Transport from Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece to Auschwitz Birkenau, Extermination Camp, Poland on 01/06/1943

The 18th transport from Thessaloniki departed on June 1, 1943. This transport included many intellectuals and physicians of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki, including the famed Dr. Albert Menasche who had served the community during the period of the deportations. Pepo Gategno, tattooed with the number 124423, recalls that many officials of the Jewish Community were transferred to Auschwitz on this transport. Joseph Shalem recalls the five day journey to Auschwitz. "They put us in cars, one on top of the other. These were freight cars; on one side there was a small bucket with a curtain, for our needs. On the other side, there was a bucket containing water". "The train stopped during the journey but we weren’t allowed out. I don't know why the train stopped, I didn't care, I was praying constantly, I was melancholic". Upon arrival at Auschwitz 220 men were admitted into the camp and tattooed with the numbers 124325-124544. 88 women were also admitted and tattooed with the numbers 45995-46082. The remaining 582 Jews were immediately murdered in the gas chambers.