Klatovy

The building of the Dr. Alois Rašín Business Continuation School in Klatovy was used as an assembly point for Jews from the regions of Klatovy, Domažlice, Písek and Strakonice. The large rooms of the school made it possible to accommodate a large number of deportees. Another advantage of the site was its proximity to the railway station. The pupils were given time off school in late November and early December. The entrance to the assembly point was guarded by members of the Protectorate police force. The dispatching of transports was overseen by SS staff (reportedly three in number) and a group of officials from the Transport Department of the Prague Jewish Religious Community. According to witness testimonies, those awaiting deportation slept on mattresses on the floor of the basement gym and in the empty classrooms. The health of elderly deportees, in particular, deteriorated as a result of the uncertainty, the fear of the unknown, the cold, and the poor sanitary conditions. On the day before deportation, a group of young men loaded the luggage of the deportees onto a train at the station.

Two transports (designated by the letters Cd and Ce) were dispatched from the Klatovy assembly point to the Terezin ghetto on 26 and 30 November 1942. Only 71 of the 1,270 deportees lived to see the liberation.