Terezin Travel Guide

 alancollins Says:  Terezin lies on the old road from Berlin to Prague. During the 1780s the main fort was built by the Habsburgs to defend their northern border against the Prussians. At the same time the small fort which was used as a military prison was built on the other side of the River... 

 alancollins Says:  If you wish to visit all the museums as well as viewing the buildings around the town it will take a full day. There are various charges for admission. A single ticket will get you into either the main museum or the small fort as well as the Magdeburg Barracks and cost... 

 alancollins Says:  Between the main and small forts there is a memorial that receives few visitors. If you have visited the Columbarium and Mortuary you will know that the ashes of those that had died were stored for later interment. The Nazis did not keep their promises and at the location of... 

 alancollins Says:  There is a railway siding at Terezin that was used to transport people from Terezin to the east. 63 transport trains left for the east carrying 87,000 people. Their real location was the death camp at Auschwitz and only 3,800 people survived. The railway siding was built by... 

 alancollins Says:  The square was always fenced off to prisoners during the second world war. During a visit by the Red Cross it was opened up and used as a park. As part of the deception a football match was staged and was filmed, with happy crowds looking on. Shops were suddenly full of... 

 nicolaitan Says:  This enclosure held up to 1500 of the most poorly treated prisoners. Block A pictured was for Russian prisoners and Block B for Jews imprisoned for breaking the strict rules of the ghetto such as teaching or stealing small items. A smaller number of single cells held those... 

 nicolaitan Says:  A large spacious cemetery surrounds the crematorium divided into sections. The iconic image is the Menorah in the Jewish section, but across the pathway to the crematorium lies a Russian section with hammer and sickle. Up to 9000 are buried in this place, a final reminder... 

 nicolaitan Says:  Located at a distance from the walled city of Terezing is the Bohusovice crematorium which opened in September 1942 to deal with the increasing death rate in the ghetto and adjacent prison. The indivudual ovens (there are four here) were built by the German firm Topf and... 

 nicolaitan Says:  Following WWII, the Communists created a museum in this former boy's school dedicated to those who fought Fascism. Ater the end of Communist rule, the Ghetto museum was created in one year opening in 1991 50 years after the first Jews were deported here. The city of Terezin... 

 nicolaitan Says:  The remainder of the fortress tour includes the swimming pool built for the Nazi upper ranks by the inmates, a small movie theater, and the original commissary for the Germans now housing a small inadequate snack shop. Pictured here are the Third Yard, a series of craft... 

 nicolaitan Says:  Those sentenced to exection were led through the Gate of Death (pictured) and placed on a small hill fronting the outer brick rampart of the fortress. The shooters were placed prone in the cross-shaped enclosure and fired their weapons at that site. Also imaged is the... 

 nicolaitan Says:  The last and largest yard was built in 1944 to house the ever-increasing number of prisoners. Its large cell rooms held as many as 400-600 people each in bunks 4 high. In the solitary cells pictured, as many as 15 or more inmates were confined. The raised area before the... 

 nicolaitan Says:  In the First Yard, visitors have access to all the rooms and are indeed led through them on the tour. Image 1 - the showers - this large communal shower room is identical in appearance and construction to the gas-emitting "shower rooms" of the extermination camps.Image 2 -... 

 nicolaitan Says:  Heinrich Jockel was the commanding officer of the prison section for the entire period of WWII. According to an internet source, on occasion he would take all the packages mailed to the prisoners and create a special meal out of them - not only included food but the... 

 nicolaitan Says:  The heart (term used loosely) of the camp was the Administrative Yard. Incoming prisoners were first brought to the Guardhouse for interrogation and then to the clothing warehouse where their clothes were exchanged for prison uniforms - typically uniforms of nations defeated... 

 nicolaitan Says:  Walking up the bucolic tree-lined lane to the fortress, first comes the double high brick walls with the deep moat between. This area was patrolled by guard dogs to prevent escapes. The entrance is through an arched long passageway. The ticket office is contained in this... 

 nicolaitan Says:  There are basically two ways to get to Terezin, each with advantages and disadvantages. The prime factor is the time it should require to adequately cover the sites - I estimate 6-7 hours. Unfortunately, each of the two access mechanisms gives you only 5 or at the most...