Danube Cycling Day 6

Day 6: Terezin

Today is our day for somber touring.  The town of Terezin is about an hour drive from Prague.  Originally built as a military fortress by Joseph II, Terezin was a Big Fortress with a Small Fortress inside of it. While a military garrison, it looked like a mini-village, or a ghetto. Jews from Bohemia, Moravia and the rest of Europe were brought here and then were sent to the death camps. More than 30,000 Jewish adults and children died in Terezin. Once a child turned 14 years old, they were treated as an adult. Fifteen hundred children lived at Terezin during the Holocaust, and only 100 survived. The ashes of 30,000 people were thrown into the Eiger River in 1944. The Nazis used Terezin as a ruse to convince the rest of the world that their treatment of Jews was not inhumane.  The Red Cross was allowed to come here and see how well the Jews had it, with access to theater, music, sports, and even a small synagogue.  Three propaganda films were produced depicting  the beautiful lie that the Jews had here.

The first building open to the public is an exhibit describing the time line of Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia and persecution of the Jewish population. 

Jews were allowed to bring about 50 lbs of belongings to what they thought was to be a new settlement, only to have it confiscated on arrival.  This statue of piled suitcases is a reminder of this.  

An exposition of secret drawings done by Helga      (age 12 at the time)is prominently displayed. She still lives in Prague now age 94.  

Additionally, the output and fate of many famous artists, poets, writers, musicians, composers were exhibited.

The tracks that took cattle cars full of Jews to their fates in Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Sorbibor and other death camps ran through the camp.  There is a commemorative plaque prominently displayed. 

 A secret synagogue  was found recently in a barn in the back of someone's property who now lives in Terezin.

Conditions for the prisoners

We next went to the crematorium, used to cremate the camp inmates who succumbed to starvation, exposure, typhoid, or a raft of other causes. The victims are memorialized in a field adjacent to the crematoria and granite stones depicting all the countries represented by the victims are also found nearby.  Ashes of the deceased were boxed and stored in room in one of the walls of the fort.

The smaller fort was used as a Gestapo prison where 100 prisoners were placed in space for 40 with no toilet or water.  Isolation cells and torture rooms (with a shower to revive a torturers victim so he could continue to be abused) were also found here.  

The gallows humor of the Nazis is seen here on the portal of the prison, “Abeitet Machts Frei” or “Work Makes You Free”.  

Outside the prison is a memorial to both Christian (mostly Czech) and Jewish victims of the prison.  

The whole experience was very sobering.

 On the way back, we past huge fields of sunflowers which seemed so disconnected from the horrors we just witnessed.  

After returning to Prague, we decided to do an old town walkabout to clear our minds.  Without getting lost, we managed to find the Old Town Square and watched the Astronomical Clock strike 5 pm along with about a thousand other tourists.  The clock tower, sadly, is partially covered in scaffolding (this seems to be our misfortune with major attractions).  

We then ambled over to Wenceslaus Square (which is really a very long rectangle) with a huge statue of King Wenceslaus (of Christmas carol fame) at the far end.  The square is lined by shops, cafes, and even a casino. The backdrop for the statue is the state museum, another iconic structure of Prague, alas, also covered with scaffolding and cranes.  I tried my best to eliminate these from my photos, and photo-shopped the rest.  Don’t look to closely.

Tomorrow, we take a city tour of Prague and the Prague Castle.