Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- PART I THE MAKING OF THE MULTIPLE TRAP
- PART II THE RESCUE DEBATE, THE MACRO PICTURE, AND THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICES
- PART III THE SELF-DEFEATING MECHANISM OF THE RESCUE EFFORTS
- PART IV THE BRAND–GROSZ MISSIONS WITHIN THE LARGER PICTURE OF THE WAR AND THEIR RAMIFICATIONS
- PART V THE END OF THE FINAL SOLUTION: BACK TO HOSTAGE-TAKING TACTICS
- 32 The Train
- 33 The Bombing Controversy – Speer and Zuckerman
- 34 The “Great Season”
- 35 Becher, Mayer, and the Death Marches
- 36 The “End” of the Final Solution – Budapest
- Epilogue: Self-Traps: The OSS and Kasztner at Nuremberg
- Notes on Sources
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
32 - The Train
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- PART I THE MAKING OF THE MULTIPLE TRAP
- PART II THE RESCUE DEBATE, THE MACRO PICTURE, AND THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICES
- PART III THE SELF-DEFEATING MECHANISM OF THE RESCUE EFFORTS
- PART IV THE BRAND–GROSZ MISSIONS WITHIN THE LARGER PICTURE OF THE WAR AND THEIR RAMIFICATIONS
- PART V THE END OF THE FINAL SOLUTION: BACK TO HOSTAGE-TAKING TACTICS
- 32 The Train
- 33 The Bombing Controversy – Speer and Zuckerman
- 34 The “Great Season”
- 35 Becher, Mayer, and the Death Marches
- 36 The “End” of the Final Solution – Budapest
- Epilogue: Self-Traps: The OSS and Kasztner at Nuremberg
- Notes on Sources
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Let us now return to the story of “Kasztner's Train” as it actually developed on the ground. The idea of letting 600 Palestine certificate holders leave Hungary originated with the Va'ada upon its earliest meeting with Eichmann's men early in April 1944. The list of 600 grew to 1,684 people thanks to monies paid by Kasztner to the Germans. The Jews were supposed to leave for Portugal or Spain but instead found themselves in the Bergen-Belsen exchange camp. Among the 1,684, there were people from Kasztner's own hometown of Cluj who were allowed to leave the ghetto of Cluj upon Kasztner's request and with Eichmann's consent. For the Germans, the 1,684 could serve as hostages for some kind of exchange deals, as we learn from the following document concerning the Holocaust in Holland and the fate of a few remaining Palestine visa entry holders at Vught and Westerbork camps, from which most of the Dutch Jews were deported to Auschwitz:
In April, 1944 it was stated that: 'The Jewish section VUGHT has been closed down and WESTERBORK is almost empty. … The people with exchange papers for Palestine were sent … to a special camp … near Hanover … [which] appears to be EXCHANGE CAMP BERZEN BILSEN [sic] …, and as its name suggests, it contains Jews in possession of Palestine certificates and those who own passports … [of] South American countries. Leaders of Dutch Zionist organizations are in [that] camp, awaiting exchange for Palestine.
(NA, RG 59, State Department decimal file 811.111 Visa Division – Refugees 7-2144)- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Hitler, the Allies, and the Jews , pp. 281 - 289Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004