Paderborn North station

In the course of 1941, the Nazi leadership initiated the physical extermination of European Jewry.

After systematic shootings of Jews in Poland and individual large-scale evacuations of Jews to Poland had already taken place in 1939/40, the planned deportation of Jews from the territory of the Reich to the East began in the fall of 1941, centrally controlled from Berlin. The numerous organizational issues involved were the subject of the reported „Wannsee Conference“ of 20 January 1942.

The deportation of the Jewish population of Paderborn and the surrounding area took place by rail as part of four collective transports formed in Bielefeld, each comprising around 1,000 people from the jurisdiction of the Münster Gestapo control centre. The journey from Paderborn to Bielefeld took place a few days beforehand under police guard in scheduled trains from the Paderborn Nord and Kasseler Tor stations. Here at Paderborn Nord station, 17 Paderborn residents had to board the deportation train on December 10, 1941. Four people survived. All others were murdered or perished due to the inhumane living conditions.