Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Terezin was a bookend for our Danube trip as well as a reminder of some fifty years of traveling. In the summer of 1963 my wife and I traveled abroad for the first time. We spent the summer before taking up employment at Monmouth College in what earlier travelers would have called "The Grand Tour." We saw the full complement of western european cities and sights. We took in Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Canal, and the Coliseum. We visited Copenhagen, Hamburg, Arles, Geneva, Florence, Pompei and many points in between. Many memories and kodachrome slides from that trip are now fading, but two experiences do remain bright. Both attach themselves to World War II and the Nazi legacy.
The first was a trip into Communist East Berlin where in 1963 WW II destruction was still evident and a monstrous wall had been constructed. It existed to keep people in rather than out, but suffered ultimately the fate of all walls. Whether China's, Hadrian's, or Trump's, walls are only temporary and generally seem to function mainly as a visible temptation to find a way around, under, or over.
The second still vivid memory was a visit to a small house in Amsterdam where the family of Anne Frank lived while hiding from the Nazis. (My 1963 photo)
This ties directly to the first significant emotional moment of our Danube cruise. It occurred while standing on the banks of the river in Budapest and seeing a line of bronze shoes commemorating Jews who were pushed into the freezing winter water to their deaths.
Then, throughout the week of travel through Eastern Europe, often muted reminders of past Antisemitism and of the more recent Holocaust surfaced. The bookend was completed when, at the end of this trip, we boarded a small van with five other travelers to visit the remains of Terezin-- a WWII internment camp and prison run by the Nazis.
Terezin is about an hour north of Prague and most of the journey is on a modern freeway with familiar advertising.
When you turn off the freeway the road narrows and you get a better view of the fertile fields backed by the hills out of which the early Bohemians thought invading Prussians might pour.
They never did, but it was to protect against this possible threat that the Emperor Joseph II in the late 1780's constructed a walled town (the Main Fortress to the left) and a smaller military enclave (the Small Fortress to the right).
Joseph named the settlement Theresienstadt after his mother Empress Maria Theresa. Today it is called Terezin.
The Small Fortress was used occasionally as a prison in the 19th and early 20th century. It's most noteworthy early inmate was the man who assassinated the Arch Duke Ferdinand and managed to start WW I. And he actually died there. For the most part, however, the town just marked time for two hundred years while waiting for a more terrible future. This was underscored immediately by our first view upon walking out of the parking lot. It was the large National Cemetery honoring some of the 2500 who died within the walls of the Small Fortress between 1940 and 1945.
On one end of the cemetery a Jewish Star was embedded in a pile of symbolic stones.
On the opposite side was a Christian Cross, testifying to the fact that not all the victims were Jewish.
Many of the Jewish graves are graced by small strewn pebbles.
From the cemetery we proceeded to the Small Fortress proper. Between 1940 and 1945 it was the Prague Gestapo's private prison for offenders against the Nazi regime. This included resistance fighters, political dissidents, some communists, and others who were singled out for the harsh treatment meted out by the SS guards. In its five years of operation records reveal that over 30,000 prisoners passed through the prison. Many of that number were transferred to the actual death camps further east, but over 2500 still died or were executed within the walls. We entered the prison by crossing a stone bridge over the now dry moat.
An initial courtyard, which contained group cells for men, is now used mainly for reception, ticketing and meeting up with guides.
Somehow it doesn't seem quite the moment for photos like the one below, but we were impressed that school groups were clearly being ushered through and given the history.
The entrance to the next courtyard is emblazoned with a sign
It translates to "Work Will Make You Free" and all prisoners walked under it.
Escape was clearly not much of an option.
The interior features several types of cells--some for groups and some for individual offenders.
Isolation cells were reserved for the worst inmates. There was little light, minimal heat, and no toilet facilities. Some had rings in the wall to chain a prisoner.
Sleeping areas were rudimentary and cubbies for personal possessions were limited as well
One of the bells that called people out for the morning count and work details was still visible in the yard.
You were hosed down on entry
Other washing and shower facilities were
built only to show to the Red Cross inspectors and were never used.
Next on the docket was a trip through the old tunnel system that wound around through the exterior walls of the fort. Here we are entering.
Not for the claustrophobics.
Some light was supplied by occasional slits for firing arrows.
We're almost out.
The exit deposited us in the Execution Grounds.
Shooting positions were laid out facing a wall of the old moat for firing squad killings and also for target practice for guards using, according to our guide, live prisoners to run across the area.
Nearby was a replica of the gallows that was also used for executions.
We passed out of this sad spot and into the area where the guards were housed. Tree shaded paths ran between pleasant houses.
The guards even had their own swimming pool.
It was a very short trip across the river to the current town of Terezin, which was the old Main Fortress. It was rebuilt by the Nazis (with prisoner labor) to create a "ghetto" where Jews could be concentrated and watched, hence the term "concentration camp." It was also used as a propaganda site for the Red Cross to view as an example of how humane the Nazi relocation plan was. Unfortunately, the real story was that the Terezin Ghetto was an expedient holding pen for Jews until they could be worked to death or transported to the extermination camps that were being built further to the east. Altogether some 150,000 people came through. Over 88,000 of them were sent on to the death camps like Auschwitz. Thousands more died in the town barracks because of poor sanitation, medical care, and food. Escapees and other troublemakers were sent over to the Small Fortress where the SS guards could administer even more brutal punishment.
We were taken to the Ghetto Museum on the main square of the town. Its exhibits covered the whole of Terezin's sad history beginning with this moving suitcase sculpture.
Far and away the most touching display was this montage of drawings made by incarcerated children.
Examine them closely by clicking to enlarge.
The "ghetto" also housed some special groups of Jews from northern Europe (Netherlands and Denmark) as well as more elderly Czech Jews of special merit. They were given slightly better housing and even had a small secret house of worship. Our guide ushered us in and told us about its history.
After our museum tour, we gathered in a small restaurant and brewery for lunch.
The ride back to Prague was pretty quiet as we all seemed lost in our own thoughts. The first words I wrote in my journal that evening were "Evocative, chilling, emotionally draining."
One can only pray that those tortured souls have found some peace and rest within the arms of a merciful Lord.
