What Theresienstadt Taught Me ****************************************************************************************** * What Theresienstadt Taught Me ****************************************************************************************** Prior to the day trip I was attending to Theresienstadt ghetto and concentration camp, org Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University, I spent some time researching curren political opinions on war remembrance, particularly in reference to the Holocaust. To my s was substantial negativity, even during conversations with my university friends on the to visiting Theresienstadt, with some of their responses being along the lines of “why would visit such a place”. It appears that our generation is entering a chapter where people are debate the importance, significance and representation of the World Wars and the artefacts them. With the increasing politicalisation of war remembrance in Europe, people are confid like never before, the relevance, sacredness and justification of its symbolic aspects (an my lifetime is the British tradition of wearing the Poppy flower in November) and of the h evidence of the Holocaust like the Nazi concentration camps, in our society. Why is it tha only kept such horrific relics of the past, but have actively preserved them? Our tour of students drove for just under an hour outside of Prague, until we were dropped bleak, quiet town of Terezín, where our lovely tour guide from the Theresienstadt Ghetto M recommend booking a tour with them if you do decide to visit), who continuously impressed in between at least three languages throughout the day, met us. He began with a summarisat site’s history, and allowed us to browse the exceptionally detailed and stimulating exhibi museum, comprised of numerous photographs of officers and prisoners, an interactive model survivors’ stories, information placards, maps. Most unforgettably, there were rooms dedic display of the prisoners’ creativity – original drawings by the children of Terezín encase their homes and families, photographs of plays performed at the camp, compositions, theatr completed novels. Through the speakers of the exhibition rooms, surviving sound recordings played of the prisoners singing, acting, fluently performing piano and violin. An even larger exhibition was devoted to five famous artists (Bedřich Fritta, Otto Ungar, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, Peter Kien) who were forced to produce propaganda material by the N imprisonment yet courageously persisted with and concealed their personal paintings, drawi depicting the horrific daily hardships of the camp. A considerable quantity of this work w snuck past the ghetto guards in to the hands of the outside world, of which some successfu through, some were found and destroyed, and most were found post-liberation. Today, histor have interpreted their artwork as a practical mechanism, an endeavour to cope, survive, a the outside world, and a rebellious one – a message of community, faith, courage and a cha the world at what was happening behind the towering walls of a propaganda camp. Today, the of life in the camp and the Nazi regime rest in Theresienstadt museum in perfect condition that endeared and captured me was the durable effort of the museum to research and print e author’s name, age, nationality, place and date of death (for most of the authors, this wa Birkenau) next to their work – whether it was a child’s scribble on a piece of paper, or a by a professional. It was here that the reality of where I was hit me, where I passed from classroom understanding of the Holocaust to a more tangible one. Our group next walked the streets of Terezín ghetto, which was originally a garrison town by Emperor Joseph II and named after his mother, Maria Theresa of Austria. The previous mi was visibly evident in the distinguishing layout of Theresienstadt: tall walls, undergroun slit windows and fortresses. This laid the path for its later conversion and control under into a “model ghetto” or propaganda camp. Behind this deception, it was used to congregate countries across Europe, which is commemorated by a particular concrete memorial spread ac dedicated to the specific countries of the Jewish victims (the Netherlands, France, German Belgium, Hungary, Denmark, Poland, Romania and so on). The guide informed us that Theresie organisational instrument to the Nazis, as its location in central Europe permitted the co large transfer of Jews to the extermination camps. The train tracks which performed this t are still present in Terezín today, although they are somewhat damaged and incomplete. The arrivals to the ghetto were in 1941 and more than 150,000 people passed through its gates transferred to extermination camps and 35,000 perished in Theresienstadt, primarily due to unsanitary living conditions, disease, direct killings and beatings. We were guided across the streets of the ghetto, which were grey, remote and seemingly unt some of the damaged paths and buildings left as they were, and the surrealism of it all wa whenever the tour guide stood still to announce: “here was where x happened”. Nonetheless, live and work in Terezín, as a community were born and grew up there – I saw a few people in the park, popping to the local shop, which was a dramatic and moving contrast to the gu monologue of what happened there. It was the pitch black prison cells in the main fortress stone sleeping quarters, the incinerator and autopsy room that left the greatest impressio Yet I was intrigued by another contrast in Theresienstadt: scattered across all of these h was a string of memorials, names, quotes, poems, statues, manifesting relentless messages unity, hope, love and remembrance wherever we went. The most outstanding memorials to me w cemetery and the gigantic Stars of David, both of which were covered in stones laid from i and you will find countless other historical and religious points of interest across Terez abstract art statues, a tiny restored synagogue, hidden plaques in Hebrew, scriptural refe stone. On the journey home, I revisited my original question of why key facilitators of the Holoc concentration camps, should or should not be preserved by post war society. Visiting There unspeakably emotive and troublesome to contextualise and imagine but at the time, I realis the actuality of such a place, a long-lasting change in your way of thinking occurs, and a the tour agreed with me. Before I had ever visited a concentration camp (I have also been near Berlin), my knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust was faceless, detached and d my only access to the Holocaust was through impersonal and reductionist sets of facts, fig pictures in textbooks. Although I do recognise that this is a complex and sensitive debate, I believe that our ge next must have opportunities to visit places such as Terezín, in order to access the empir historical events of genocide and persecution so that we are equipped to learn from it, de religious tolerance, and ensure that the people and the politicians of tomorrow fight to e of persecution never repeat themselves, which I believe is particularly relevant recently news of rising antisemitism across Europe. By conserving, observing and learning from the have survived from the Holocaust, we are able to keep both physical and mental sight of su and spread the value of empathy. However I can assure you that when visiting Theresienstadt, you will embody the same wide states and experiences that our tour did, and I agree that it’s incredibly troublesome to conclusion. Terezín was a brutally self-reflective experience and frequently on the tour I the appropriateness of my presence there, and I grew empathetic with the ideas for the des the camps, or the closure of them to visitors, from the perspective that they have become “touristic”.  But my visit revealed to me that the nature of such places should arguably b everyone should have equal opportunity to see, interpret and learn from them, and the memo perished there should live on in their minds. Terezín, and the other camps, are sites of historical importance that carry infinite testa of real people, that arguably no set of statistics in a classroom can even begin to convey communicates the reality of the Holocaust. We must learn, we must remember. I believe it i the judgments of those descended from the Holocaust’s victims, that will decide the future as Theresienstadt. Poppy Gerrard-Abbott is an Erasmus student studying BA write for the iForum to build on her journalism skills Czech culture and life in Prague through attending loc Poppy saw the iForum as an exciting opportunity to pur experience that has brought some exciting opportunitie such placements to future students.