Deutsche Reichsbahn

  • German State Railroad
Identifier
415
Type of Entity
Corporate Body

History

The system and administration of the Deutsche Reichsbahn played a vital role in the implementation of the Final Solution. The Polish Ostbahn was forced to assist in the destruction of European Jewry and other nations, that is, France, Hungary, and Slovakia signed cooperative rail agreements. Initially each transport carried 2,000 deportees; however, as the war turned against the Germans, trains carried up to 5,000 Jews. The trains traveled at an average speed of 31 mph and were often sidetracked. Armed guards made escape difficult. The freight cars were shut tight with little or no provision for food, water or sanitation. The railroad, within the Greater Reich, charged the state for each passenger over 12, and some Jews paid for their tickets.

Places

  • Founded in Germany.

Sources

  • Dictionary of the Holocaust : Biography, geography, and terminology / E.J. Epstein, P. Rosen. – Westport, 1997. – p. 66, 67