Brno

The former school building in Senefeldergasse (now Merhautova) Street was one of the largest assembly points for the Jewish population in the Protectorate. In 1940 the school was taken over by a seminary for German kindergarten carers and teachers. The building was vacated at the beginning of 1941 and was used as an assembly point for Jews slated for the first transport to the Minsk ghetto in Byelorussia. The deportees stayed there in makeshift conditions, usually between three and four days, sleeping on straw mattresses on the floor of the school gym. The window-panes of the building were painted white so that people could not see inside. Only after going through all the necessary administrative procedures could the transport set off to the station. The large building was located near the streets where the Jews of Brno had been relocated. Another advantage of the site was its proximity to a tram stop. The Jews were taken to the main train station, usually at night, in a special tram.

A total of twelve transports (designated by the letters F, G, K, U, Ac, Ad, Ae, Af, Ah, Ai, Aaa, Dg) were dispatched from Brno between 16 November 1941 and 1 July 1943. They took away 10,080 deportees, of whom only 841 lived to see the liberation.