Railway stations and transport

Aspang railway station in 1910

Memorial and dedication plaque at the former Aspang railway station in Vienna

The route from the collection camp to the Aspang railway station – via Schwedenplatz, Ringstrasse and Ungargasse – shows how openly the deportations took place. The people also had to endure insults and humiliation from some people of Vienna.

Herbert Schrott:

“The sneering, contemptuous and mean shouts of the people are still burnt into my memory. [...] There was no sign of sympathy, compassion or humanity, only scorn and derision”

The West railway station (Westbahnhof) and the North railway station (Nordbahnhof) will only be briefly mentioned here. After the mass deportations after 1943, smaller groups and individual transports of about 2140 people were deported to the East from the North railway station until 1945. From the West railway station there were deportation transports to the concentration camps Dachau and Buchenwald.

The focus is on the Aspang railway station, as it was more significant for Maly Trascianec. Between October 1939 and February 1941, the majority of the deportations, with a total of 45 transports to the ghettos and extermination camps of the East, started from the Aspang railway station. A total of 47,035 women, men and children were deported from the Aspang railway station. To date, only 1073 survivors are known.

After the end of the war, the station continued to operate until 1971. After that it functioned as a freight yard until 2001. After the demolition of the station building in 2002, a memorial was erected in 2017 in the form of a three-part sculpture consisting of "rails", "ramp" and a concrete block sunk into the ground. It is intended to make it clear that the path to annihilation for the majority of the victims of the Shoah began right in the middle of the city, in front of their relatives, friends and neighbors.

The first transports from Vienna to the east took place in 1939. An attempt was made to set up a "Jewish reservation" in Nisko am San. In February and March, around 5,000 Jews were taken in five transports to the "General Government" in what was formerly Poland. With the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the National Socialists changed their "Jewish policy" away from expulsion towards extermination [1]. Even before the large-scale deportations in the “Old Reich” began in autumn 1941[2], the National Socialists were already deporting Viennese Jews to the ghettos of the “General Government” in February and March. Finally, in the autumn, 5,000 people were deported to the Litzmannstadt ghetto and 6,000 people to the Minsk and Riga ghettos. Not all people got to their destination, many died of exhaustion during the journey or were executed by the guards. In the spring of 1942, 5,000 people were transported to the Izbica and Wlodawa ghettos and then murdered. Also in 1942, several thousand Jews were taken to Maly Trascianec. Most of them were shot immediately upon arrival or murdered with gas vans. In June 1942, more people were taken to the Theresienstadt ghetto [3]. At the beginning of the wave of extermination, people in so-called "mixed marriages" were still safe. From October 1942, they were also deported and murdered in the extermination camps in the east.[4] In total, at least 66,500 people from Vienna were murdered by the National Socialists [5]. In the spring of 1942, 5,000 people were transported to the Izbica and Wlodawa ghettos and then murdered. Also in 1942, several thousand Jews were taken to Maly Trostenets. Most of them were shot immediately upon arrival or murdered with gas vans. In June 1942, more people were taken to the Theresienstadt ghetto [3]. While people in so-called "mixed marriages" were still safe at the beginning of the wave of exterminations, from October 1942 onwards they were also deported and murdered in the extermination camps in the East [4]. In total, at least 66,500 people from Vienna were murdered by the National Socialists [5].