Pictures from the Terezin Prison (where the Nazis kept political prisoners and leaders):
Memorial for individuals who were held at this camp during the Nazi occupation. It was created after the War was over.
View inside the entrance of the Prison.
"Work sets you free." - False hope given to the prisoners in this camp.
Bunks inside of the the "bunk rooms" in the Prison. People slept with the heads against the wall and their feet toward the outside lined up, one-by-one. 60 people were forced to sleep lined up on just this set of bunks alone.
Closets space for the prisoners. Ironically, however, the "prisoners" weren't allowed any possessions or clothing.
A small holding cell. They would shove as many as 60 men into this small room for days. With that number of people, nobody was able to sit or lay down, but instead were forced to stand 24 hours a day.
Barbed-wire lining the Prison walls.
Air holes into the smaller prison cells. Pretty small, huh?
Two smaller prison cells.
Inside a smaller prison cell. Most of these didn't even have beds or toilets.
Building of smaller prison cells (where they put individuals who caused trouble in the prison so they wouldn't rally the other prisoners in their opposition).
Shower room inside the Terezin Prison.
Infirmary inside the Terezin Prison (except there would have been many, many more beds).
Washroom inside the Terezin Prison (allows for a lot of privacy, huh?).
Walls of the Terezin Prison.
Two prisoners escaped (the only prisoners to do so) by walking along these ledges. When the head of the camp found out about their escape the next morning, he ordered parts of the ledge to be removed.
Tunnels inside the walls of the Terezin Prison. The Nazis kept weapons, and other things in here for protection.
A few times, prisoners were lined up and killed along this wall.
One individual was hung at this gallow.
This memorial represents all of the "unnamed" victims at Terezin.
Nazi housing right outside the prison walls.
Swimming pool used by the Nazis during the Nazi occupation. The left side of the pool backs up to one of the walls of the prison.
Another bunk room in the Terezin Prison. Individuals were packed in like sardines, making the room unbearably hot. Because of lack of showers and toilets and the large number of people, condensation, excrement, and sweat began to build on the floor. When it got too bad, the Nazi soldiers would force individuals to mop up the floor with their clothing -- the only set of clothing they had. After cleaning, they would ring out their clothing and have to put it back on.
After visiting the Terezin Prison, we drove farther into the Ghetto town (which looks like a little town today) and walked through a few museums. In one of the rooms of one museum, names lined the walls from floor to ceiling representing all of the children who lost their lives at Terezin Concentration Camp (due to illness, disease, malnourishment, etc...). It was shocking. All those names... and those were just the children who lost their lives. Not the mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, etc... Lastly we visited the old crematorium (which is now surrounded by a cemetery). This was the most difficult part of the trip for me and I physically felt sick inside the crematorium. While Terezin was not a "extermination camp" the individual who died here had died from either the rampant disease or other "unsanitary" conditions that the prisoners were required to live in. I also couldn't help but think about all of those who had been at the extermination camps throughout central Europe. Honestly, it felt like an overwhelming sense of sadness and loss.
Crematorium at Terezin.
Cemetery near the crematorium.
Although this experience brought up multiple feelings (sadness, anger, shock, etc...), some of which I expected and others that were a complete surprise, I really feel it was an experience everyone should have at least once in their life. It's one thing to learn about the Holocaust through reading or studying it in class, but it's something totally different to stand where so much of this injustice occurred. It's so important to remember so that that something like this will NEVER happen again.
After leaving the concentration camp, we headed to a nearby city for lunch before heading back to Prague. I think everyone needed a little relief from the somberness of the morning.
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