Terezín is a town in the Czech Republic with around 3,000 inhabitants. It is mainly known for its fortress, and for the Theresienstadt concentration camp; see Holocaust remembrance.
This camp is located in the Sudetenland, annexed by Germany in 1938. It could be described a "showcase" concentration camp, built to make the internment look better than it actually was. The camp was mainly a temporary holding place for Jews before deportation to the gas chambers at Auschwitz.
The main "attraction" here is the concentration camp area, which consists of several places:
- Ghetto museum. Placed in the building of a former school, it contains an extensive exhibition about the purpose and life in the ghetto - including cinematic artefacts. Expect at least 2-3 hours, if you will study the details. You will learn here about the life and death in the camp, the destinies of people coming in and out, and also about propaganda movies which were shot here to show the camps as a "good and safe place for living" for the imprisoned people.
- Small fortress. A military citadel, which was used as a political prison during WW2 and as an internment camp for Germans after the war. The exhibition here is mainly devoted to the political prison aspect.
- National cemetery. A cemetery mostly with victims from the fortress, approx. 10 000 in total. Of them 2 386 are named, rest are in mass graves. Both Christian cross and Jewish star are here. Many more 10s of thousands people who died here don't have any grave, because they were cremated and the ash dumped into the Ohře river.
- Jewish cemetery and crematory. A relatively big remembrance area, with information about the crematory operation - including interior access, which is quite an unsettling experience. Approx. 9 000 people are buried here (mostly Jewish).
The whole city, being a former fortress from year 1780, is surrounded by a star-shaped wall.
Ghetto museum. Placed in the building of a former school, it contains an extensive exhibition about the purpose and life in the ghetto - including cinematic artefacts. Expect at least 2-3 hours, if you will study the details. You will learn here about the life and death in the camp, the destinies of people coming in and out, and also about [[w:Theresienstadt (film)|propaganda movies]] which were shot here to show the camps as a "good and safe place for living" for the imprisoned people.
Small fortress. A military citadel, which was used as a political prison during WW2 and as an internment camp for Germans after the war. The exhibition here is mainly devoted to the political prison aspect.
National cemetery. A cemetery mostly with victims from the fortress, approx. 10 000 in total. Of them 2 386 are named, rest are in mass graves. Both Christian cross and Jewish star are here. Many more 10s of thousands people who died here don't have any grave, because they were cremated and the ash dumped into the Ohře river.
Jewish cemetery and crematory. A relatively big remembrance area, with information about the crematory operation - including interior access, which is quite an unsettling experience. Approx. 9 000 people are buried here (mostly Jewish).
- Golf Kotlina. A modern golf course with a restaurant (both closed in winter).
Golf Kotlina. A modern golf course with a restaurant (both closed in winter).
Multiple restaurants (local cuisine and pizza) and cafés are located nearby the museum., around the "Smetanovy sady" park. The food is not nearly top-notch, but acceptable for the price.
Multiple restaurants (local cuisine and pizza) and cafés are located nearby the museum., around the "Smetanovy sady" park. The food is not nearly top-notch, but acceptable for the price.
Lidice is a city completely destroyed by the Nazis, as a retaliation for assassination of Heydrich, with a remembrance area in place now - if you still feel like it after Terezin (very unlikely).