From Page 6: INTRODUCTION
The deportation period from 28 August 28 to 12 December 1942 is called the "Cosel period", because during that time a number of transports departing from the Netherlands (and also from France and Belgium) were not transferred in their entirety to Auschwitz, but at the Cosel station (Upper Silesia, ± 80 km west of Auschwitz) were split in such a way that the men deemed fit for work by the Germans had to leave the train at that station to be put to work in surrounding labor camps, while subsequently those who remained on the train, i.e. the non-"Workers" were sent to Auschwitz.
The transports during which this split took place were those on 28 and 31 August and 4, 7, 11 and 14 September; 2, 5, 16, 23 and 30, October; 2, 6, 10, 16, 24 and 30. November and 8 December 1942 had left Westerbork. The other transports in this period, i.e. those of 18, 21, 25 and 28 September, 9, 12, 19 and 26 October, 20 November and 4 and 12 December 1942 from Westerbork were sent directly to Auschwitz in their entirety.
From Chapter II – page 8 - from paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 plus sub paragraphs
The "working" men who were taken off the train in Cosel were generally in the age group of approximately 15 to 50 years, in some individual cases slightly older. Those who remained on the train to be sent to Auschwitz were therefore, broadly speaking, the elderly, weak or sickly men and the women and children.
In general it can be stated that the latter groups were killed by gassing immediately upon arrival at Auschwitz.
From pages 12 and 13:
An overview of the transports shows the number of deportees and the number of unfit for work estimated to have disembarked in Cosel, as well as the overall routes followed (i.e. the camps in which large groups of the transport arrived one after the other until their arrival in Blechhammer, in the Gross district). Rosen, who stayed in the Auschwitz-Birkenau-Monowitz district or in Gleiwitz, therefore does not take into account the movements of small groups or individual persons, for example the sick, professionals, prisoners, etc., as well as the number of survivors.
Concerning the transport that left Westerbork on 7 September 1942: the total number of deportees: 930 people; in Cosel, 110 men between the ages of 15 and 50 got off; the route followed by most of the transport (i.e. camps where they stayed successively): Niederkirch, Seibersdorf and Blechhammer.
From page 22: The Transport of 7 September 1942 from Westerbork; Arriving in Blechhammer:
5 representatives at the end of March 1943 with 2 transports of 100 to 150 and 50 to 60 Dutch people from Seibersdorf respectively. Of these 5 representatives, 3 went with the evacuation transport, 1 was liberated in Blechhammer, and 1 was sent to Klettendorf (Gross Rosen district) in March 1944.
1 representative (x) on 4 December 1942 from Eichtal (transport strength not specified).
1 representative (x) on 14 October 1942 from Niederkirch with ± 20 Dutch people. (X) = Joined the evacuation transport.
From page 28: Chapter II, Arrival and further transport of representatives in the GROSS ROSEN resort:
a. 1 representative at the end of June/beginning of July 1943 from St. Annaberg in Graditz (probably a small transport - strength not stated).
Further route: November 1943 to Faulbrück; December 1943 back to Graditz; 26 December 1943 to Freiburg (with 40 electricians, including 2 Dutch). On 9 September 1944 to Waldenburg; October 1944 to Gross Rosen. 30 October 1944 to Langenbielau, where 8 were liberated in 1945.
b. 1 representative in March 1944 from Blechhammer in Klettendorf (with a small transport - strength not specified). Further route: May 1944 to Faulbrück and then to Langenbielau-Reichenbach, where it was liberated in May 1945.
From pages 41, 44 and 45 Separate transports such as the transport of 7 September 1942.
The entire transport went from Cosel immediately to Niederkirch and from there to Seibersdorf at the beginning of October 1942, with the exception of approximately 20 men who remained behind in Niederkirch. Seibersdorf was a very bad camp, where many people died. No one has died in Niederkirch.
Except for a few who accompanied other transports on a patient transport or in a special capacity, all were transported further: Blechhammer (from Seibersdorf directly and from Niederkirch via Eichtal).
All groups arrived in Blechhammer no later than March 1943. Of the above-mentioned individuals, 2 were deported to the Gross Rosen district. The conclusion for this transport is therefore quite easy to draw. It states that all those who were not found in Blechhammer and for whom no further individual information is known, must be considered to have died no later than the end of March 1943 in or in the vicinity of Seibersdorf (Upper Silesia; Poland).
From Page 56 and 57: The general conclusion to be formulated below applies to those identified in Blechhammer: The date of death of many men, whose dates of death can be determined on the basis of witness statements, have resided in Blechhammer. or be determined approximately, either because witnesses are aware of the death of the persons involved on the spot, or because the witnesses are able to report that the persons involved have been transferred from Blechhammer to patient transports. However, there are also a number of men of whom it is only known that they were still alive at the time of the evacuation (21 January 1945) and another number of whom it is only certain that they were found in Blechhammer.
Those who were found in Blechhammer before 1 April 1944, but about whose further fate is unknown, must be considered to have died no later than 31 March 1944.
Those whose existence in Blechhammer became apparent after the latter date, while nothing more was heard about them after that, must be considered to have been alive at the time of the evacuation (21 January 1945) and to have accompanied the evacuation transport.
From Publication "Auschwitz VI" – Appendix V – EVACUATION ROUTES OF TWO EVACUATION MARCHES FROM THE AUSCHWITZ COMPLEX IN THE FINAL PERIOD:
MARCH 1: DEPARTURE FROM ARBEITSKOMMANDO BLECHHAMMER ON 21 JANUARY 1945 ON FOOT
From Blechhammer via Neustadt, Frankenstein, Stansee, Schweidnitz, Reichnau to Gross-Rosen. Arrival on 2 February 2, 1945.
DEPARTURE FROM GROSS-ROSEN TO KL. BUCHENWALD ON 7 FEBRUARY 1945 BY TRAIN:
via Liegnietz, Görlitz, Dresden, Chemnitz, Gern, Jena to Buchenwald, arriving there on 9 and 10 February 1945.
MARCH 2: DEPARTURE FROM ARBEITSKOMMANDO GLEIWITZ ON 19 JANUARY 1945 ON FOOT:
Via Ratibor, Leobschütz, Ziegenhals, Neustadt (Silesia), Reichnau, Frankenstein, Oberlang Bielau, Weiszstein, Petersdorf, Schreiberhau, Fluisberg, Neustadt (Bohemia), Krobsdorf, Blömendorf, Hierschberg, Löwenberg, Görlitz to GREIFENBERG, liberated there 9 May 1945
Source: the archives of the Dutch Red Cross, publications Auschwitz III (Cosel period) and Auschwitz VI (evacuation transports), published October 1952 (part III) and March 1952 (part VI).