The arrival at the camp

Arrival in Minsk was followed by a selection. Only those people who were strong and healthy enough to work were sent to the camp, the others were killed directly and buried in mass graves. The four Seiler family members survived the first selection and were assigned to work.

"For the transportation of the sick, people who had gone mad during the journey, the old and infirm (the number amounted to about 200 for our transport), there were box vans - grey, large closed cars - into which people were thrown one on top of the other. Men, women, old, sick, insane and dead people. The others went to the station barrier. There they were stripped of all their hand luggage and clothes; box vans and trucks stood ready and took the people to a meadow. From those who arrived, 81 people who were fit for work were selected and taken to the Little Trostenez camp of the Security Police and the S. D. (located next to the village of the same name), 12 km away from Minsk. [...] Every 2nd week, every week [,] sometimes there were even 2 transports in one week. There were always about 1,000 people coming to the camp and their luggage was also brought in. However, sometimes no one, sometimes only 20, sometimes 30 skilled workers from the transports stayed in the camp. When new people arrived, others who were not 100% fit for work were sorted out. We were told that some were sent to the hospital, while others were sent to work on other estates. On our estate we were supposed to keep the best workers so that our camp could become a model camp." [1]

Source:

[1] so-called Seiler report, p.3