Nazi ghost train

The fall of Brussels to the allied armies was imminent and the departure of the train was delayed and progress slowed by sabotage and deserting Belgian railway workers.

More than 5,000 prisoners (including more than 300 women) were transported out of Belgium to concentration camps in Germany prior to the Nazi ghost train.

On 28 August the diplomats held another meeting at the Swiss Legation and prepared a paper to present to the German Ambassador requesting the release.

During the nights of 1 and 2 September they collected 32 cattle cars and lined them up on the railroad tracks at the Brussels midi railway station.

In the early morning of 2 September the prisoners at Saint-Gilles were assembled, loaded in lorries, and driven into the railway station.

Faced with the liberation of Brussels by the allied armies which would occur later that same day, the Germans were eager to collect all available transportation to evacuate their soldiers.

About noon, the German Ambassador informed a delegation of Swiss and Swedish diplomats and Belgian officials that the SS had agreed to order the release of the political prisoners.