Today’s adventure took us through a dark part of history that most of us probably try to avoid thinking about because it is so depressing. What am I talking about you ask? I am referring to the time of torture and death caused by the Germans in World War II: The Holocaust.

So, where in the Czech Republic is good place to start learning of this topic? The best place to start is where today’s adventure took place: Terezin. Now, what is Terezin and why is it special? At its founding, Terezin was built in the later years of the 18th century during the reign of Josef II, who ordered the construction of a fortress for a defense against the Prussians. It was named after his mother and predecessor Maria Theresa. This place was a fortress and a city until the 1930s. When Hitler first came to power inn Germany in 1932, one of the first targets for his future invasions was Czechoslovakia (and Sudetenland). In 1938, under the Munich Agreement, Germany was allowed to take Sudetenland, which encompassed much of the western border of Czechoslovakia and gave Hitler the perfect spot to launch an invasion. In 1939, he invaded Czechoslovakia, took power, and proceeded to begin his reign consisting of anti-Semitic (anti-Jew) ideals. In 1941, Terezin was converted into a ghetto to gather many Czech Jews from the surrounding regions. It became known as a transition camp, a place where those being persecuted would stay until being sent to a concentration camp or extermination (death) camp. Due to Terezin being a ghetto, the conditions were not as severe as an actual concentration camp or death camp. However, the conditions were still not good. The town itself was built to hold 7000-10000 people, but at its worst it held over 58000 prisoners at one time. During the reign of Hitler and the Nazis, 155000 Jews passed through this ghetto (30000 died here due to poor health conditions and supply deprivation). Now to hide the acts taking place, Terezin was advertised as the final place a person should. It was supposed to be a cultural center according the propaganda videos. People lived and worked or were sent out to other camps to die or be imprisoned. The suffering here was unimaginable and this was one of the nicer camps.

To explore Terezin, we had to divide our time between two different areas of the city: the ghetto and the Small Fortress.

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We began by exploring the Terezin ghetto. This exploration began by going to the ghetto museum, which was located in an old schoolhouse. The exhibit in the museum was mainly focused on the children of Terezin and the overall condition of the people of Terezin. We entered a room filled with names of the children who died here. We heard about how the children’s main pass time was drawing. Their drawings were mainly of their interpretations of Terezin. Some of these drawings were posted in the hallways and on the wall of the huge center staircase in the building. Next we got a first hand look at the propaganda video that was used by the Germans to coverup the horrible conditions of Terezin. To wrap up the exhibit, we got an extensive look at the lifestyle Jews were forced to accept by the Nazis. These conditions included living in crammed dorms (rooms), little to know medical treatment, deprivation of food, and the taking of valuable belongings. Many people were died because of these horrible conditions and did not help that the Nazis were continuing to sabotage the Jews and make them suffer further.

Following the exhibit, we traveled to another part of the ghetto where we got to view a secret synagogue and one of the more luxurious housing areas. The synagogue was located down in an old storage cellar below a housing complex. It was hidden and used by Jews during the Nazi era and the Communist era as well. It stayed hidden due to the restrictions on religion imposed by the Nazis and later the communists. The synagogue was partially ruined by a flood back in 2002 and most of the artwork on the walls was washed away. Some of the artwork is still there on the upper parts of the room.

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After the synagogue, we walked upstairs to view the housing area. This building was actually decent housing compared to most of the locations. This one had a kitchen (not very common) and quite a few beds. The area was still not wonderful and I am sure their were many people shoved into this room.

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After this, we left the ghetto area and traveled over the Small Fortress, which is actually the original part of Terezin built back in the 18th century (with some 20th century modifications). This place was used as a prison for resistance fighters and Communist supporters. When we first walked up to the fortress, we were informed of the use of mass graves. We were informed of this because at the entrance you see a huge graveyard divided into two areas: one for Christians (marked by a cross) and one fore Jews (marked by the Jewish star). The bodies were dug up from the mass graves and identification was attempted. Some graves have names to mark those that were identified and blank graves were used for those who could not be identified. The conditions of this camp, in my opinion, are almost equivalent of a concentration camp. We went into one of the barracks and were told that 100 people shared 12 beds and a small room. There was practically no medical treatment. Hygiene was almost non-existent. At first, people showered once a week, but when more prisoners rolled in, they were lucky to shower once a few or every few months. We traveled through the narrow tunnels inside of the fortress down to the area that was once a moat, but later turned into an execution site by the Germans.

One could say that Terezin was a place that was used as a starting point for the end of the line. The conditions were horrible in the ghetto and the prison. The craziest part, though, is that those who grew in the era after World War II (the Communist era) were not taught the extent of what went on here. Our tour guide, who grew during the Communist regime, was telling us how when she grew up, she had to go to Terezin to honor fallen Soviet soldiers and she did not even understand why. One of the readings we read last night by Jan Munk (Activities of Terezin Memorial, 2008) even mentioned how the Communists wanted Terezin to be memorial for the fallen Communist and resistance fighters who died there, not the Jews because they did not wanted people to associate the killings with Communism. Also, they thought only Czechs should be acknowledged here, but this did eventually change after the fall of Communism in 1989. However, those who grew up during the Communist era had to learn the truth on their own through their own research.

I will admit, every time I hear about the Holocaust, I wish I did not have to listen. Hearing of these dark times and the death and suffering that followed makes me wonder if the world has truly changed or not. I hate questioning human nature, but hearing of such insanity makes me wonder why we do the things we do. However, this is why I study history. I want to understand mistakes and failures that have already so that they cannot be replicated. This is why I have such a yearning to understand other cultures, I wish to learn of ways to connect cultures together so the rifts that were created in the paths can be sealed. I want us to move forward as people and stay so drowned in our past. That is the hardest part about studying history, not getting drowned.

As much I wished this morning that we could have skipped today, I am glad I went. Going to places like this and learning of what people went through helps to connect with the past. Also, we got to hear about how the Czech interpreted what happened. If you are in the Czech Republic and want to gain an understanding of the Holocaust era, then please visit Terezin so the stories can get passed on and so they are never forgotten. Today was definitely an adventure.