Deportation from the Lodz Ghetto
The Gehsperre (translates as Curfew) action was the deportation action that took place in the Lodz ghetto between September 5 and 12, 1942. It was the second major deportation action in the ghetto. It resulted in the transport of over 15,000 Jews --mostly children, but also the elderly and the infirm-- to their death in Chelmno, which was an extermination camp situated near Lodz.
During the Gehsperre, an embargo was ordered on all movement in the ghetto. Sections were blocked off in stages and the people were forcibly removed from their homes or the hospitals in which they were confined. For the first day the round-ups were conducted by the ghetto police and their assistants, but the Germans, finding them inefficient, took over thereafter.
The brutality of the German police resulted in the death of hundreds of Jews who tried to evade capture. The round-ups were followed by selections, during which those less suitable for work were chosen for deportation. Prior to their transfer out of the ghetto, the deportees were held at assembly centers located in the hospitals and central prison of the ghetto.