Deportationen aus Berlin

Between 1941 and 1945, Berlin became a hub of deportation and persecution for its Jewish population. The Gestapo orchestrated a system of terror, with assembly camps, transport logistics, and bureaucratic coordination to systematically deport approximately 50,000 Jewish men, women, and children to ghettos, concentration camps, and extermination camps in Central and Eastern Europe. This photographic documentary project traces the journey of these victims, shedding light on the places where this tragedy unfolded: the train stations, the assembly camps, and the administrative offices.

Railway stations

Berlin’s railway stations played a central role in the deportation of Jews. Sites such as Grunewald Station, Anhalter Bahnhof, and the freight station in Moabit became the final departure points for thousands of individuals. Forced onto trains—sometimes in passenger carriages but often in cattle wagons—they were transported to ghettos and camps, from which few ever returned. Today, traces of these stations stand as solemn memorials to the countless lives lost.

Assembly camps

Assembly camps within Berlin were the last places victims stayed before deportation. These camps, including the Jewish Hospital in Wedding and the synagogue on Levetzowstraße, held individuals under appalling conditions. Stripped of their belongings and dignity, they awaited their transport to the unknown. The Gestapo utilised these camps to coordinate deportations, often situated in residential areas where life carried on as usual, oblivious or indifferent to the suffering nearby.

Administration

Behind the deportations was a meticulously organised bureaucracy. Offices such as the Gestapo headquarters in Kreuzberg and the SS Economic Administration Main Office in Lichterfelde managed the logistics of genocide. These institutions operated in close proximity to sites of suffering, their cold efficiency a chilling example of the Nazi regime’s systematic approach to annihilation.