Raul Hilberg, ed., Documents of Destruction (Chicago, 1971), pp. 106-111
A Railroad Timetable
About three million Jews were transported to their deaths in trains. The requests for trains were made by the Reich Security Main Office, and schedules were decided centrally for many transports in advance at railway conferences held in various cities such as Berlin, Frankfurt, or Vienna. Territorially, the German railways in the Reich operated out of three General Management Directorates: East (Berlin), West (Essen), and South (Munich). From here orders were sent to all the Reich Railway Directorates on the routes. The telegram below deals with "special trains" of five kinds: Vd is the designation for ethnic Germans, Rm for Roumanians, Po for Poles, Pj for Polish Jews, Da ("David"?) for Jews generally. Lp stands for an empty train.
It will be noted that for Jews there are three destinadons in the timetable: Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Theresienstadt. Auschwitz was a death camp near Katowice which received Jews from all parts of Europe.
It was also the final stop for non-Jewish transports (a Polish group is included here), but non-Jews were employed there as slave labor in industries and were not subject to gassing. Treblinka was a pure killing center northeast of Warsaw. Only Jews were sent to Treblinka, and most of the victims came from nearby ghettos such as Warsaw and Bialystok. Theresienstadt was the "Old People's Ghetto" mentioned in the Final Solution conference of January 20, 1942.
There are very few railway documents in archives or institutes, and the copy below comes from the Reich Traffic Directorate in Minsk which noted on it in ink: "We are not involved." Soviet authorities found the document and transmitted a copy, with several other finds from the Minsk station, to West Germany.
German Reich Railways Berlin, Jan 13, 1943
General Management Directorate East
PW 113 Bfsv
Telegraphic Letter!
To
Reich Railway Directorates
Berlin, Breslau, Dresden, Erfurt, Frankfurt, Halle (S), Karls-
ruhe, Königsberg (Pr), Linz, Mainz, Oppeln, East in Frankfurt
(O), Posen, Vienna,
General Directorate of East Railway in Krakow,
Reichsprotektor, Group Railways in Prague
General Traffic Directorate Warsaw,
Reich Traffic Directorate Minsk
copies to
General Management/ Directorate South, Munich
General Management/ Directorate West, Essen
Special, 3 copies each -
Subject: Special trains for resettlers during the period from
January 20 to February 28, 1943
We enclose a compilation of the special trains (Vd, Rm, Po, Pj, and Da) agreed upon in Berlin on January 15, 1943 for the period from January 20, 1943 to February 28, 1943 and a circulatory plan for cars to be used in these trains.
Train formation is noted for each recirculation and attention is to be paid to these instructions. After each full trip, cars are to be well cleaned, if need be fumigated, and upon completion of the program prepared for further use. Number and kinds of cars are to be determined upon dispatch of the last train and are to be reported to me by telephone with confirmation on service cards.
Signed Dr. Jacobi
[in handwriting]
33 Bfp 5 Bfsv Minsk Feb. 9, 1943
1) we are not involved
2) [illegible] Bfsv
General Management Directorate East-Berlin
PW 113 Bfsv of
Jan 16, 1943
Compilation
of special trains agreed upon in Berlin, January 15, 1943 for Vd, Rm, Po, Pj, and Da resettlers in
the period from January 20 to February 18, 1943, arranged according to departure date
1 2 . 3 4 5 6 7
Date Train Number From Departs To Arrives Circulation No.
20.1. Vd 201 Kalisch 8.22 Ottersweier 106
Da 101 Theresienstadt Auschwitz 128
21.1. Lp 102 Auschwitz Theresienstadt 128
22.1. Lp 202 Ortersweier Andrzejow 106
23.1. Da 103 Theresienstadt Auschwitz 128
24.1. Lp 104 Auschwitz Theresienstadt 128
25.1. Vd 203 Andrzejow Linz 106
Rm 1 Gleiwitz Czernowitz 107
Po 61 Zamocz 8.20 Berlin Whagen 17.30 126
26.1. Da 105 Theresienstadc Auschwitz 128
27.1. Lp 204 Linz Kalisch 106
Lp 106 Auschwitz Theresienstadt 128
28.1. Lp 2 Czernowitz Gleiwitz 107
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Date Train Number From Departs To Arrives Circulation No.
29.1. Da 13 Berlin Mob 17.20 Auschwitz 10.48 126
Po 63 Zamocz 8.20 Berlin Whagen 17.30 127
Da 107 Theresienstadt Auschwitz 128
30.1. Vd 205 Kalisch 8.22 Ottersweier 106
Lp 108 Auschwitz Theresienstadt 128
31.1. Lp 14 Auschwitz Zarnocz 126
1.2. Rm 3 Gleiwitz Czernowitz, 107
Da 109 Theresienstadt Auschwitz 128
2.2. Da I5 Berlin Mob 17.20 Auschwitz 10.48 127
Lp 110 Auschwitz Myslowitz 128
3.2. Po 65 Zamocz 11.00 Auschwitz 126
4.2 Lp 4 Czernowitz Ratibor 107
Lp 16 Auschwitz Litzmannstadt [Lodz] 127
Lp 66 Auschwitz Myslowitz 126
5.2. Pj 107 Bialystok 9.00 Auschwitz 7.57 121
6,2. pi 109 Bialystok 9.00 Auschwitz 7.57 122
7.2. Pj 111 Bialystok 9.00 Auschwitz 7.57 123
Lp 108 Auschwitz Bialystok 121
8.2. Rm 5 Ratibor Czernowitz 107
Lp 110 Auschwitz Bialystok 122
Lp 112 Auschwitz Myslowitz 123
9.2. Pj 127 Bialystok 9.00 Treblinka 12.10 121
Lp 128 Treblinka 21.18 Bialystok 1.30 121
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Date Train Number From Departs To Arrives Circulation No.
10.2. Pj 129 Bialystok 9.00 Treblinka 12.10 122
Lp 130 Treblinka 21.18 Bialystok 1.30 122
11.2. Pj 131 Bialystok 9.00 Treblinka 12.10 121
Lp 6 Czernowitz Gleiwitz 107
Lp 132 Treblinka 21.18 Bialystok 1.30 121
12.2. Pj 133 Bialystok 9.00 Treblinka 12.10 122
Lp 134 Treblink2 21.18 Grodno 122
13.2. Pj 135 Bialystok 9.00 Treblinka 12.10 121
Lp 136 Treblinka 21.18 Bialystok 1.30 121
14.2. Pj 163 Grodno 5.40 Treblinka 12.10 122
Lp 164 Treblinka Scharfenwiese 122
15.2. Rm 7 Gleiwitz Czernowitz 107
16.2
17.2
18.2 Lp , 8 Czernowitz Gleiwitz 107
[Institut für Zeitgeschichte, Munich, document Fb 85/2.)