Terezín: Theresienstadt Concentration Camp/Ghetto

Terezín
Terezín is a former military fortress and adjacent walled garrison town near Prague, Czech Republic. Here, Theresienstadt concentration camp, also referred to as Theresienstadt Ghetto, was established by the SS during World War II. This concentration camp was the propaganda camp for the Nazis.

Terezín National Cemetery
When we arrived, the first thing I saw was Terezín's National Cemetery.

There were so many graves, I felt a little sick to my stomach.

Despite this though, we still walked around studying the graves. It was interesting to see the differences in them. They all had a grave number but some had names, dates, and another number on it (which we assumed was their identification number).

Others only had an identification number,

some didn't have an identification number and just the dates,

others had no name and so on.

It was just sad to think that many of those graves belonged to unidentified people. What's more, we weren't even sure if those graves were just a memorial, or if there was actually dead people buried in them. Regardless, it was still a strong impact to see them all.

Post WWII Deaths - Typhus
Also, another thing that was really interesting to see was that some graves had dates of death after the end of WWII.

We soon found out it was because many inmates, approximately 700, had typhus and had to be kept in Theresienstadt so they wouldn't contage anyone else. Unfortunately, most of them died there along with some doctors and nurses who treated the.

"Arbeit Macht Frei"
The tour started, and the first we saw was the entrance to the camp which had the inscription "Arbeit Macht Frei" which translates into "Works Makes (you) Free."

This is what the Nazi's used at most of their concentration camps to trick their prisoners into believing they would eventually be free if they worked hard enough. Of course, this was never the case and it's really quite sad to think about these people breaking their backs and working so hard because they thought they had a great future ahead of them.

Living in the Ghetto
The barracks were extremely small.

On our tour, I would say there was about 30 or so of us, and sometimes it felt a little crowded. Well, in these barracks the Nazis would pack about 100 prisoners all together. The facilities were terrible, there was one toilet,

and no hygiene whatsoever. Go figure what it smelled like, the diseases that were going around, and the unsanitary conditions these people were living under. Just thinking about it depresses me. I can't even grasp the concept. I mean, sometimes I complain about how small my room is or stupid things like that and then I hear things like this and it just reminds me how truly blessed we all are and how terrible and inhumane these people were treated.

Propaganda at it's Finest
As I mentioned earlier, Theresienstadt was a propaganda camp. The Nazis built special rooms in it so they could show the Red Cross representative that their prisoners lived under acceptable conditions.

Not only that, whenever the Nazis became aware of a Red Cross visit, they would put families back together, give them clean clothing, and print out fake money. Every time, the Red Cross representatives would buy it all and leave believing these people were living under bearable conditions.

Of course, this was never the case. Tens of thousands of people died there, some killed outright and others dying from malnutrition and disease. Those who survived this camp, were transported to other concentration/extermination camps where they would soon meet their death.

Escape Attempts From Terezín
Many people always wonder why the prisoners wouldn't try to escape such terrible conditions. Well, they were terrified of the dogs who guarded the camps and that's completely understandable. It's definitely not the same to die a fast death by being shot than to die a slow painful death by being torn into pieces by a dog. However, there were still some brave souls who tested their destinies.

Three individuals had success. They managed to escape over this wall

thanks to the moat on the inside that was full enough to allow them to climb over the wall.

However, another three individuals didn't have the same luck. They tried to escape over this wall

and were caught. One was shot immediately against the wall, and the other two were stoned to death by the Germans and other inmates. Our tour guide also told us that many times when prisoners tried to escape and they were got caught, they were forced to pick another inmate to get stoned with. Just let that sink in for a second.

Terezín Ghetto Museum
After the camp we got to visit the museum. This is what really got to me. A lot of it was dedicated to the thousands of children killed and seeing their drawings, testimonies and names made me tear up. I just couldn't comprehend how human beings could do this to other human beings...to children! It was just too much to handle when I began reading children sayings on a tower displayed at the museum. Here's a couple: "Room are full of people, excrement, not enough eating utensils, the dead lie among the living for entire days..." ; "...old people are dropping like flies because they couldn't take it anymore after standing for 14 hours."

Also, here are the official causes of death in the Terezín ghetto: