Transport - PROTECTED JEWS E1 from Caserne Dossin (Malines-Mechelen), Camp, Belgium to Vittel, Camp, France on 23/02/1944

Transport E1 from Mechelen to Vittel left on February 23, 1944 and comprised 29 deportees (10 men, 14 women and 5 children). It was the second smallest transport that left Mechelen. It included solely Jews who had been marked as "borderline cases". Their identity, specifically, their status with regard to citizenship and deportation required further investigation. For this reason the camp registry did not designate a number for them but the letter "E" for German "Entscheidungsfälle" (borderline cases). Unlike most of the other internees who stayed only a few days, the "E-Jews" stayed for weeks or months in Mechelen. The 29 deportees on transport E1 were the first Jews from Belgium dispatched to Vittel. They arrived the same day on February 23. A second transport with 43 Jews (24 women and 19 men) left Mechelen on June 20 and arrived in Vittel as well on that same day. The Jews from Mechelen were placed under house arrest but could move freely within the premises. Transports E1 (as Transport E2) included British and US subjects, as well as nationals from south American states, but also German and Polish nationals with “promesas”, i.e. entry visas from various countries in the Americas. ...