Deportations from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz

On May 15–18, 1944, German authorities deported about 7,500 Jews from the Theresienstadt ghetto to Auschwitz-Birkenau. These deportations were intended to lessen overcrowding in the ghetto as part of the preparations for the upcoming visit by the Red Cross. Once at Auschwitz, these Jews were imprisoned in the sector of the camp known as the Czech family camp (Section BIIb), also called the Theresienstadt family camp. Between September 1943 and July 1944, the SS housed thousands of prisoners from Theresienstadt in this part of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Unlike most other Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz, the prisoners of the Czech family camp did not undergo an initial selection upon arrival. Prisoners of all ages wore civilian clothing and were not fully separated from their families.