The deportation train with the designation number “Da 14” for Piaski ghetto (Lublin District, General Government) was the first transport to leave Darmstadt. It had been ordered by the RSHA from the Reichsbahn for March 25, 1942. However, the exact date of the transport has been questioned by historians, ranging from March 20 to 25, 1942. Yet, after taking into account the testimonies of survivors and other research, the likelihood is high that this transport left Darmstadt the latest on March 24.
The persons considered eligible deportation were all those who were regarded as Jews. At this time excepted were those classified as Mischling (Nazi definition for offspring of “mixed marriages”) or married to non-Jews, Jews who worked in the munitions industry and foreign Jews (with the exception of Soviet citizens). The deportation of the elderly, veterans of the First World War and “Prominente” (Jews known to the public) to Theresienstadt near Prague (Praha) only began in June 1942....