Research Projects
The Deportations of Jews Project
Jews prior to boarding the deportation train in Wiesbaden, Germany, 29 August 1942
Women and children on a deportation steamship, Thrace, Greece, March 1943
Jews being loaded onto a deportation truck, Włocławek, Poland
The Pan-European Deportation database and research project is reconstructing all transports of Jews from every Jewish community carried out by the Nazi regime during the period of the Shoah. The intention is to collect reliable and detailed information about each transport route, the bureaucratic system as well as the socio-economic background of the victims, enabling a comprehensive research of the deportation apparatus. The researchers are using a wide range of documents, including official Nazi documentation, personal accounts of survivors and various studies on deportations carried out since 1945.
The project is focusing on three key features of the deportations: the dates of the transport, their geographical origins, actual route of the transports, pick-up points, length of journey and means of transport used throughout the entire process. This information provides an accurate and detailed reconstruction of the event, taking into account various incidents happening along the way.
The second feature studied is the bureaucratic apparatus, which carried out the deportation process in Germany and occupied Europe. This mechanism included officials in Nazi security services such as Adolf Eichmann, but also ordinary local policeman who rounded up Jews. In addition, the project is investigating the degree of collaboration of civil organizations and civil servants such as European rail companies that participated in the process.
The profile of the victims is the third element represented in this project.
Use of up-dated deportation lists along with additional demographic data derived from archival sources, enables the Institute’s researchers to present a socio-economic profile of the victims, as well as that of the Jewish communities on the eve of their destructions.
The results of the project will be placed into a database, which will be presented in a digital format and will provide a broad overview of the deportation process as well as detailed information regarding specific transports and a profile of the victims. The database is intended for the use of researchers, relatives of victims who wish to find details regarding the fate of their family members and those wishing to expand their knowledge on the Shoah.
Currently, the project is engaged in reconstructing the deportations, which departed from Vienna, and the Protectorate (occupied Bohemia and Moravia).
Project Staff
Joel Zisenwine - Project Director
Aviv Shashar - Project Coordinator, Researcher
Rachel Shapiro - Researcher
Arthur Kliava - Researcher
Enno Raschke - Researcher
Malgorzata A. Maksymiak - Researcher
