In the fall of 1942, several trains on their way to Auschwitz stopped in Kosel; these trains were later known as the “Kosel-transport.” Approximately 200 Dutch Jews were taken off the train to work. The train with the rest of the occupants continued on to the extermination camp Auschwitz. From Kosel, about 80 kilometers from Auschwitz, more than 3500 healthy men from different countries were set to work as forced laborers at various large projects where heavy and/or dangerous work had to be carried out. Many slave laborers didn’t survive these camps.