Deportation to Riga
On December 8 we boarded the train from Huenfeld to Kassel. Already at the
station we were greeted by the SS with curses and kicks, so that we got a foretaste of
the trip. In Kassel we were put into a collecting camp, since our transport consisted
of people from the Huenfeld region, Eschwege, Marburg, and Kassel itself. We were
about 1,200 people. The oldest were beyond 70 years of age while the youngest
child was 12 weeks old. We stayed overnight in Kassel, and were immediately
robbed. We could keep steel watches and wedding rings for now, but later in the
ghetto they took them, too.
Next day, December 9, we departed from Kassel. They used regular train cars for us,
but for subsequent transports such cars were too valuable, it seems. They loaded
people like cattle into freight cars, which led to many cases of deaths and
derangement.
Despite the insane cold our compartments were unheated. We were so thirsty that
our tongues stuck to our mouths. The only food was the bread we had taken from
home. There were sick among us but no doctor. The nurses and orderlies helped as
well as they could.
Our cousin Max from Niedenstein was there as an orderly, and his son Horst was a
steward [ordnungsmann] of the transport. Our niece Trude, daughter of Joseph’s
sister Berta, was a nurse, and similarly Frieda …(illegible), wife of …..... (
illegible), was a nurse too.
Deportation to Riga and Salaspils