Berlin Deutsches Tech Anhalter deportation (#0808)

An exhibit regarding the role of the Anhalter Bahnhof (train station) in the deportation and eventual extermination of Berlin’s Jewish population. At Anhalter Bahnhof, Jews, in groups of 50 to 100, wearing Star of David arm bands, were loaded onto regular passenger trains alongside other passengers, for transportation to Theresienstadt and then from there to concentration camps. The facts of the deportation through Anhalter thus bring up questions regarding any assumption that the general population had limited knowledge of the efforts to remove all traces of Judaism from Germany.

Anhalter Bahnhof was essentially destroyed by British and American bombing and Soviet artillery, and the lines that it served were victims of the Cold War, resulting in the demise of Anhalter Bahnhof as a working train station (see Wikipedia link re associated S-Bahn station).

…..

Unfortunately, unlike most of the rest of the museum, the majority of this exhibit was in German with no English translation. Though it was important for my visit to the museum, I’ve had to reconstruct the situation through material on Wikipedia and other information I’ve seen in the area.

Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Anhalter_Bahnhof