1. The Holocaust: Terezin Concentration Camp

2. History
Terezin originally was a walled city and small fortress in Czechoslovakia built in the 1800’s to protect the river and roads in the area
When Nazi Germany took over much of Czechoslovakia in 1939, they renamed the town of 7000 Theresienstadt
Plans began to convert the town and fortress into a concentration camp for Jews and other “non-Aryans”

3. Construction
Construction to convert the village and fortress into a concentration camp began in 1940
Work was done by two groups of Jewish slave labor from another camp
Guards lead workers preparing the camp

4. Purposes of Terezin Camp
Terezin was not an extermination camp such as Auschwitz and other “death camps” in Poland
The camp was mainly designed as a slave labor camp (prisoners were forced to work) and a transit camp (prisoners were sent here for a short time before being sent to death camps further east)
Terezin was unique because it was also used by the Nazis for propaganda. Originally, well- known Jewish artists and musicians were sent here so that their German supporters, and the world, would believe they, and other Jews, were being treated fairly well, as the Nazi’s claimed

5. Location and Population
Terezin was located in Czechoslovakia
It was about 35 miles north of the large city Prague
Most of its later prisoners were Czechoslovakian Jews and other “non-Aryans”, but people from over 25 countries were eventually sent to Terezin
Terezin
Prague

6. Camp Layout Terezin had two main parts, the fortress and the village
The village was converted to a “ghetto” or place to crowd in and concentrate Jews and others behind walls
The fortress was used for administration and as a place to hold and punish those who had violated rules
Fortress
Walled Village (became ghetto)

7. Terezin Ghetto
The Terezin ghetto was simply the village converted to a concentration camp with walls and barbed wire
The village, before the Nazis, had 7000 non-Jewish people, all who had to leave by early 1942
At it’s height, Terezin held over 55,000 people
The Jews had to choose their own leaders to run the ghetto according to Nazi demands
Terezin ghetto map
Terezin leaders

8. Terezin Fortress
The small fortress outside the village was converted into the administration offices and guard barracks
The cellblocks were converted to use for prisoners who broke rules
There was also a medical area where experiments were performed
Cell Blocks and Crematorium
Cell Interior
Cell Blocks
Medical Wing

9. Crematorium Terezin was not built with cremation facilities
However, so many prisoners were dying that a crematorium building was built in September 1942
Bodies of prisoners were burned and the ashes dumped in the river
Crematorium today
Gas Oven

10. Arrival
Jews and others were rounded up throughout German territories and sent to camps like Terezin
Originally, many elderly, children, and artists were sent to Terezin

11. Prisoner Identification
Unlike prisoners at some concentration camps, prisoners at Terezin were not tattooed for identification
Instead, prisoners had to wear a metal identity badge around their necks
One of the reasons prisoners were not tattooed because of Terzin’s use for propaganda

12. Living Conditions
In general, conditions at Terezin were better than at other camps
Still, overcrowding, forced labor, starvation, disease, abuse, torture and death were common at Terezin

13. Cultural Life
Even in these horrible conditions, cultural life survived and thrived
Children were secretly taught by elders
There were several bands and orchestras that were organized among Terezin prisoners
Plays were performed regularly
Artists captured scenes of camp life and smuggled them out or hid them for discovery

14. Children act in camp performances
One of four prisoner orchestras

15. Terezin as Labor Camp
Prisoners were used as slave labor to produce materials for the Nazi war machine
Work included splitting mica, building boxes and coffins, or spraying German uniforms white for camouflage on the Russian Front
Terezin gate with common concentration camp motto: “Liberation through Work”

16. Terezin as Transit Camp
Terezin was also used as a transit camp to temporarily hold people before they were sent east to extermination camps
All prisoners arrived at the train station and marched the two miles to the camp
Transit prisoners would only stay until there was room to transport them east to extermination camps and then they would march back to the station
Terezin train station in WWII
Terezin tracks today leading to the east

