Factory Action (Fabrikaktion)
The Factory Action, or Fabrikaktion, began on 27 February 1943 when the Gestapo initiated a plan to arrest and deport over ten thousand Jewish men and women across Germany. It was supposed to be the final phase of the mass deportations that had been ongoing since 1941. The orders for this last wave were issued on 20 February by the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RHSA), the main security office of the Reich. These instructions mandated the deportations of all remaining Jews, including those involved in forced labour for the war effort.
In most places across Germany, the raid lasted one or two days; in Berlin, it took almost a week. By the time it was over, the Factory Action had become the third largest anti-Jewish raid in German history, after the expulsion of Polish Jews in October 1938 and the Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht) in November 1938.