To explain my title this time, Prague can be said three different ways: 1) Prague, as most everyone pronounces it. 2) As those who live in The Czech say it – Pra-ha. 3) The way our bus driver from Holland says it – Pra(insert flemmy back of throat sound). Take your pick… as for me, I’ll stick with the normal “Prague”.
First off, the hotel we stayed at in Prague was pretty sketch! Walking there from the bus kinda made everyone a little hesitant and nervous. Unlike every hotel I have ever stayed in, there was one door to our ‘room’ then a hallway that had a toilet room and then a sink and shower room. Then next to those are the two rooms that use that bathroom. Thankfully our numbers were high enough that our group didn’t share with any strangers, but it was still so weird! The good thing about our ‘neighborhood’ was that there was a metro right outside the hotel so we didn’t need to walk far.
Unlike many of my classmates, Prague was not my favorite city. Despite that, some of my favorite tourist attractions were found here. Most people know that WWII is my favorite time in history and every detail I learn about it is absolutely fascinating to me. That being said, visiting a concentration camp in Czech Republic was pretty much one of the highlights of my trip.
Outside the walls of Terezin is found a cemetery to the victims that died at Terezin. There was a Christian section as well as a Jewish section, marked by a cross and star of David. What I found interesting is that many of the headstones here don’t have names, instead they have jail numbers and a general death date. Seeing this definitely set the somber mood right before our tour of the camp.
Although Terezin was not a work camp, the same words from Auschwitz can be found here, “Work will set you free.” According to our guide, the man in charge of Terezin wanted his camp to rival Auschwitz and to have the same notoriety. For a little backgroung, Terezin was not defined as a work or execution camp. It was basically a holding place for people of interest that needed to be interrogated for information. As soon as the prisoners served their purpose here (or just waited here to be moved) they were moved to work camps like Auschwitz for more permanent placement. The heartbreaking thing about this camp is that it was advertised to the Jews as a vacation spot or resort in order to more quietly move them.
I know this picture is kinda blurry but I wanted to give some perspective of some of the living conditions. All 50 of us on the tour were shuffled into this room to experience the claustrophobic feeling of so many people in a small area. After standing there for a bit our guide informed us that typically 100 people would be squished into this room. The only ventilation is in the right wall in the photo and in order to help everyone they would shuffle in a circular motion to get air to everyone. Besides this, it was difficult for people to sit or lay down all at once, so they would also rotate who was able to stand or sit, to hopefully relieve everyone just a little bit.
This picture gives away some of the history of its bulding. Before if became a concentration camp, Terezin was a small town in a province that was continuously being attacked. In order to prevent attacks, the government of the town basically turned the entire thing into a fortress. This is one of the tunnels underneath the main structures. The way it was set up was in a way so that any that stormed the gates of the city ended up in several bad situations. First, they were walking through marshy wetlands that surrounded the building which prevented them from reloading their guns. And second, they had busted the gates to end up as fish in a barrel. Surrounding the marshy areas are tunnels like this with shooting window like the one in the right of the picture. Super smart!
This doorway was nicknamed the Gate of Death because once Jews exited through this area, they rarely ever returned to Terezin. Definitely chilling to walk the gate that had seen so many victims of concentration camps. Very humbling to say the least.
The gate in previous photos depicted the area of Terezin that was part of the original architecture from the stronghold. This area is part of the add-on after Hitler approved Terezin as a camp location. They’re very plain barracks with a yard and watch tower as is typically shown in movies. Unlike some barracks, these had a toilet which must have been an incredible comfort. They also had these tables to sit at, as well as the tiny stove in the back to heat it. What is astounding is that 180 people lived here for months and months at a time.
To end the concentration camp on a happy note, this is a picture of me, Jessie Anderson and Greg Malone on the bus after Terezin. It was an awesome experience but also heartbreaking and awe-inspiring at the death and destruction that devastated millions.
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