Terezín
Encyclopedia
Ústí nad Labem Region
Ústí nad Labem Region is an administrative unit of the Czech Republic, located in the north-western part of its historical region of Bohemia...
of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
.
Early history
In the late 18th century the Habsburg MonarchyHabsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
erected the fortress, as well as a large walled town directly across the Ohře
Ohre
The Ohře is a 316 km long river in Germany and the Czech Republic , left tributary of the Elbe. The basin area of the river has a size of 6,255 km², of which 5,614 km² are in the Czech Republic and 641 km² in Germany...
River, near its confluence with the Labe
Labe
Lab can refer to:* Elbe, a river in Central Europe - Labe in Czech* Labé, the main city of the Fouta Djallon region of Guinea...
River, and named it after Empress Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
.
Construction started in 1780 and lasted ten years. The total area of the fortress was 3.89 km². The fortification was designed in the tradition of Sébastian le Prestre de Vauban
Vauban
Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...
. In peacetime it held 5,655 soldiers, and in wartime around 11,000 soldiers could be placed here, and neighbouring areas could be inundated. Fortress Josefov
Fortress Josefov
Fortress Josefov , , is a large historic defence complex of 18th-century military architecture, built between 1780-1790, in eastern Bohemia, Czech Republic. Together with fortress Terezín, it was intended as protection against attacks from Prussia, but its military importance, like other such...
in eastern Bohemia was built at the same time and had a similar purpose.
The fortress was never under direct siege. During the Austro-Prussian War
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the...
, on 28 July 1866, part of the garrison attacked and destroyed an important railway bridge near Neratovice
Neratovice
Neratovice is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has cca 16,400 inhabitants. The Spolana chemical plant resides there. The town is part of the Prague metropolitan area....
(rail line Turnov
Turnov
Turnov is a town on the Jizera river in the northern Czech Republic. It has about 14,500 inhabitants and lies in the southern part of Liberec Region. It is a traditional center for gemstone polishing, glass craftmanship and arts....
- Kralupy nad Vltavou
Kralupy nad Vltavou
Kralupy nad Vltavou is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 18,000 inhabitants. The city lies on the Vltava River some north of Prague, the capital of both the Czech Republic and the Central Bohemian Region...
) that was shortly before repaired by the Prussians. This attack occurred two days after Austria and Prussia had agreed to make peace, but the Terezin garrison was ignorant of the news.
During the second half of the 19th century, the fortress was also used as a prison.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the fortress was used as a political prison camp. Many thousand supporters of Russia (Russophiles from Galicia and Bukovina) were placed by Austro-Hungarian authorities in the fortress. Gavrilo Princip
Gavrilo Princip
Gavrilo Princip was the Bosnian Serb who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914...
, who assassinated Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife, died there of tuberculosis in 1918.
Terezín during World War II
During WWIIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
used Terezín, better known by the German name Theresienstadt, as a ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
, concentrating Jews from Czechoslovakia, as well as many from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Denmark. More than 150,000 Jews were sent there, and although it was not an extermination camp about 33,000 died in the ghetto itself, mostly because of the appalling conditions arising out of extreme population density. About 88,000 inhabitants were deported to Auschwitz and other extermination camps At the end of the war there were 17,247 survivors. Theresienstadt was the home of Hana Brady
Hana Brady
Hana Brady was a 13-year old Jewish girl murdered in the Holocaust. She is the subject of the 2002 non-fiction children's book Hana's Suitcase, written by Karen Levine.-Biography:Hana Brady was born in Nové Mesto, Czechoslovakia on May 16, 1931...
and her brother George Brady from 1942-1944.
The Small Fortress in Terezin was also used as a punishment prison for Allied POWs who persisted in escape attempts. POWs from Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain were imprisoned. Keeping POWs from signatory countries in such camp conditions was against the Geneva Convention
Third Geneva Convention
The Third Geneva Convention, relative to the treatment of prisoners of war, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was first adopted in 1929, but was significantly updated in 1949...
. Terezin was the punishment prison for Walter Wise (Australia), Charles Croall (NZ), Roy Lomas (NZ), Ray Reid (NZ), Gerry Mills (NZ), Sid Davison (NZ), Tom McLeod (NZ), Alf Booker (NZ), Jock Bone (UK), Herb Cullen (Australia), Tama Tamaki (NZ), Wal Riley (Australia), Tom Mottram (NZ), Jim Ilott and Alexander McClelland (Australia). All survived but suffered chronic physical and mental health problems for most of their lives.
For many years the Australian and New Zealand governments denied that any of their servicemen had been sent to Terezin, but after several years of campaigns the Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
established a committee of investigation in 1987 which eventually ordered $10,000 compensation payments to the surviving veterans. Australian journalist Paul Rea produced the 1985 film Where Death Wears a Smile which made sensational allegations about the supposed murder of dozens of Allied prisoners at Terezin. These claims have been refuted by one of the veterans, Alexander McClelland, in his book The Answer - Justice.
Part of the fortification (Small Fortress) served as the largest Gestapo prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was the majority ethnic-Czech protectorate which Nazi Germany established in the central parts of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia in what is today the Czech Republic...
, separated from the ghetto. Around 90,000 people went through it, and 2,600 of those died there.
It was liberated on 9 May 1945 by the Soviet Army.
Terezín after World War II
After the German surrender the small fortress was used as an internment camp for ethnic Germans. The first prisoners arrived on May 10, 1945. On February 29, 1948 the last German prisoners were released and the camp was officially closed.Among the interned Germans were former Nazis like Heinrich Jöckel, the former commander of Terezín and other SS members. A great group of internees was arrested simply because of their German nationality, among them young boys or elderly people.
In the first phase of the camp lasting until July 1945 mortality was high due to diseases, malnutrition and incidents of simple outright murder. Commander of the camp in that period was Stanislav Franc. He was guided by a spirit of revenge and tolerated whimsical mistreatment of the prisoners by the guards.
In July 1945 the camp shifted under the control of the Czech ministry for domestic affairs. The new commander appointed was Otakar Kálal. From then on the inmates were gradually transferred to Germany and Terezín was increasingly used as a hub for the forced migration of Germans from the Czech lands into Germany proper.
Terezín today
After the war, Theresienstadt was resurrected as Terezín, dropping the German "stadt" from its name but still retaining a military garrison. The army left the city in 1996, which had a negative effect on the local economy. Terezín is still trying to decouple from its military past and become a modern, vibrant town. In 2002, the fortress, which was in a deteriorated condition, was listed in the 2002 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments FundWorld Monuments Fund
World Monuments Fund is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training....
. The organization called for a comprehensive conservation plan, while providing funding from emergency repairs from American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
. In 2002 the city was also struck by flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
s during which the crematorium was damaged. A plan was eventually developed in cooperation with national authorities. According to the Fund, a long-term conservation plan was conceived, which includes further repairs, documentation, and archaeological research.
327 bronze markers were stolen from the Jewish cemetery in mid-April 2008, with 700 more the next week. Some were recovered.
Terezín is noted for its production of furniture and knitwear as well as for manufacturing.
Twin towns Dębno
Debno
Dębno is a town in Myślibórz County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It has a population of 13,863 . The Dębno oil field is located near to the town.-Twin towns — sister cities:Dębno is twinned with:* Strausberg - Germany...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Strausberg
Strausberg
Strausberg is a city in Brandenburg, Germany, located 30 km east of Berlin. With a population of 26,206 in 2010 it is the largest town in the district of Märkisch-Oderland.-History:...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(1998)