On 24 November 1941, the first trainload of deportees arrived at the Sudeten barracks in Theresienstadt; they were 342 young Jewish men whose task was to prepare the town for the arrival of thousands of other Jews beginning 30 November.
Another transport of 1,000 men arrived on 4 December; this included Jakob Edelstein and the original members of the Council of Elders.
Deportees to the ghetto had to surrender all possessions except for 50 kilograms (110 lb) of luggage, which they had to carry with them from the railway station at Bauschowitz (Bohušovice), 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) away; the walk was difficult for elderly and ill Jews, many of whom died on the journey.
After arriving, prisoners were sent to the schleuse (English: sluice), where they were registered and deprived of their remaining possessions.

The 24 November and 4 December transports, consisting mostly of Jewish craftsmen, engineers, and other skilled workers of Zionist sympathies, were known as the Aufbaukommando (Work Detail) and their members were exempt from deportation until September 1943.
The members of the Aufbaukommando used creative methods to improve the infrastructure of the ghetto and prepare it to house an average of 40,000 people during its existence.
The construction project was funded by stolen Jewish property.
When the first transport arrived, there was only one vat for coffee with a capacity of 300L; by the next year, there were sufficient kettles to make 50,000 cups of ersatz coffee in two hours.
The waterworks often broke down during in the first months due to inadequate capacity.
To improve potable water supply, and so everyone could wash daily, workers drilled wells and overhauled the pipe system.
The Germans provided the materials for these improvements, largely to reduce the chance of communicable disease spreading beyond the ghetto, but Jewish engineers directed the projects.

Jews lived in the eleven barracks in the fortress, while civilians continued to inhabit the 218 civilian houses.
Segregation between the two groups was strictly enforced and resulted in harsh punishments on Jews who left their barracks.
By the end of the year, 7,365 people had been deported to the ghetto, of whom 2,000 were from Brno and the rest from Prague.
On 24 November 1941, the first trainload of deportees arrived at the Sudeten barracks in Theresienstadt; they were 342 young Jewish men whose task was to prepare the town for the arrival of thousands of other Jews beginning 30 November. Another transport of 1,000 men arrived on 4 December; this included Jakob Edelstein and the original members of the Council of Elders. Deportees to the ghetto had to surrender all possessions except for 50 kilograms (110 lb) of luggage, which they had to carry with them from the railway station at Bauschowitz (Bohušovice), 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) away; the walk was difficult for elderly and ill Jews, many of whom died on the journey. After arriving, prisoners were sent to the schleuse (English: sluice), where they were registered and deprived of their remaining possessions.
The 24 November and 4 December transports, consisting mostly of Jewish craftsmen, engineers, and other skilled workers of Zionist sympathies, were known as the Aufbaukommando (Work Detail) and their members were exempt from deportation until September 1943. The members of the Aufbaukommando used creative methods to improve the infrastructure of the ghetto and prepare it to house an average of 40,000 people during its existence. The construction project was funded by stolen Jewish property. When the first transport arrived, there was only one vat for coffee with a capacity of 300L; by the next year, there were sufficient kettles to make 50,000 cups of ersatz coffee in two hours. The waterworks often broke down during in the first months due to inadequate capacity. To improve potable water supply, and so everyone could wash daily, workers drilled wells and overhauled the pipe system. The Germans provided the materials for these improvements, largely to reduce the chance of communicable disease spreading beyond the ghetto, but Jewish engineers directed the projects.
Jews lived in the eleven barracks in the fortress, while civilians continued to inhabit the 218 civilian houses. Segregation between the two groups was strictly enforced and resulted in harsh punishments on Jews who left their barracks. By the end of the year, 7,365 people had been deported to the ghetto, of whom 2,000 were from Brno and the rest from Prague.
Theresienstadt Ghetto