From October 1941 until the end of the war, 50,000 German Jews from the Berlin area were deported to ghettos, labor camps, concentration camps and death camps on trains run by German companies. Most were transported along Track 17.
Today, Track 17 is a memorial site with 186 cast steel plaques arranged chronologically stating transport date, number of deportees, and train origin and destination. Vegetation has been allowed to overtake the rails to symbolize and promise that no other train will ever leave Track 17 again.
The Role of Railroads During the Holocaust
Train tracks and cattle cars have become powerful symbols of the Nazi machinery of deception, destruction and mass murder. Jews were told that they were being sent for resettlement in the east and were ordered to gather at their local train stations where they were loaded into crowded cattle cars. The cars were sealed from the outside and the Jews were locked for days without water or food until reaching their destination. Many died as a result of the inhuman conditions they faced during deportation.