Transport 4 from Pithiviers, Camp, France to Auschwitz Birkenau, Extermination Camp, Poland on 25/06/1942

The transport of June 25, 1942, was the first to leave from the Pithiviers internment camp. The train consisted of 999 men, taken from among those arrested on May 14, 1941 and imprisoned in Pithiviers. A schedule for the deportations was sent on June 19. The special train of Jewish workers to Auschwitz, was to leave Pithiviers at 6:15, with stops at Malesherbes 6:45-6:58, Monterean 8:10-8:34, Flamboin 9:22-9:27, Troyes 11:35-11:49, Brienne le Château 13:07-13 :10, Valentigny 13:24-13:25, Montier en Der 13 :58-14 :01, Eclaron 14 :42-14 :43, St Dizier 15:14-15:29, Revigny 16:29-16:32 Bar le Duc 17:05-17:15, Lérouville 18:39-18:44, and Novéant-sur-Moselle (Neuburg) 19:57-20:20. The train could carry a load of 350t and could travel at a maximum speed of 80km an hour. It comprised 1 locomotive, 10 merchandise cars, and 1 sleeping car. It was to be ready three hours before departure. In November 1943, The German National Railway Company (Reichsbahn) set up a schedule for the transports from France. We do not have any documentation in connection with transport schedules from the Franco-German border to Auschwitz-Birkenau before that date, but in all likelihood they were very similar. Thus presumably the earlier transports to Auschwitz, including the one that departed from Pithiviers on June 25, 1942, took the following route once past the Franco–German border: Saarbruecken, Frankfurt/Main, Dresden, Goerlitz, Nysa, and Katowice before reaching Auschwitz. On July 28, 1942, Heinz Roethke who had replaced Dannecker as head of the Jewish Affairs Department at the Sipo-SD in France, sent out new directives to Helmut Knochen, Senior Commander of the Sipo-SD in France, and to his deputy Kurt Lischka, with the schedule for the next 13 transports from France. He stated that: “German merchandise cars are to be used for the deportations, as has been the case until now.” While the wagons were German, the engine of the train as well as its personnel were provided by the SNCF (Société nationale des chemins de fer français, French National Railway Company) as far as the border at Novéant (Neuburg). This has been confirmed by SNCF historian Christian Bachelier. At the Franco-German border a German engine and personnel replaced the French ones. Dannecker sent confirmation of the departure of the train on June 25 stating that the deportation train 813 left the Pithiviers train station at 6:15 that day. The chief of transport was Feldgendarmerie Lieutenant Kleinschmidt who was responsible for the train as far as the border at Neuburg (Novéant-sur-Moselle)....