PRAGUE (AP) — Hundreds of people are beating drums in Prague to mark the 74th anniversary of the first Czech Jews sent to Nazi death camps during World War II.

The transports began Oct. 16, 1941, with the first of the five trains heading for Lodz in Poland, which was occupied by the Nazis, as was the former Czechoslovakia, where Prague was located. Of the 5,000 Jews in them, less than 300 survived. Further transports followed.

Nearly 120,000 Jews lived in the country before the war. More than 80,000 of them perished in the Holocaust.

Braving a heavy rain, people, many with children, joined professional musicians in beating drums distributed by the organizers. Friday's event took place at the former Bubny (Drums) train station, which is being turned into a Holocaust museum.