Königsberg Nordbahnhof

At the turn of the ninteenth century, there were about 4,700 Jews living in Königsberg. Until 1933 when the Nazis came to power, they lived side by side with the rest of the population. Until October 1942, hundreds of Jews managed to escape the Nazis but on October 24, 1942, 465 Jewish men, women and children were deported from Nordbahnhof to Minsk. On this transport were also Jews from Allenstein (now Olsztyn, Poland). The transport arrived in Minsk two days later and the Jews were taken to the extermination camp of Maly Trostenets on the outskirts of Minsk where they were shot. This was the largest deportation of Jews who departed from East Prussia. Smaller deportations left for Auschwitz and Theresienstadt and other camps.