Transport 47a from Wien, Vienna, Austria to Auschwitz Birkenau, Extermination Camp, Poland on 03/03/1943

Transport No. 47a left Vienna (Wien) on March 3rd, 1943, destined for Auschwitz-Birkenau, where it arrived on March 5th. It consisted of 75 Jews. Due to the lack of existing archival records, the exact identity of the deportees is unclear. It is possible that these were Viennese Jews who were deported in accordance with the new decrees issued by the RSHA (Reich Security main Office) on February 20, 1943. However they might as well have been Jews of foreign nationality who were caught trying to cross the border to flee Nazi Germany. Police officer Johann Bender and three armed policemen from the Schutzpolizei guarded the Jews throughout the journey. They reported at the post ramp of the Viennese Nordbahnhof (Northern Rail Station) at 6 AM. SS-Obersturmführer Ernst Girzick led the Jews to the train station. Due to the small number of deportees, they were forced into a special car attached to a regular passenger train....