Concentration Camp Theresienstadt

Concentration camp Theresienstadt (often referred to as '''Terezin''') was a Nazi Concentration Camp during World War II . It was established by the Gestapo in the fortress and garrison city Terezín ( German name ''Theresienstadt''), located in what is now the Czech Republic .

HISTORY

The fortress of Terezín was constructed between the years 1780 and 1790. From early in the 19th century it was used to accomodate military and political prisoners.

On June 10 , 1940 , the Gestapo took control of Terezín and set up prison in the ''Small Fortress'' (Kleine Festung), see below. By 24 November 1941 , the ''Main Fortress'' (grosse Festung, ie the town Theresienstadt) was turned into a walled Ghetto . The function of Theresienstadt was to provide a front for the extermination operation of Jew s. To the outside it was presented by the Nazis as a model Jewish settlement, but in reality it was a Concentration Camp . Theresienstadt was also used as a transit camp for Jews en route to Auschwitz and other Extermination Camp s.

This camp was established by the head of the SS , Reinhard Heydrich . It soon became the "home" for a great number of Jews from occupied Czechoslovakia . The 7,000 non-Jewish Czechs living in Terezín were expelled by the Nazis in the spring 1942. As a consequence, the Jewish community became a closed environment.

On 3 May , 1945 control of the camp was transferred from the Germans to the Red Cross . Five days later, on 8 May , 1945 Terezín was liberated by Soviet troops.

The conditions in Theresienstadt were extremely difficult. In a space previously inhabited by 7,000 Czechs, now over 50,000 Jews were gathered. Food was scarce and in 1942 almost 16,000 people died, including Esther Adolphine (a sibling of Sigmund Freud ) who died on September 29 , 1942 ; Friedrich Münzer (a German classicist), who died on October 20 , 1942; and two siblings of American politician John Kerry 's grandmother.

Some 500 Jews from Denmark were sent to Theresienstadt in 1943 . These were Jews who had not escaped to Sweden before the arrival of the Nazis. The arrival of the Danes is of great significance as the Danes insisted on the Red Cross having access to the ghetto. This was a rare move, given that most European governments did not insist on their fellow Jewish citizens being treated according to some fundamental principles.

CULTURAL ACTIVITY OF INMATES

Theresienstadt was originally designated to house privileged Jews from Germany , Czechoslovakia, and Austria . Many educated Jews were inmates of Theresienstadt, and the camp was known for its rich cultural life. At least four concert orchestras operated in the camp, as well as chamber groups and jazz ensembles. Several stage performances were produced and attended by camp inmates. Some prominent artists from Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Germany were either born in Theresienstadt or found their death there. There were artists, writers, scientists and jurists, diplomats, musicians, and scholars.

The community in Theresienstadt ensured that all the children that passed through continued with their education. Though the Nazis decreed that all camp children over a certain age must be gainfully employed, working on stage was considered employment, and the children's education often continued under the guise of work or cultural activity. Daily classes and sports activities were held and the magazine '' Vedem '' was edited there. This affected some 15,000 children, of whom only about 1,100 survived to the end of the war. Other estimates place the number of the surviving children as low as 150.

Artist and art teacher Friedl Dicker-Brandeis created drawing classes for children in the ghetto. This activity resulted in the production of over four thousands children's drawings, which Dicker-Brandeis hid in two suitcases before being sent to Auschwitz. This collection was thus preserved from destruction by the Nazis and was not discovered until a decade later. Most of these drawings can now be seen at The Jewish Museum in Prague, whose Archive of Holocaust section is responsible for the administration of the Terezin Archive Collection. The children of the camp also wrote stories and poems, some of which were preserved and later published in a collection called '' I Never Saw Another Butterfly ''.

The composer Viktor Ullmann was interned in September 1942 and murdered at Auschwitz in October 1944. He composed some twenty works at Theresienstadt, including the one-act opera, ''Der Kaiser Von Atlantis'' ('' The Emperor Of Atlantis or The Refusal of Death''), first performed in 1975, shown in full on BBC television in Britain, and still performed today. It was to be performed in the camp, but permission was withdrawn when it was in rehearsal, probably because the authorities perceived its allegorical intent.

USED AS PROPAGANDA TOOL

On June 23, 1944, the Nazis permitted the visit by the Red Cross in order to dispel rumours about the exterminations camps. To minimize the appearance of overcrowding in Theresienstadt, the Nazi deported many Jews to Auschwitz. They also erected fake shops and cafés to imply that the Jews lived in relative comfort. The Danes whom the Red Cross visited lived in freshly painted rooms, not more than three in a room. The guests enjoyed the performance of a children's opera, '' Brundibar '', which was written by inmate Hans Krása .

The hoax against the Red Cross was so successful for the Nazis that they went on to make a propaganda film at Theresienstadt. Shooting of the film began on February 26 , 1944 . Directed by Jewish prisoner Kurt Gerron (a director, Cabaret performer, and actor who appeared with Marlene Dietrich in '' The Blue Angel ''), it was meant to show how well the Jews lived under the "benevolent" protection of the Third Reich . After the shooting most of the cast, and even the filmmaker himself, were deported to Auschwitz. Gerron and his wife were executed in the Gas Chamber s on October 28, 1944. The film was not released at the time, but was edited into pieces that served their purpose, and only segments of it have remained.

Often called ''The Führer Gives a Village to the Jews'', the correct name of the film is: ''Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet'' (''Terezin: A Documentary Film of the Jewish Resettlement''). (Cf. Hans Sode-Madsen: The Perfect Deception. The Danish Jews and Theresienstadt 1940–1945. Leo Baeck Yearbook, 1993)

STATISTICS

Approximately 144,000 Jews were sent to Theresienstadt. About a quarter of them (33,000) died in Theresienstadt, mostly because of the deadly conditions (hunger, Stress , and disease, especially the Typhus Epidemic at the very end of war). About 88,000 were deported to Auschwitz and other extermination camps. When the war finished, there were a mere 19,000 survivors.

SMALL FORTRESS

''Small Fortress'' (''Malá pevnost'' in Czech, ''Kleine Festung'' in German) was part of the fortification on left side of river Ohře . Since 1940, Gestapo used it as prison (the largest one in the Protectorate Of Bohemia And Moravia ). It was separate and unrelated to the Jewish ghetto in the main fortress on the river's right side. Around 90,000 of people arrived there and were usually sent to a concentration camp later. 2,600 people were executed, starved, or succumbed to disease there.

EXTERNAL LINKS

Information About

Concentration Camp Theresienstadt