Deportation periods in 1943
Apart from the "Sobibor period" (2 March to 20 July 1943), two deportation periods can be distinguished in 1943, viz. the period from 11 January to 2 February 1943, in which 9 transports left directly for Auschwitz, viz. 8 from Westerbork and 1 from Apeldoorn (for the sake of brevity to be called "Spring transports 1943"), and the period from 24 August to 16 November 1943, in which 8 transports left directly for Auschwitz, viz. 7 from Westerbork and 1 from Vught (in short: "Autumn transports 1943").
Chapter III/sub IV and V and the composition of the transport of 15-11-1943:
Page 44: In this Vught transport of November 15, 1943, the small number of children and elderly people is striking, which can be explained because Vught was a concentration camp for individually arrested persons. This transport consisted of 14 children up to 15 years old; 485 men aged 16-50; 526 women aged 16-50; 124 people over 50 years old; a total of 1149 deportees. Of which 32 men and 6 women survived this transport.
From the transport of 15 November 1943 (Vught-Auschwitz), of which after about 6 weeks "quarantine" and subsequent various selections, the remaining men were distributed among the coal mines of Janina, Jawischowitz and Fürstengrube and various labor commandos in Auschwitz-Birkenau, were very few women remaining after the "quarantine" and the selections were also put to work in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Page 45: The general rule also applies to transports during this period that young children (up to 15 years), mothers with children, pregnant women, as well as weak, sick and elderly persons (usually above ±50 years), either immediately arrival, or after a stay of several weeks in so-called "quarantine", were killed by gassing.
From page 57 Sub. IV: The transport of 15 November 1943 (Vught-Auschwitz) consisted, as noted on page 44, mainly of men and women of working age (few children and older persons). Among them were many mixed-married people and half-Jews. No selection took place on arrival; all were immediately registered. (X).
(X) This course of events is a curious illustration of the prima facie strange-seeming fact that there was a certain advantage to being deported as a "punished" (since the prisoners transferred to Vught were, as stated on the page quoted, in mainly individually arrested!). One then had a "file" against them, and there was a chance that "higher up" (the "Gestapo" or the "Reichs Sicherheitsdienst") would sometimes ask about that file and the person associated with it. That is why people could not be gassed immediately!
From page. 58-60: Subsequently, the entire transport went into "quarantine" for about 6 weeks, but some groups were immediately put to work. In January 1944 two large selections were held, the dates of which were given differently. Because the registration and thus also the matriculation took place before the selections, which is confirmed by what is known about the length of the number series, nothing at all is known from these series with regard to the number of those selected and about the very little to deduce given age limits. This makes it difficult to reconstruct the fate of this transport and to draw sound conclusions with regard to the probable times of death.
1): Men: For determining the ages of the selected men, the only guideline is the information in a witness statement that people over 45 years of age went to "Block 18" (the gassing block), and that men aged 18 - 45 years were divided into 2 groups, one of which, numbering 100 to 150 men, was put to work in Auschwitz-Birkenau, while the other group was transferred to the coal mines of Janina, Jawischowitz and Fürstengrube.The total of this last group is not mentioned in the available witness statements. It is stated that about 120 men went to Janina, and smaller groups to Jawischowitz and Fürstengrube.
It may be concluded from this that the total number of those selected was 300 to 359 men. The number of men in the age group of 18 - 45 years is 425. If it is therefore assumed that 300 to 350 men have indeed been selected, then 75 to 100 weak or sickly persons from this group must have dropped out during the selections. This is quite possible, as the selections have been quite tough. Moreover, the age limit of the 41 known selected persons is in favor of accepting the indicated age limit, ranging from 18 to 43 years (with a very remarkable exception of 12 years!).
The statistical error to be risked amounts to 18 to 28% with this acceptance and the chance of success is therefore 72 to 82%, which may be considered acceptable.
Only very rough estimates can be made with regard to the life span of those selected. Witness statements mention an average lifespan of 2 to 3 months for the workers in the mines of Janina and Fürstengrube, i.e. the same time, which must be assumed approximately for the working groups in Auschwitz/Birkenau who are in the worst condition.
In summary, it is considered plausible to conclude that the men aged 18 to 45 who belonged to the present transport, unless their death must be determined at a different time on the basis of individual data, must be deemed to have died no later than 31 March 1944.
Furthermore, the dates on which the selections took place in January 1944 cannot be precisely determined, in connection with which it must also be concluded that all other men of this transport died no later than 31 January 1944 in Auschwitz/Birkenau.
2): Women and children: Witness statements agree that already in the first weeks of her stay in Auschwitz, during the "quarantine", a very large number of women died of typhus, dysentery and other diseases. For some of these women, the time of death may be individually determined. The precise date in January 1944 on which the children, and the women who had children with them, were selected for the gas chambers cannot be determined.
Furthermore, it appears from unanimous statements that only 5 well-known women survived the January 1944 selections. It must therefore be concluded that all other women, as well as the children, had died no later than 31 January 1944 as a result of illness, exhaustion, gassing or otherwise.
Summary of conclusions:
Men: 1st: All men belonging to the transport of 15 November 1943, who had reached the age of 18 on the day after their arrival at Auschwitz (i.e. on 18 November 1943), but were not yet 46 years old, unless individually otherwise known, presumed to have died in or in the vicinity of Auschwitz-Birkenau, or in the mining area of Jawischowitz and Fürstengrube, not earlier than 1 January 1944 and no later than 31 March 1944.
2e: All other men who belonged to the transport of 15-11-1943, unless otherwise known individually, are presumed to have died in Auschwitz-Birkenau, no earlier than 1 January 1944 and no later than 31 January 1944.
Women: All women and children belonging to the transport of 15-11-1943, unless otherwise known individually, are deemed to have died in Auschwitz-Birkenau no earlier than 1 January 1944 and no later than 31 January 1944.
Source: abridged version from the Publication “Auschwitz part 4, Deportation transports in 1943/autumn transports/page 5 et seq./ chapter III, pages 43 et seq. to page 61/Appendix II, pages 68 and 69, by the Netherlands Red Cross, October 1953 .