Transport, Train Da 54 from Berlin, Berlin (Berlin), City of Berlin, Germany to Minsk, Ghetto, Belorussia (USSR) on 14/11/1941

The department for Jewish Affairs at the Berlin Gestapo, headed by SS-Untersturmführer Gerhard Stübs and his deputy Kriminaloberinspektor Franz Prüfer was put in charge of organizing the transports together with the Department of Jewish Affairs in the RSHA (IVD1). The task of compiling lists of deportees was given to the representatives of the Jewish community of Berlin. They were forced to choose several thousand names from their register. The Jewish community was also required to take care of the deportees’ basic food supplies and essentials for the journey. Approximately two weeks before the transport, the deportees received notification of their impending deportation with the usual instructions for transports from the Reich including a limited amount of luggage weighing up to 50 kg. They also received a form to declare their remaining property in detail. In many cases, Jews were brought to the assembly point by Gestapo personnel or by “marshals” - other Jews who were forced to assist in the deportation process. They forced their way into the residences of those Jews whose names appeared on the deportation list and ensured that they were prepared to leave. The victims were given a few minutes to get ready and leave their homes forever. In such cases they could only take a small amount of luggage with them. A truck collected the Jews on the street and after completing the roundup from other apartments took them to the assembly point which was set up in the synagogue at Levetzowstrasse 7-8 in the Tiergarten district of Berlin. On arrival at the synagogue grounds, which were supervised by German policemen, the Jews underwent a registration process which was often violent. The Gestapo forced them to declare their property and hand over the keys to their homes. Then they had to sign a document confirming that they transferred everything to the State. They were also forced to hand over all valuables and cash. Sometimes more than 1,000 people were stranded for days at the site awaiting deportation. They would sleep on the floor or on bags filled with straw. The sanitary conditions were terrible, as was the mood of the deportees. The doctors and nurses did all they could to help, but some people suffered nervous breakdowns and a few even committed suicide. All Jewish property was sold by the Gestapo after the transport left. On November 14 all deportees were taken from the assembly camp to Grunewald station. Those unable to walk were taken there by truck while the others were forced to walk about seven kilometres across the city. At the station cars ordered by the Gestapo and supplied by the Reichsbahn awaited them and the deportees were ordered to board the train which was designated Da 54. This transport (Welle V – “Wave V”) departed on the same day. It was the fifth out of over 60 transports to the East (Osttransporte) which together took more than 35,000 Jews from Berlin to ghettos and extermination sites in Eastern Europe....