17. Terezin as Nazi Propaganda
From the beginning, Terezin was used as propaganda to “prove” that the Nazi’s were treating Jews and others well
Nazis claimed that Terezin was used to “protect” the Jews
Famous Jewish artists and musicians were sent here to show their German fans that they were well treated
In 1943, 456 Dutch Jews arrived at Terezin and soon the Dutch and Swedish Red Cross demanded to see conditions at the camp
To try to show the world that rumors of atrocities against Jews and others were untrue, Nazi leaders allowed a carefully controlled visit to Terezin by the Red Cross on June 23, 1944, a unique event in Nazi concentration camps

18. Preparing for the Red Cross Visit
The Nazis went to great lengths to prepare Terezin
Thousands of prisoners were sent east to make the camp appear less crowded
The Red Cross route and areas to visit were carefully controlled
Rooms were enlarged and cleaned for the visit, with only 2-3 people per room where the Red Cross members visited
Fake sinks that were not hooked up to water were installed to make conditions appear to be better
The Red Cross reported that the Jews at Terezin were reasonably well treated in their official report

19. Real Showers and Fake Sinks
Actual Terezin showers which were always in short supply as was housing, sanitation, food, and freshwater
The Nazis installed these sinks just for the Red Cross visit but they were never connected

20. Red Cross Visit Preparing Dinner
Paintings done by prisoners while at Terezin or reproduced later

21. Propaganda Movie
The Red Cross visit was considered such a success that they decided to film a propaganda movie at Terezin to counter growing international knowledge of the true nature of German concentration camps
The film was made in the late summer of 1944
Scene from Nazi propaganda film showing happy people and good conditions at Terezin

22. Liberation of Terezin
Near the end of WWII, as the Soviet Red Army pushed towards Germany from the east, prisoners were sent west adding more prisoners to camps like Terezin
On May 8, 1945 Russian troops liberated the camp
An epidemic of Typhus, spread by prisoners brought from the east broke out in Terezin, killing many prisoners shortly after being freed
Survivors of Terezin
Russian sign announces Terezin under quarantine for Typhus (a deadly, communicable disease

23. Terezin by the Numbers
Terezin concentration camp was in operation from November 24, 1940-May 8, 1945
Terezin had a population of 7000 before the war
It’s population peaked at over 55,000 prisoners during the war and it averaged between 30,000-35,000
Over 144,000 people from over 25 countries went through the gates of Terezin
Over 33,000 people were murdered or died from conditions at Terezin
Over 88,000 died after being sent east to death camps
Less than 20,000 people survived
Out of 15,000 children under 15, less than 1500 survived

24. Terezin Today
The fortress at Terezin was used to hold Nazi prisoners for a short time after WWII
Czechoslovakia became a communist country
Terezin returned to its roots as a medium-sized town after the war
Today Terezin is part of the Czech Republic

25. Terezin Museum and Monument
Fortress graveyard today
Terezin remained fairly quiet about its past under communism
A Terezin Museum was finally created in 1989
Every year it is visited by thousands to remember and learn
Terezin Museum
Terezin Monument

26. Why Remember?
We need to remember Terezin and the Holocaust to honor the memory of its victims and to see the consequences of intolerance
Also, we need to understand Terezin and the Holocaust to try to recognize and fight against modern genocides happening today- right now
Bodies discovered in a Polish ghetto- 1945
Bodies discovered from the genocide in the Darfur region of Africa- present day

27. Lisl Bogart: Eyewitness to Terezin
On May 14th 2007, Mrs. Lisl Bogart spoke at Guilford High School
Lisl was a teenager living in Prague, Czechoslovakia when the Nazis sent her and her family to Terezin
Mrs. Bogart survived 3 ½ years at Terezin
Her mother, father, and brother were sent from Terezin to Auschwitz where they were all murdered
Mrs. Bogart speaks around the country as an eyewitness to the history of the Holocaust

28. Special Thanks to: Nathan Whitham and Mr. Doug Cameron