The situation in Germany was now critical, and the Swedish drivers were informed that the trip would be very dangerous. At the last minute, the Swedish foreign department tried to stop the departure, as they had been informed that Soviet forces had blocked the road, but the column departed anyway. On 15 April the column had collected 423 Scandinavian Jews from Theresienstadt and started on the perilous return journey. On the way back the column passed Dresden, which had been bombed a month before and had an overnight stop near Potsdam, which had been bombed the same night. The transport reached Padborg on 17 April, without casualties. The next day, the rescued Jews were transported by ferry to Malmö.