Prague: Terezin Concentration Camp

After visiting the city of legends and having a magical time in the fairy-tale town, we finally arrived in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

Prague: A city on hills

We found Prague to be a vibrant modern city bustling with urban life. It is one of the best-preserved modern cities that was not damaged during World War II. When the movie Amadeus ↗ , a biographical movie about Mozart was shot, the filmmakers selected Prague as the setting instead of Salzburg (where Mozart spent a significant part of his early life).

Prague is quite hilly. You can go from one vantage point to another, seeing the city from various angles. One of the popular places we loved to sit, relax, and have a beer is Letna Park, which is built on a small hill overlooking the city. Prague has a very well-connected public transport system (metro, tram, and bus) that takes you to every nook and corner of the city with relative ease. The old city, which holds most of Prague’s major tourist attractions, is quite walkable. There are so many tall structures in Prague that it is called the ‘City of a Hundred Spires’.

While Prague itself is beautiful, we also wanted to learn about a darker chapter of history that took place just outside the city. We went to visit Terezin, a former concentration camp that now serves as a memorial and museum.

Red Cross inspection

During World War II, the Terezin fortress was used by the Nazis as a concentration camp for imprisoning Jews. The King of Denmark had an agreement with Hitler that he would send Jews from Denmark to the camp, with the condition that they would be treated well. The Red Cross also scheduled a visit to inspect the prison at the request of the King of Denmark. The Nazis agreed, as they intended to use this opportunity to create propaganda and show the world that they treated the Jews well.

Terezin Concentration Camp

The Red Cross representatives were taken on a tour following a predetermined route. After the inspection, the Red Cross apparently formed a positive impression of the town. They reported that the Jews were living with relative ease in Terezin, and described it as akin to a spa town. The reality was far from what was reported. It was all a show by the Nazis to fool the Red Cross. The Jews lacked basic sanitation and lived in crowded quarters in the Terezin camp. Many of the amenities shown to the Red Cross representatives were built just for propaganda. In fact, the common showers shown to the Red Cross didn’t even have a functional plumbing.

Culture at Terezin

Despite the harsh conditions of the camp, the Jewish community in Terezin tried to ensure that all the children who passed through the camp continued their education and involved them in activities like theatre, music, and art. The prisoners provided the children’s education under the guise of work or cultural activity. Daily classes and sports activities were held. There were regular plays and cultural activities in the Jewish camp. Children’s paintings can still be seen in the Terezin museum.

As we went through the paintings (drawn by children living in Terezin) displayed in the museum, it was heartwarming to see that children in the concentration camp had dreamed of bigger things, for when they would get out of the camp. They also drew scenes from their lives and dreams from their past. This was very emotional for us as we sat in deep thought, imagining ourselves in the children’s shoes and thinking about their hopeful dreams of the future.

Children's paintings at Terezin

We also loved seeing school children visiting the Terezin Museum. It is very important to teach younger generations about the past.

After such an emotionally heavy experience at Terezin, we were grateful to meet friends in Prague and share some light moments.

Meeting Friends

We met our travel-loving friends, Divya ↗ and her husband, Akshay, who live in Prague. They invited us to their home and shared stories about life in the Czech Republic. They also made dosa for dinner. We thought we would only satisfy our dosa cravings after returning to India, but they made sure our cravings were satisfied even before then. We also played a few board games and had a lot of amazing conversations with them.

After meeting them and leaving late at night, we found a tram (after 1 a.m.) to go back to our Airbnb. Since we were catching it on the outskirts of Prague, the area was deserted. But surprisingly, trams and public transport run throughout the night. We sat down comfortably, and as the tram approached the city center, it suddenly started getting crowded with people - even though it was after 1 a.m. We also realised that many of the people who boarded the tram were either drunk or high; some were shouting or talking loudly, while others were zoned out. The surprising thing was that, at no point during the night, did we feel unsafe. We gladly travelled home in the middle of the night.

We really loved Prague for the amount of history, public transport, and adventure it offered. In my next post, I will share more stories from World War II and our adventure exploring the art of an artist, scattered throughout the city.