The Fate of 435 Jewish Individuals Deported from Dresden to Theresienstadt between 1942 and 1944

Abstract

Making Germany Judenfrei (free of Jews) or Judenrein (purified of Jews) was one of the pillars of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party in Germany. One means of achieving this from 1941 onwards was the deportation of Jewish people to ghettoes or death camps in the occupied territories, primarily Poland, but also including Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic) where the Theresienstadt Ghetto was located.
As part of this criminal act, 435, mainly elderly Jews were deported from Dresden to the Theresienstadt from 1942 to 1944. Using the personal information shown on the Gestapo deportation lists, this study shows that new facts about the fate of these people can emerge when the information provided is analysed on a group basis. It can also corroborate information provided elsewhere. For example, the extremely high death rate (87%) suffered by these people from Dresden echoes the overall death rate of 84% given by Yad Vashem for the 118,000 unfortunate individuals who were in the Ghetto and either perished there or perished elsewhere¹. This demonstrates that a close analysis of one group of people can reveal corroborative knowledge about the Holocaust, and can provide starting point for comparative studies of the experiences of other deportees in different locations.