INTRODUCTION: concerns the transports of 31 August and 7 September 1943.
Of these autumn transports from Westerbork -> Auschwitz of 31 August 1943 and also that of 7 September 1943, after selection on arrival, most of the men deemed suitable for work were transferred to the Ghetto in Warsaw to carry out rubble-clearing work, and a number women were put to work in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The transports all contained around 1000 people and show relatively little difference, as can be seen from the table below, which also lists the numbers of survivors for convenience.
Departure from │ Children │ Men │ Women │ Persons │Total │Survived
Westerbork │ >15 years │ 16-50 y │ 16-50 y │ >50 years │ │ M F
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31 Aug 1943 │ 160 │ 268 │ 381 │ 195 │ 1004 │ 5 0
7 Sep 1943 │ 170 │ 264 │ 338 │ 215 │ 987 │ 5 3
For the transports during this period (and the entire spring and autumn transports), the general rule applies that young children (up to 15 years), mothers with children, pregnant women, as well as weak, sick and elderly persons (generally above ± 50 years), either immediately upon arrival or after a stay of several weeks in so-called "quarantine", were killed by gassing.
The transports of 31 August and 7 September 1943
No complete lists can be drawn up of the men selected for employment, who, with the exception of a few who remained behind in Auschwitz, were transported to Warsaw. The selection boundaries are also not precisely known. The most precise and probably closest to the truth is the statement of one of the survivors of the transport of 31 August 1943, that the age limit ranged from 18 to 20 years to 40 years, and that some elderly people up to the age of 50 were selected. The limit of 18-40 years is also mentioned by a returnee from the transport of 7 September 1943, while it is known from various testimonies that in general only healthy and strong men were designated for Warsaw. Since young people from other transports were also found in Warsaw, it is further possible that some adult-looking boys aged 16 and 17 came along.
Partly in connection with the ratio of the numbers of selected persons to the numbers of men aged 16-50 years (to be specified below in the discussion of the two transports separately), from a statistical point of view the greatest chance of being found would probably be obtained if it would be assumed that the men aged 18 to 40 (subject to specifically known exceptions) were directed to Warsaw, and all other men (subject to again specifically known exceptions) on or around the day of the arrival of their transport were killed by gassing in Auschwitz.
On the other hand, strictly speaking, none of the men in the 16-50 age group can be said with certainty that he was immediately sent to the gas chambers unless this is expressly stated by witnesses, and therefore exists for every healthy male deported person aged 16 and 17 or between 40 and 50 years theoretically has the possibility that he was one of those employed. (x)
(x) The "Commission for Reporting the Death of Missing Persons" has therefore assumed for both transports that the men aged 16-50 have been selected for employment, unless individually known otherwise.
Very little is known about the women of the transports of 31 August and 7 September 1943. No survivors were found from the former transport, and only 2 from the latter, who were also in a privileged position due to circumstances. The conclusions to be drawn about the women are stated below in the discussion of the individual transports.
More about the Transport of 31 August 1943
Only 2 matricule numbers are known for the men, which shows, however, that the matricule series runs at least from 145 315 (E) to approximately 145 472 (Z), so must have contained considerably more than 158 names. The number of men aged 18-40, according to the transport list, is 187, which number approximately corresponds to the estimated number of selected persons according to the witness statements, and to the number that would be reached if the number of matriculated with names with the initial letters A to E would be estimated at over 30, which does not seem unreasonable.
This is an indication that, if some younger or older men (aged 16 and 17, aged 40-50 respectively) had been employed, their numbers could not have been large. The number of men aged 16-50, according to the table on page 43, is 268. (x)
(x) The "Commission for Reporting the Death of Missing Persons" has therefore assumed for both transports that the men aged 16-50 have been selected for employment, unless individually known otherwise.
For the rest, for the treatment of this transport, reference will suffice to the Warsaw conclusions (Chapter I, paragraph 3, sub II). Letters have not been received from the men of this transport.
With regard to the women of this transport (none of whom returned, and no matric numbers are known), statements by surviving men suggest that very few survived the selection and were taken to Birkenau. Indeed there are letter writers; they wrote from Birkenau under the date of 30 January 1944. Furthermore, more information is known about 7 women from statements by women from other transports.
If there were other women who survived for a considerable time after their arrival in Birkenau, it must be assumed that their existence was revealed somewhere in statements by surviving women from other transports.
To the extent that this is not the case, and otherwise nothing more has been heard from the women of the transport in question, it must be concluded that all of them, as well as the children, were killed on or about the day after the arrival of the transport in Auschwitz, i.e. were killed by gassing on or about 3 September 1943.
Source: Publication Auschwitz part IV – CHAPTER III, paragraph II - The autumn transports of 1943 - (24 August till 16 November 1943), pages 44, 45, 51-52-53 and 67, as edited by the Dutch Red Cross in October 1953.