Czech Republic. The Old Fortress.
Terezín’s Great Deception
In the spring of 1939, the city of Prague had a Jewish population of over 90,000. Today, fewer than 2,000 remain. Tens of thousands of those 90,000 passed through Terezín at some point in the early and mid-1940s, before being sent on to Auschwitz, Mauthausen, or other camps.
While conditions in Terezín were “good” by comparison to the extermination camps further east, what set this place apart was its role in Nazi propaganda. With reports surfacing from the front of the abuse we now know to be commonplace in Nazi concentration camps, the Red Cross demanded to inspect one and ensure that the Geneva convention was being upheld in terms of the treatment of “prisoners,” (setting aside the fact that these “prisoners” had commited no crime.)
Enter: Terezin. Cynically, the SS presented it as a “model” camp where life was supposedly comfortable and art and creativity thrived. The Nazis allowed a façade of normal life: self-government, cafés, shops, even a local currency. Children’s choirs performed operas, and jazz musicians filled the streets with music. Artwork was encouraged. They beautified it – adding flower boxes, painting buildings, setting up fake schools and cultural centers. A film was even shot to portray Jewish life as peaceful and “productive.” It was all a deception.
Terezín Today
Terezín remains an inhabited town, though when we arrived, it felt almost deserted. Snow was falling, and the silence of fresh snowfall added to the eeriness. The muted colors of old buildings, the absence of movement, and the weight of history gave the place a somber air.
The town struggles between commemorating its past and sustaining a modern economy. On one hand, you can visit the crematorium, where victims were incinerated, or stand before memorial Stars of David. On the other, you can order goulash in a restaurant inside the former SS officers’ quarters or even stay in a “romantic getaway” hotel that once housed Nazi guards – its history page conspicuously silent about that fact.
Reflections
The Jewish population of the Czech Republic was virtually eliminated after the war. Of those who survived, many chose to begin new lives in Israel rather than return to homes haunted by memories of horror. Their story is one that must be remembered. A visit to Terezín is just an hour’s bus ride from Prague—and it’s one worth taking.
I left Terezín unsettled. As a WWII history enthusiast, I had long held mental images of what a “concentration camp” should look like. Terezín didn’t match those expectations. It was a fortress town where new life blurred uncomfortably with old. In some strange way, just as in 1944, the town still feels like it’s hiding something.
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