Enemies of the Reich

The so-called Ghost Train was one of the last transports to carry tens of thousands of people, for racial or political reasons, to Nazi extermination camps during the German occupation of France. The convoy left Toulouse railway station on July 3, 1944, with nearly 550 deportees crammed into cattle cars, almost half of whom were Spanish. The vast majority were exiles living in France after the Republican defeat, many of them linked to the Resistance. The Ghost Train finally arrived at Dachau on August 28, 57 days after its departure, following a chaotic and harrowing journey that not everyone survived. A few days after their arrival, the women were transferred to Ravensbrück.

Hunger, thirst, heat, executions en route, escape attempts—some successful, others unsuccessful—Allied air raids, sabotage by the Resistance in its efforts to stop the train, advances and retreats, long walks, train changes, and altered routes turned the journey into a hellish odyssey bound for the horrors of the Nazi camps.