterward, the “Operation Rosenberg Staff” (ERR—Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg) shipped everything to the Reich, particularly valuables, works of art, and Judaica. The deportees were ordered to assemble at 8:00 a.m. at the Dutch Theatre (Hollandsche Schouwburg) in Amsterdam, also known as the Jewish Theatre (Joodse Schouwburg), which was used from October 1942 onward as an assembly site for transports. Jews who had reached the Westerbork transit camp from the provinces and the Vught labour camp also congregated at this location. They were registered by 11:00 a.m. and then were taken in six Orpo (Ordnungspolizei—Order Police) military trucks to the freight station Panamakade, where the deportation train awaited them. The train consisted of seven third-class cars—French, Belgian, and German—and two second-class wagons. One of the latter was reserved for the escort detail; severely disabled war veterans (amputees with prostheses) were assigned to the other. The train was ready to depart at 1:00 p.m. and left Amsterdam at exactly 1:42. Aus der Fünten presided over the logistics. According to extant documentation, the transport was commanded by Hauptsturmführer Würlein, who received two copies of the manifest. The escort detail that guarded the train had been mobilized from ranks of the German police. The train proceeded to Bohusovice via Bremen, Hanover, Dresden, and Aussig (Usti nad Labem). “The next day, we traveled comfortably in passenger cars,” said Else Dormitzer, describing the voyage. “Four people per compartment, with our luggage and the 50 guilders that each of us was allowed to bring. During the trip, SS men handed us postcards so that we’d write to our relatives […]. After traveling for thirty hours or so, we reached Bohusovice on April 22, 1943. From there, we had to walk to Theresienstadt, and there they confiscated our money and anything that the inspecting authorities fancied. I was happy to have saved my bag of medicines. The Schleuse [intake area] that our transport was taken to was at the Aussiger barracks. Needless to say, all the benefits they’d promised in Amsterdam proved to be false. When we arrived, my husband and I received the typical shock of arrival that paralyzed a person to his very soul.” When the transport reached Theresienstadt, it was listed in the ghetto records as /XXIV-1, the Roman numeral denoting Netherlands.