Midwest Center for Holocaust Education

14 May 1944 | The main phase of deportation of Hungarian Jews began. Between May 14 & July 9 in 142 trains some 420,000 people were deported to the German camp . Some 330,000 of them were murdered immediately in gas chambers.

Our online lesson: http://lekcja.auschwitz.org/en_6_dep_zydow/

8 May 1945 | The 1st Soviet units passed through Terezín towards Prague. The ghetto was liberated. Over 140,000 Jews were imprisoned in the ghetto - out of whom over 35,000 perished. On this very same day the war in ended.

More: https://www.pamatnik-terezin.cz/liberation

Today it's 66 years ago the Anne Frank House opened its doors to the public, on 3 May 1960.

These are the memories of the American photographer Arnold Newman of this photo he took of Otto Frank in the attic of the Annex a few hours before the official opening of the Anne Frank House museum: 'The mood was depressing, and I immediately began photographing him. After a few moments, the Westertoren bells next door began to ring, and Frank turned to me and said: ''Those were the bells that Anne wrote about.'' He suddenly broke down completely, weeping uncontrollably, and then so did I. We never met again. To this day when I lecture or tell this story to people, I find I choke up; I still can’t help myself.'

On 2 May 1944, the first two trains with Jews deported from Hungary arrived at the Auschwitz camp: 1,800 people from Kistarcsa camp next to Budapest and 2,000 people from Topolya. They arrived at the so-called Alte Judenrampe between Auschwitz and Birkenau camps. After the selection, 486 men and 616 women were registered in the camp. 2,698 people were murdered in the gas chambers.

The camp administration learned that Auschwitz was not ready to accept the planned huge deportations. They decided to stop transports until the construction of a railway ramp inside the Birkenau camp was completed and other ‘technical’ difficulties were solved. Then they decided, among other things, to re-open a provisional gas chamber, the so-called "little white house", and to dig pits for burning of bodies. The main phase of deportations of Jews from Hungary began on 14 May.

Our online lesson about deportations of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz: http://lekcja.auschwitz.org/en_6_dep_zydow/

▶ WEBINAR: Deportations of Jews from Hungary to Auschwitz: https://youtu.be/M42znxofU5Q

19 April 1943 | Members of the Belgian Resistance stopped a deportation train no. 20 from Mechelen camp & managed to free some people sent to Auschwitz. Of the 1,631 Jews on that train, 233 succeeded in escaping, of whom 118 ultimately survived

Three young students and members of the Belgian resistance, including a Jewish doctor, Youra Livchitz and his two non-Jewish friends Robert Maistriau and Jean Franklemon, armed with one pistol, a lantern, and red paper to create a makeshift red lantern (to use as a danger signal), were able to stop the train on the track Mechelen-Leuven.

The twentieth convoy was guarded by one officer and fifteen men from the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo-SD), who came from Germany. Despite these security measures, Maistriau was able to open one wagon and free 17 people. Other prisoners escaped from the convoy without any connection with the attack.

The train driver, Albert Dumon, did all he could to keep the slowest pace between Tienen and Tongeren, stopping whenever it was possible and justifiable, so that more people could jump without killing themselves.

In all, 233 people succeeded in escaping from the train. 89 were eventually recaptured and put on later transports. 26 others were killed, either by shooting or by the fall, and 118 who succeeded in escaping.

On 22 April 1943, the train arrived at Auschwitz. After the selection, 276 men and 245 women were registered as prisoners. The remaining 874 Jews were immediately murdered in the gas chambers.

In remembrance of the action of the resistance, a statue was inaugurated in 1993 near the train station of Boortmeerbeek. It remembers the Holocaust and the transport of 25,483 Jews and 351 Roma over the railway track Mechelen-Leuven to the concentration camps.

Yom Hashoah 2026 was chaired by Geri Crain, daughter of Holocaust survivor Alice Kern. A new interpretation of the traditional candle lighting ceremony and the addition of the Generations Choir, children and grandchildren of survivors singing the traditional songs cherished by their parents and grandparents, added deep meaning to this annual remembrance event.

Yom Hashoah | 2026 Kansas City Yom Hashoah CommemorationApril 12, 2026