On March 11, 1943 all the Jews of Macedonia, all 7,215 of them, were taken from their homes by Bulgarian soldiers, policemen, and clerks to the the Monopol tobacco factory in the city of Skopje, capital of the Republic of Macedonia. They spent the following days on the wooden benches of the factory, ten on a bench, starving, thirsty, and fearful as to their fate. For the five days until their deportation, they were without food, locked in the halls of the factory and guarded by the Bulgarian soldiers. There were three shipments from the the Monopol, 80 Jews in each cattle car of the train, each car sealed and locked on March 22, 25, and 29, all of them with one destination – Treblinka.