The Terror of Terezin

In October 1941 Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich the leader of the Nazi puppet state of Bohmen und Mahren evacuated the towns 3500 inhabitants and crammed 60,000 Jews from all over the region into the buildings here.

The town was eventually liberated by the Russian Red Army on May 8th 1945 by which time of the 140,000 Jews who had been filed through here, on there way to the Gas chambers of Auschwitz-Belsen, only 17,000 remained to be liberated.

Quick Tips:

There is a small hotel in the town and a nearby camp site but I can think of no conceivable reason why anyone would want to stay in this creepy little town, this is a place best visited on a day trip and then left on the last bus out of town.

There is nowhere to eat or drink in the town and the one and only shop, off of Namesti Ceskoslovenske Armady next to the town hall, was closed for most of my visit so make sure that you bring whatever supplies you will need with you.

Best Way To Get Around:

Regular buses ply the Prague-Usti nad Labem highway that runs through the center of town, running the 60km to/from Prague's Florenc bus station. These buses drop-off/pick up by the side of the Namesti Ceskoslovenske Armady and a timetable is pinned to the door of the Tourist Information Office.

In 1943 the Authorities embarked on a process they called Verschonerung, the beautification of the Ghetto, as an act of propaganda, that would twice fool International Red Cross inspectors, the town was cleaned up, the Jews were given there own council and numerous artistic endeavors were promoted.

Many of the buildings that housed the Jewish inmates here from 1941-1945 still stand untouched as monuments to the many that died. A handy map supplied by the Tourist Information Office, housed in the old town hall, allows you to tour the blocks and garrisons used by the Nazis.

Of particular interest are the Marktplace turned into a free park for the inhabitants and bordered by the old town hall and the Church of the Resurrection, a section of the old railway siding built with the prisoners forced labor to expedite their onward transport to Auschwitz, and the guard house.

Wandering the hauntingly quiet streets of the town, now once again occupied, provides a chilling insight into life in the ghetto.

Kicking of with exhibits on the rise of Nazism in Germany, "The Jewish Problem" and how Hitler's policies lead to the Endloslung "Final Solution", these provide an essential introduction to the background of what was to happen here.

The exhibit on the history of the Terezin Ghetto 1941-1945 tells the story of this terrible period in the town's history through photographs, personal effects of the prisoners and their letters and paintings. There are also regular showings of "Hitler Gives The Jews A Town", a Nazi propaganda film made here.

In the planning since 1968 this museum was finally opened in 1991 after objections from the Communist authorities were effectively ended this modern little museum also houses a small shop selling books, videos and souvenirs of the ghetto.

Telling the history of the tragic events that occurred here this museum provides essential background and is the best place to kick off your tour of the town.

The Magdeburg Barracks was the seat of the Freizeitgestaltung the Jewish Self-Governing Council that was established in 1943 as the corner stone of the Nazi propaganda effort and their efforts to fool the International Red Cross inspectors.

The first exhibit is a reconstruction of a dormitory from the time of the Ghetto that provides a graphic illustration of how overcrowded the Ghetto was and how unsanitary conditions that would lead to the deaths of one-fifth of its inhabitants could occur.

The rest of the galleries detail the extraordinary artistic output of the Ghetto's inhabitants in the fields of music, painting, literary work and theatre, highlights include the haunting sketches of life in the Ghetto and the home-made costumes and sets used by the theatre groups.

While the main branch of the Ghetto museum tells the history of what happened here, it is this branch which brings home the horrors by telling the human story of the Ghetto.

It has been a prison ever since, from 1940 it was used as a political prison by the Gestapo and after 1945 it was used to hold Nazi prisoners including former guards, but by far its most famous inmate was Gavrilo Princip the Bosnian Anarchist whose assassination of Archduke Ferdinand lead to WWI.

In front of the imposing entrance is a large cemetery dominated by a large wooden Christian Cross and slightly smaller Star of David and housing the graves of 2,300 communists, dissenters and prisoners of war whose remains were recovered from communal graves here.

The complex itself consists of block houses, morgues, shower rooms left untouched to give you a feel of what life, and death, must have been like here. The former resident of the Kamp Kommondant houses a simple museum with exhibits telling the story of the prison.

The self guided tour leads through the dark tunnels, tiny barracks and haunting execution grounds that make this the most memorable of Terezin many houses of horrors.

As you make your way into the complex down a long tree-lined avenue one sight is sure to take your breath away, dominating the whole area is the main memorial designed to look like a stylized Hanukkah candlestick, this imposing structure has become the symbol of this tragic town.

It is estimated that one-fifth of the 140,000 Jews sent to this camp between October 1941 and May 1945 never left. Overcrowding, supply shortages and un-sanitary conditions claimed as many as 4000 lives a month and the remains of these casualties were brought here.

A simple white building with a slate gray roof at the heart of the complex houses the giant ovens of the crematorium. The building also houses a small exhibition on "Mortality and burials in the Terezin Ghetto" made up of old photographs, and a small souvenir stall selling Jewish books and videos.

This quiet and peaceful little complex is a truly sombering sight to behold and an intense memorial to the 77,297 Czech Jews killed by the Nazis.