Terezín
- For the Nazi concentration camp, see Theresienstadt concentration camp
| Terezín | |||
| Town | |||
 Inside Theresienstadt today
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| Country |  Czech Republic |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Ústí nad Labem | ||
| District | Litoměřice | ||
| River | Ohře | ||
| Elevation | m ( ft) | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Area | km² ( mi²) | ||
| Population | (2003) | ||
| Density | /km² ( /mi²) | ||
| Construction started | 1780 | ||
| Mayor | Jan Horníček | ||
| Postal code | 411 55 | ||
   Location in the Czech Republic
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| Wikimedia Commons: Terezín | |||
| Website: www.terezin.cz | |||
Terezín (IPA: [ˈtɛrɛzi:n]; German: Theresienstadt) is the name of a former military fortress and garrison town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic.
History
In the late 18th century the Austrian empire erected the fortress near the confluence of the Labe and Ohře Rivers, and named it after the Austrian empress Maria Theresa.
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. 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 in eastern Bohemia was built at the same time and had a similar purpose.
The fortress was never active during wartime. During the second half of the 19th century it was used as a prison.
During World War I, the fortress was used as a prisoner-of-war camp. Many thousand supporters of Russia (Russophiles from Galicia and Bukovina) were placed by Austro-Hungarian authorities in the fortress. Gavrilo Princip, who assassinated Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife, starting the war, died there of tuberculosis in 1918.
Terezín During World War II
Main article: Concentration camp Theresienstadt
During WWII, the Gestapo used Terezín, better known by the German name Theresienstadt, as a ghetto, concentrating Jews from Czechoslovakia, as well as many from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Denmark. Though it was not an extermination camp, of the over 150,000 Jews who arrived there, 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 [1] At the end of the war there were 17,247 survivors.
Part of the fortification (Small Fortress) served as the largest Gestapo prison in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, separated from the ghetto. Around 90,000 people went through it, and 2,600 of those died there.
It was liberated on May 9th, 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 the May 10, 1945. On February 29, 1948 the last German prisoners were released and the camp was officially closed.
Among the interened Germans were on one hand former Nazis like Heinrich Jöckel, the former commander of Terezín and other SS members. On the other hand a great group of internees was arrested simply because of their German nationality, among them young boys of 12 years 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, who had been a prisoner of the camp under the Nazis since 1944. He was guided by a spirit of revenge and tolerated any mistreatment of the prisonsers 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 Kalal. From 1946 on the inmates were gradually transferred to Germany and Terezín more and more turned into a hub for the forced migration of Germans form the Czech lands to proper Germany itself.
A small exhibition nowadays reminds of the history of Terzín as internment camp for Germans.
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. The city was damaged by floods in 2002 (see pictures).
Terezín is noted for its production of furniture and knitwear as well as for manufacturing.
Twin towns
Dębno -
Poland (19??)
Strausberg - Germany (1998)
References
- ^ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum. "Theresienstadt." Holocaust Encyclopedia.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005424 (accessed May 7, 2007). <ref> Theresienstädter Studien und Dokumente http://www.ceeol.org/aspx/publicationdetails.aspx?publicationId=4c1fc4b7-d52b-4cac-9a71-6d6728427207 <ref name=> (accessed October 5, 2007).</li></ol></ref>
See Also
Documentary films about Theresienstadt:
Vocal soloist Anne Sophie Von Otter has recorded songs written by composers who were in the camp. The CD is available on DG.
External links
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