Theresienstadt Concentration Camp
Terezin is located approximately ninety miles north of Prague and just south of Litomerice. The town was originally built in 1780 by Emperor Joseph II of Austria and named after his mother, Empress Maria Theresa. Terezin consisted of the Big Fortress and the Small Fortress. The Big Fortress was surrounded by ramparts and contained barracks. After 1882, Terezin was no longer used as a fortress. For the next several decades, the garrison town of Terezin remained virtually the same, almost entirely separated from the rest of the countryside. On June 10, 1940, the Gestapo took control of Terezín and set up prison in the Small Fortress (Kleine Festung) which was part of the fortification on left side of river Ohře. The Small Fortress was the largest prison in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. It was separate and unrelated to the Jewish ghetto in the main fortress on the river's right side. Around 90,000 people arrived there and were usually sent to a concentration camp later. 2,.600 people were executed, starved, or succumbed to disease there. A possible 1.100 children survived of the 15.000 sent.
Terezin changed dramatically when Terezin was established by the head of the RSHA and Reich Protector for Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich who changed the name of the city into Theresienstadt. Approximately 1300 Jewish men were sent on two transports to Theresienstadt on November 24 and December 4, 1941. These workers created the Aufbaukommando (structure commando), later known as AK1 and AK2. Their job was to transform the garrison town of approximately 7,000 residents into a concentration camp destined to house 35,000 to 60,000 prisoners. Besides the lack of housing, bathrooms were scarce, water was severely limited and contaminated, and the town lacked sufficient electricity. To solve these problems, the Nazis appointed Jakob Edelstein as the Judenälteste (Elder of the Jews) and a Judenrat (Jewish Council) was established. As the Jews worked on the model ghetto Theresienstadt, the population looked on. The non-Jewish Czechs living in Theresienstadt were expelled by the Nazis in the spring of 1942. They were compensated for the loss of their poor level housing with Jewish money confiscated from the hapless Jews the Nazis intended to house there.
The ghetto was administered by the SS. Its first commandant was SS Officer Dr. Siegfried Seidl. He was commandant from November 1941 until July 1943. He was replaced by SS Obersturmführer 1st Lieutenant Anton Burger on orders of Eichmann. Burger acted as commandant from July 1943 until February 1944. The third and also the last appointed commander was SS Obersturmführer Karl Rahm who held the reigns from February 1944 until May 1945 when the camp was liberated by Soviet Red Army. Seidl and Rahm were executed after the war for war crimes against humanity. Burger was sentenced to death in absentia. He died in 1991 having lived in Germany under an alias name, as a free man.
The ghetto was guarded by Czech gendarmes who were loyal to the Nazi regime. The internal affairs of the camp was run by the Ältestenrat - Council of Elders composed of Jewish leaders, a similar principle as was used in camp Westerbork in the Netherlands. The only real difference was that Theresienstadt was a ghetto as well as a transit camp while Westerbork, strictly speaking, was a transit camp. The Council of Judenältesten - Council of Jewish Elders for Theresienstadt was first headed by the Judenälteste -Jewish Elder Jacob Edelstein. Edelstein, and subsequently Eppstein and Murmelstein were directly appointed by Adolf Eichmann.
Jacob Edelstein, a Zionist official, was the first Judenälteste, Eldest so appointed by Adolf Eichmann. Edelstein, a Polish-born Zionist and former head of the Prague Jewish community, believed that Terezin (Theresienstadt) could be used as a kind of Hachshara - preparation for young Jews to make Aliyah - moving to Israel after the war. He held that position from 4 December 1941 until January 1943. Eichmann replaced him with Paul Eppstein because Edelstein was accused of having corrupted transportation lists. However, Edelstein remained on as first deputy and Rabbi Benjamin Murmelstein as second deputy to Eppstein. Then, Edelstein finally was arrested by the Gestapo in November 1943 accused of having falsified deportation lists in order to rescue several fellow Jewish inmates from deportation. Edelstein was sent to Auschwitz where he was locked away in a punishment cell. Finally, on 20 June 1944, he was shot to death. But first he was forced to witness the execution of his wife and young son before he himself was executed.
His successor was Paul Eppstein. As Eldest he took charge in January 1943 and remained in that position until 27 September 1944 when he too was arrested by the Gestapo. They accused him of allowing the organization of self-defence units among the inmates. He was shot and killed on Yom Kippur 1944. He was succeeded by Rabbi Benjamin Murmelstein of Vienna, the third and last Eldest of Theresienstadt.
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Death was a constant companion. Initially, those who had died were wrapped in a sheet and buried. But the lack of food, medicine, and sheer lack of space soon took its toll on Theresienstadt's population and corpses began to pile up. In September 1942, a crematorium but no gas chambers were built. The crematorium´s capacity was 190 corpses per day. Once the ashes were searched for melted gold (from teeth), it was dumped in a cardboard box and stored. Near the end of the war, the Nazis tried to cover up and wanted to get rid of all traces. They dumped 8.000 cardboard boxes into a pit and a further 17,000 boxes into the Ohře.
Many jews had hoped that living in Theresienstadt would protect them from being sent East and that their stay would last the duration of the war. On January 5, 1942 their hopes were shattered - Daily Order No. 20 announced the first transport out of Theresienstadt. Transports with 1.000 – 5.000 prisoners left Theresienstadt to Auschwitz and other extermination camps frequently.
On October 5, 1943, the first Danish jews arrived in Theresienstadt. Soon after, the Danish and Swedish Red Cross began inquiring about their whereabouts and their condition. This was a rare move, given that most European governments did not insist on their fellow Jewish citizens being treated according to some fundamental principles. The Nazis decided to show off Theresienstadt to an investigation committee of the International Red Cross. The commander of Theresienstadt, SS Colonel Karl Rahm, took control of planning. An exact route was planned for the visitors to take. All buildings and grounds along this route were to be enhanced by green turf, flowers, and benches. The external appearance of the ghetto had to be changed for this purpose. Karl Rahm thought that the Ghetto was too crowded. On May 12, 1944, he ordered the deportation of 7,500 inhabitants. The Nazis decided that all orphans and most of the sick had to go to Auschwitz to build up the Potemkin town of Theresienstadt.
No detail was ignored: a bank, false shops, a cafe, kindergartens, and schools were set up in the ghetto and the town was beautified by adding flower gardens. Communal bathing facilities were built as well. Had the Committee Members tested the water faucets they would have discovered that none of the faucets were attached to plumbing. They were fake. A billboard was put up a building that read "Boys School" as well as another sign with "closed during holidays." When the Red Cross delegates arrived, June 23, 1944, the SS were fully prepared. As the tour commenced, well-rehearsed actions took place especially initiated for the visit. Bakers were baking bread, a load of fresh vegetables was delivered, and workers were singing. After the visit, the Nazis were so impressed with themselves and their propaganda coup feat that they decided to make a film. When filming was finished, most actors, including most of the ghetto children, were deported to the Birkenau gas chambers.
On May 1, 1945, the ghetto was turned over to the International Red Cross delegate Paul Dunant. Rahm. Dunant , together with another SS man, still wearing his uniform and holding on to his weapons, left on May 5 1945. Three days later the ghetto was liberated by the Soviet Red Army.
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