Terezin, Czech republic. 05/1997

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weldybren

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Not sure if this location really 'fits' here as it is accessible to the public for visits and therefore is it really derelict?

However, 14 years after my visit, this place still haunts me. That is something i cannot say about any other location i have photographed. I recently unearthed the prints and have scanned them. The sense of desperation, isolation and horror you feel when walking around all came flooding back. This place really is worth a visit, it's humbling.

Some background, plagiarised from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org and my own memory.

This napoleonic garrison town was built to the northwest of Prague in 1780.
Hitler, the world was to be told, had built a city for the Jews, to protect them from the vagaries and stresses of the war. A film was made to show this mythic, idyllic city to which his henchmen were taking the Jews from the Czech Lands and eight other countries. Notable musicians, writers, artists, and leaders were sent there for “safer” keeping than was to be afforded elsewhere in Hitler’s quest to stave off any uprisings or objections around the so-called civilized world. This ruse worked for a very long time, to the great detriment of the nearly two hundred thousand men, women and children who passed through its gates as a way station to Auschwitz and probable death.
Of the vast majority of Czech Jews who were taken to Terezin (or Theresienstadt), 97,297 died among whom were 15,000 children. Only 132 of those children were known to have survived.

the pics:

1:
terezin11.jpg


2:
terezin6.jpg


3:
terezin9.jpg


4:
terezin8.jpg


5:
terezin1.jpg


6:
terezin3.jpg


7:
terezin2.jpg



8:This is one image that really gets to me. The Pool, built in 1942 as a reservoir for fire-fighting purposes, served the families of the local guards for bathing. It was constructed by inmates, who were tortured and beaten to death during the work. In the background you can see the execution wall, still riddled with bullet holes.
terezin4.jpg
 
They are some great photos and thank you for explaining the story behind this site.

My interest lies with WW2 history so this is right up my street. Places like this leave you with such a chill, you leave feeling so subdued and dare I say humble.

The figures you quoted of children (and adults) who died is truely horrific
 
This is a place that I knew nothing about. Thankyou for posting this, weldybren. As Curious Dragon said, it really is humbling...it breaks my heart...but it's good to have these places documented so that we don't forget.
 

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