resettlement to the East

Resettlement to the East (german: Umsiedlung nach (dem) Osten) was a Nazi euphemism which was used to refer to the deportation of Jews and others such as Gypsies to extermination camps and other murder locations as part of the Final Solution. The Nazis used the euphemism as an attempt to fool their victims into thinking that they would be "resettled" somewhere else, usually in a labour camp, but not all of the victims believed the claim. The Germans also used the word "evacuation", implying preservation from danger and equally misleading to the victims. The Jews were granted a small luggage allowance, but the luggage was loaded separately and it was often left at the station so it could be disposed of later, after the trains left. German Jews and their luggage were collected openly and in full view of the public before their transportation to the local railway station. To keep the lie credible, receipts were given, and the luggage was carried separately and collected from the victims after their murder.

Holocaust trains

Most of the victims were carried to their deaths by Reichsbahn trains in locked and windowless cattle wagons, with no sanitary arrangements (apart from a bucket in one corner) and nothing in the way of water or food apart from anything the victims brought with them. The wagons were designed to carry animals such as sheep and cattle and never to be used for carrying human beings. Each wagon was supposed by the Germans to carry just 50 persons but were normally packed with 100 to 150 victims, the gross overcrowding making sitting impossible and increasing their distress since everyone was forced to stand for long periods of time. Free movement was thus impossible, as well as any kind of exercise. The holocaust trains were given very low priority on the rail system, and many took several days to reach their grim destinations, so increasing the death rate on board. No provisions were supplied by the Germans who operated this inhumane system, and there were many deaths from dehydration leading to fainting, and then loss of consciousness followed by death. No attempts were made by the railway operators or railwaymen to relieve such extreme stresses on their passengers, people who had paid for their passage. However, similar treatments were used in concentration camps as a punishment for prisoners. The standard diet in these places (and ghettoes ) was a starvation diet with fewer calories per day than was needed to sustain life.

The Holocaust trains were hired by Adolf Eichmann