Amidst much terror and intimidation, the first transport from Lodz set out for the gas vans of the Chelmno extermination camp. Earlier, the German authorities forced the chairman of the Judenrat, Chaim Rumkowski, to prepare lists of candidates for deportation and to organize the assembly points at the edge of the ghetto. Rumkowski was not aware of the purpose of the deportation at that time. A committee was appointed and ordered to select victims among those in the "Social-A" categoryΓÇöpeople sentenced for various offenses (who would be banished along with their families), and those on the dole. Excused from the deportation were the seriously ill, sick children, residents of old-age homes, public functionaries, and rabbis. Those who did not report as told were taken to the collection point by the Jewish police. The first deportation also included deportees from Germany: groups of Jews and Gypsies, who had been living in a separate part of the ghetto since October 1941. From the assembly point, the victims were transported to the Chelmno extermination camp under especially heavy German guard. All were murdered in gas vans the day they arrived, or the day after.
