5-day trip to Prague
Prague was one of the very few cities in the empire of Nazi Germany that wasn´t hit as badly by the terror of war than other cities. In the first place this was due to its geographical location, far away from British Bomber Command and the 8th U.S. Air Force and secondly the Nazis badly needed the excellent Czech heavy industry and its well trained labour. Tanks and guns manufactured at Skoda were vital for the German war efforts. This only changed with the arrival of Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the Reich Security Main Office and Reich governor of Bohemia and Moravia. In the next few dasy you will learn a lot about the background of Heydrih´s SS-Terror in Prague.
5-day trip to Prague
Day 1
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We travel with the Coach of Excellence from Cologne via Nuremberg to Prague. While en route to the Moldau we will be able to watch some documentaries about Heydrich and his assassination and will get an overview of what we will encounter. Upon arrival in Prague we will check into the prestigious Hilton Hotel. Dinner at hotel.
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Day 2
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In order to get more information in regards to the assassination and ist backers, we will pay a visit to the National Military History Museum (Vojenske historicke muzeum). Here you find a permanent exhibition which was already on display at the Deutsches Technikmuseum at Berlin. Here you see numerous details of the planning and execution of the plot. On display is also the original Mercedes convertible Heydrich´s. We will continue to the orthodox church of St. Kyrill und Methodius, where Bischop Gorazd and members of his community helped the assassins to hide in the crypt. Bischop Gorazd was consequently executed by the Gestapo at the executions location in Prag-Kobylisy. We will the return to the hotel for dinner. |
| 3. Tag |
Today we will travel to the city of Terezín, the site of the Theresienstadt concentration camp. The fortress of Terezín was constructed between the years 1780 and 1790. Formerly in the 19th century it was used to accommodate military and political prisoners. In June 1940, the Gestapo took control of Terezín and set up prison in the “Small Fortress” (Kleine Festung). By November 1941, the Main Fortress (grosse Festung) was turned into a walled ghetto. The function of Theresienstadt was to provide a front for the extermination operation of Jews. To the outside it was presented by the Nazis as a model Jewish settlement, but in reality it was a concentration camp. After the visit we will return to the Hilton Hotel in Prague for Dinner. |
| 4. Tag |
The circle of the Hedyrich terror system will be closed by the visit of the village of Lidice. Hitler, enraged by Heydrich´s assassination, ordered Kurt Daluege, Heydrich's replacement, to “wade through blood” to find Heydrich's killers. The Germans began a massive retaliation campaign against the civilian Czech population. On June 10, German security police surrounded the village of Lidice, blocking all avenues of escape. The entire population was rounded up, and all men over fifteen years of age were put in a barn. They were shot the next day. The women were shipped to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, the village itself was razed and bulldozed. We will visit the original site of the village, the memorial and the museum with its new New multi-medial exposition. After this emotional visit we will return to Prague and make a stop-over at the aircraft museum in Prag-Kbely. This museum has a few very interesting aircraft on display that are nowhere else to be seen. For example a rare example of a two-seater Messerschmitt Me 262 B and a Messerschmitt Me 262 A Schwalbe. We will then return to the Hilton for dinner. |
| 5. Tag |
Return to Cologne
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