In 1940, some 4.000 Jews were living in Luxembourg. Only about 25 percent of it had been Luxembourgish citizens. The big majority of the foreign Jews had emigrated from Eastern Europe and from Germany, the latter mostly escaping from the Nazis. Until 15 October 1941, Jewish people were still, in practice, able to leave the Grand Duchy - and some 2,500 did so, fleeing abroad. There were two waves of emigration from Luxembourg - 1,650 left the country when the Nazis invaded and a remaining 1,600 were forced to flee during the first year of the occupation.
By October 1941, estimates suggest that only around 800 Jews remained in Luxembourg, most of them were over the age of 50. The list of deportees included people in poor health ill-suited to endure a long journey, as well as small children and pregnant women. The youngest passenger was a year old Suzanne Beer embarked on this first convoy together with her parents.