Terezin (Theresienstadt)
We are here… The children and grandchildren, friends and families of the Shoah survivors. Our relatives won the battle against Nazism. Culturally and morally. So we are here. It is us who can guide you through the WWII history and Shoah disaster. We are willing to share our painful stories with you.
Some of the sites you'll visit...
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Reflections on Terezin
Muzeum Yizkor
Perfectly describing the life of the inmates of the holding camp Terezin. On the panels you can see examples of personal postcards, messages and letters in the vitrines the objects of daily use, kids toys and art.
Magdeburg Kaserne
The barracks served as the center of the Jewish leadership of Terezin, furthermore there were the studios of Terezin artists. You will be overwhelmed by amazing music composed in Terezin and breath holding art by the inmates.
Hidden Synagogue
Witness of religious activities during the existence of the camp, the place was holding both Jewish identities - religious as well as zionist.
Discover the history of Terezin camp
Two fortresses of Terezin were built in the 18th century by the emperor Joseph II. in the name of his mother Maria Theresa in order to protect the richest kingdom of the Habsburg Empire from the Germans. What an absurd paradox - Germans using the place for the so called “final solution“ of the European Jews. The peaceful city of Terezin was converted to a holding camp for Jews on their way to extermination camps and the Small fortress was used exclusively as a prison for the anti fascists.
A special kind of camp
As Terezin was a special kind of a camp meant for prominent Jewish personalities, Jews who were married to non-Jews and simply Jews from all over the Europe, the rules were quite different from other camps. So if you are looking for barbed wires, gas chambers and wooden barracks, you won't find them there. It was a transport camp/ghetto, serving mostly as a stop along the route further to death camps in the East. Jewish people tried to live their lives there in spite of struggling with horrible conditions of the place and time.
Facts, Myths and FAQs
Was Terezin an extermination camp? In other words was there a gas chamber?
No, it was not - Terezin was a holding camp.
What was the average time people stayed here?
There is nothing really like average time, somebody stayed for couple of months, others 3 years.
We read Terezin was a show camp, wasn’t it?
No, the so called show was taking only 6 hours in June 1944. During the visit of the International Committee of the Red Cross. From these 6 hours they spent most of the time on lunch, theatre and the well organized show by the Nazis…
What happened to the non-jewish people who lived in the city before it was converted to a Nazi camp?
They were evacuated from their homes with no possibility of return.
Could the children in Terezin be officially educated?
Officially there was no schooling, secretly there were a lot of lectures and school programmes - teacher of physics was assistant to Albert Einstein, teacher of Art was Dicker-Brandeis who graduated from Bauhaus.
How could the children obtain the educational materials?
A lot of textbooks were brought to Terezin by the educators, parents and the children themselves, young people were secretly publishing children’s magazines.
