By April 13, 1945, the railway connection had already been cut off, rendering the existing narrow-gauge railway between the Moselle and Ortmannsdorf unusable for transport. The camp commanders did not want to leave the weakened prisoners behind. To prevent their liberation by the Allies, farmers organized horsemen in the village to whom the prisoners were thrown.

The march took place on main roads to minimize the risk of escape. Nevertheless, some prisoners tried to escape along the way. Few succeeded; some were shot.

The first group of 787 prisoners* spent the night in an open field in Ortsmannsdorf, on the edge of the forest near Neuschönburg. The second group spent the night in an open field in Burkhardtsgrün the following day.

At the beginning of the death march, the prisoners in Mülsen were given a food ration, which they ate on the spot. They carried the dry bread well, and threw pieces of it under the crowd in Niederschlema. Additional catering was provided by chance in shocks. (Titzmann 2024)

*Different sources provide different figures regarding the number of prisoners in the camp at the time of evacuation who were forced onto the death march. One basic text on the satellite camp and its evacuation estimates the number of prisoners to be 487 (Fritz Ulrich, Mülsen St. Micheln, in Orte des Terrors, Vol. 4, p. 205). Titzmann discusses this discrepancy:

"The figure of 787 prisoners who had to start the march in Mülsen St. Micheln contrasts with the figure of 487, which can also be found in other publications on the subject." This may be a transcription or typing error." The figure of 487 prisoners appears to be far too small. If one subtracts the nearly 90 people murdered in Niederschlema and the approximately 100 who escaped during the air raid in Leitmeritz, one arrives at the figure of at least 300 prisoners with whom Degner claims to have arrived in Theresienstadt. However, this would mean that the prisoners who escaped en masse, as described by many death march survivors, did not exist" (Titzmann 2015: 32 / translation by "DenkMal!")

After comparing the arrival and departure lists for the Mülsen satellite camp, we arrived at a figure of 772. However, further research revealed that not all prisoners appear on these transport lists; many only appear by name again as victims on the death march. Therefore, this number is probably very close to the number of prisoners stated by Titzmann.