Umschlagplatz

Umschlagplatz of the Warsaw Ghetto
National monument at the Ghetto's former Umschlagplatz symbolizing an open freight car, Stawki Street, Warsaw
Polish Jews loaded onto trains at the Warsaw Ghetto

Umschlagplatz (German: collection point or reloading point) was the term used during The Holocaust to denote the holding areas adjacent to railway stations in occupied Poland where Jews from ghettos were assembled for deportation to Nazi death camps. The largest collection point was in Warsaw next to the Warsaw Ghetto. In 1942 between 254,000 – 265,000 Jews passed through the Warsaw Umschlagplatz on their way to the Treblinka extermination camp during Operation Reinhard,^[1] the deadliest phase of the Holocaust in Poland.^[2][3] Often those awaiting the arrival of Holocaust trains, were held at the Umschlagplatz overnight.^[4] Other examples of Umschlagplatz include the one at Radogoszcz station - adjacent to the Łódź Ghetto - where people were sent to Chełmno extermination camp and Auschwitz.^[5][6]

In 1988, a memorial was erected in Warsaw to commemorate the deportation victims from the Umschlagplatz. The monument resembles a freight car with its doors open. It is located on the corner of Stawki Street.^[7]