Europe 2011-Prague Day 4

Day 4

We got up early and caught the bus for an hour ride to Terezin. This was the only concentration camp in the Czech Republic. We toured the whole area which included the main square, Jewish Ghetto, Magdeburg Barracks, and small fortress. Terezin was orginally built as a fortress hundreds of years ago. When Hitler came into power and took over the area he made Terezin the place where all the Jews in from the Czech Republic and other areas went to live. They made movies of the Jewish people having a great time living there, but in reality the living conditions were horrible. It was a very somber day of touring, but I personally learned so much more about World War II from this experience.

Jewish Ghetto

Crematorium. There were so many Jews dying each day that they didn't have room to bury them, so they built a crematorium to deal with all the dead.

One of the many memorial Cemeteries in the area for the many Jews that died at Terezin.

These were the barrack for all the Jews. They are still in the form that they were found in when the war was over. They have done very little to change them, so you really had a true understanding of how the Jews lived and were treated. They even had the shower room with rows of sinks that were meant to show the red cross that the living conditions were good, but in actuality the sinks were never even piped to get water to them.

These are original beds that they used. They would fit about 50 people in this one living space.

The outside of "Small Fortress" This was where they kept Jews who tried to escape or were a threat of some kind. They were in isolation and usually ended up being shot.

This is where we ate lunch. It was part of the main square of Terezin.

View of the main square as we sat and waited for the bus to go back to Prague.