According to a brochure titled Special Trains to Death, the Deutsche Bahn's predecessor, Reichsbahn, transported some 3 million people to Nazi death camps, and received compensation for each passenger over the age of 4. It is stated that without the railway, the systematic murder of European Jews, Sinti and Roma would not have been possible.

An exhibit is presently traveling throughout Germany to remind us of those countless victims.

While most of those transported later died in the camps, interviews with some of those who managed to survive recall the atrocious conditions on the trains. Letters and photographs of those who were deported bring individual lives to light. Documents and graphics illustrate the operational procedures and the organization of the transports as carried out by Deutsche Reichsbahn.

The exhibit is currently being held at Halle’s main train station, where it will remain through March 25. From May 18 to June 15, it will be in Münster. Further venues are in preparation; Rick Steves’ European Headlines mentions Munich and Frankfurt as other sites, so check back here or on the organizer’s Web sites to see if and when dates for these cities are announced.

If you miss the traveling exhibit, a lasting memorial has been erected at platform 17 at Grunewald station in Berlin. The DB Museum in Nuremberg also devotes some space to this topic.