Terezín

Today was the most serious day we have had so far considering that we took a trip to Terezín for the day. During WWII, Terezín was used as a holding village for Jews, over 150,000 passing through there in total. The Nazis used it as a model village to fool the Red Cross in 1944 into believing that they were treating the Jews well by dressing them in normal clothes, ordering them to say certain things, performing the children's Opera Brundibar, and setting up a soccer game between the detainees. Terezín was not the normal concentration camp, there were not gas chambers there or mass killings in the area, but it was a transport center and around 33,000 people died while in the camp and less than 200 children survived.

Here is a Star of David we saw from a synagogue that was worshiped in illegally in a cellar during WWII. They had paintings and text all over the walls that was still visible. I was so inspired by the dedication and desire these people must have had to continue worship in such a dangerous situation.

This was inside the small fortress. There are two fortresses and they were built during the rule of the Hapsburgs. It was perfect for the Nazis because it had been built as a fortress and a prison so they were protected and already had the military layout that they needed.
Here is the fortress from the road (you can see beavers in the river). It was built sucken down so that it was pretty much invisible except for the grass on top, until you got right up to it.
Here is the entrance to the small Fortress, the black and white seemed so out of place and terrified me.
You may have seen these words before, made famous by the entrance to Auschwitz. It means "Work makes free" Can you say 1984?

What made this day so amazing was the artwork and literature and poetry that we got to see from the interned. There were thousands of documents saved and so many children's drawings. Because of this, the day really wasn't that much of a downer, of course it had it's moments, but to see how people, and especially children, can make such beautiful art out of such a horrifying experience really gave me hope for humanity.

To make this visit even more special, next week we get to meet Ivan Klíma, an internationally famous author who was a child and survivor of Terezín. During our visit to the museum today we also met another survivor, a 90 year old man named Pavel who gives tours now and tells his stories. He was one of the sweetest people I have ever met and wished us all the best. I asked him how it was for him to return here and he responded by saying, "It is my moral duty. Don't you think so?"