The Boxcars Research Paper

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Recommended: Describe conditions in the concentration camps

Starting in 1941, boxcars were so important to the Holocaust that 1.4 million workers were required to keep it up and running (Blohm). On the boxcars, the Jews were loaded 100 to 130 people per car, then transported to the labor camps and eventually death.Very few victims live to tell their stories of what it was like to travel on these boxcars, and the death that waited on the other side (Menszer).
Jews were transferred into the boxcars from the ghettos, and some were never told their fate, others were given false hope by believing there would be better living conditions and plenty of food where they were going. Although the people were told that there was good fortune ahead, many of them were very uncertain. Many of the people were concerned …show more content…

There was an urgent need for air, and the passengers fought for any place that was near a crack so there was enough air to breathe. If anyone needed to use the bathroom, there was a small waste bucket and it was barely used. To use the waste bucket, you would need to use it in front of everyone in the boxcar which was difficult and embarrassing. Many passengers didn’t want to go through the hassle of trying to use the small waste bucket, so they just went wherever they were standing, causing the boxcars to smell horrible. The weather also brought discomfort for the Jews, because there was no heat or air conditioning. This caused it to be extremely hot, or extremely cold depending on the seasons. There was no food, no water, and everyone was packed in so tightly that you could hardly ever get any rest. These conditions made it difficult for some to survive, and quite a few people died. Whenever there was a death, everyone tried to move away from the corpse, but there barely room for any movement. There were very few times the boxcar stopped, but when it did, the dead bodies were removed and the waste bucket was emptied. When the guards opened the doors, they stole the Jews’ belongings, especially if they had something valuable. Sometimes, for sport, the guards opened up the doors and fired their machine guns

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