Malines was a transit camp established by the German occupation authorities in Mechelen, Belgium in July 1942. The camp was a temporary holding facility for the Jews and Gypsies of Belgium. Many of the prisoners had arrived at the camp with deceptive orders to report for a “labor draft,” and most of them were at Malines for only a few months before being deported. Between August 1942 and July 1944, twenty-eight trains left Malines with a total of 25,257 Jewish prisoners, along with several more trains filled with Gypsies. Almost all of them were destined for Auschwitz.
In June 1943, Silvia claimed to be only half-Jewish in order to avoid being deported from Malines to eastern Europe. Because she had no proof, the guards ultimately deported her. Prisoners who could prove that they were only half-Jewish were sent to Drancy transit camp in France, and many survived to be liberated there in April 1944.
