Transport, Train Da 51 from Hamburg, Hansestadt Hamburg (Hamburg), Hansa City of Hamburg, Germany to Minsk, Ghetto, Belorussia (USSR) on 08/11/1941

The first deportation from Hamburg to Lodz had left the Reich on October 25, 1941 with 1,034 Jews on board. This second transport was originally scheduled for November 1 and was also headed for Lodz but was delayed. On October 31, the Higher SS- and Police Leader North Sea, Rudolf Querner, wrote a letter to Hamburg Nazi Party Leader, Karl Kaufmann, in which he stated: “The next Jew transport, scheduled to leave tomorrow, has been postponed for 8 days due to shortage of materials. That suits us fine as we will have a bit more time to prepare.” This second transport from Hamburg was not sent to Lodz because the quota of 20,000 Jews that Himmler and the Poznan Gauleiter Arthur Greiser had agreed upon for Lodz had already been filled. Instead, Minsk was selected as the new destination. As in the case of the previous deportation to Lodz, the building of the former Masonic Lodge on Moorweidenstrasse served as the assembly site. The guidelines sent out by the RSHA were similar as well. The deportees were allowed to bring 50 kg of luggage and 50 Reichsmarks. They had to fill out a detailed inventory of their property and deliver their apartment keys to the nearest police station before reporting to the assembly site. Out of those selected for deportation, several people chose suicide over suffering and subsequent murder. A former nurse later mentioned in her testimony that every time a large deportation was assembled, 20 to 30 people tried to commit suicide....