Period+2+AP+Theresienstadt+Concentration+Camp


 * Theresienstadt Concentration Camp **

Christopher Yates Josh Sumpter Luke Hankins Caleb Dusek

Historical: Theresienstadt served as the Nazi’s cover-up camp/ghetto. The camp itself was incredibly confusing: “ Neither a "ghetto" as such nor strictly a concentration camp, Theresienstadt served as a “settlement,” an assembly camp, and a concentration camp, and thus had recognizable features of both ghettos and concentration camps” (USHMM). It was primarily a holding pen for German Jews that were artists, scholars and others who may have been considered “high society” were kept here before eventually being processed and sent out. Germany kept it as their “example” camp/ghetto to hide the harsh realities that other camps held. This is not to say that the living conditions were favorable, but it did include commodities like a 60,000 book library, performances, lectures, concerts and artwork all created by those detained within. There was also a school for children even though it was banned. Germany deported a majority of the inmates in 1944 and “prettied it up” for a Red Cross visit later that year, furthering its reputation as Germany’s “poster” camp. The lives of those within were still awful, but seeing as Germany tried to show both its own citizens and the rest of the world that what they were doing wasn’t inhumane, the lives of the Jews within could have been much worse. 

"Culture, Music and Propaganda." Theresienstadt -. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2015. "Theresienstadt." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 16 Sept. 2015. Talisman, Mark. "Terezin Concentration Camp: History and Overview." Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.

Cultural: Though conditions at Theresienstadt Concentration Camp were cruel and harsh, prisoners experienced a rich cultural life in comparison to those at other camps. This was largely due to the great number of artists, musicians, and writers held there. In a piece detailing the cultural life of Theresienstadt, it is said that, “ Outstanding Jewish artists, mainly from Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Germany, created drawings and paintings, some of them clandestine depictions of the ghetto's harsh reality. Writers, professors, musicians, and actors gave lectures, concerts, and theater performances” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). These artistic talents were even used to the Nazi’s advantage at times, such as when painters were forced to draw unrealistic depictions of the camp for propaganda purposes. Some children even attended schools, writing poetry and taking part in other academic pursuits. This isn’t to say that life at Theresienstadt was much better than other concentration camps, however. Living conditions were still terrible, and at the slightest provocation, SS guards could send prisoners to another camp to either be put to death or forced into excruciatingly difficult labor. Many prisoners were tortured and beaten at Theresienstadt, and roughly 33,000 Jews died within its walls. Though the cultural life at Theresienstadt was superior to that of most other ghettos and camps, prisoners at the camp went through the same hardships as those elsewhere.

"Culture, Music and Propaganda." Theresienstadt -. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2015. "Theresienstadt." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.

Audience: The main target of the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp were Jews from countries in Eastern Europe, especial from Czechoslovakia. Of the 140,000 prisoners sent to Theresienstadt, over 73,000 were Czech-Jews ; other prisoner came primarily from Austria, Hungary and Germany. The U.S. Holocaust Museum reported, “Between November 24, 1941, and April 15, 1945, the German authorities deported between 73,608 and 73,958 Jews residing in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to Theresienstadt”(Holocaust Museum 1). One of the main purposes of Theresienstadt was to cover up the execution of the elderly, who propaganda stated would be taken care of safely during the war. Instead, any elderly jews incapable of manual labor were gassed almost instantaneously upon arrival. The other prisoners were squeezed into the extremely crowded ghetto, in which thousands died from starvation or disease, until being sent to other camps in the East. For the prisoners, the deportation from Theresienstadt meant the final journey before being gassed in death camps such as Auschwitz. Theresienstadt itself, housing many artists and musicians, developed an interesting culture, and frequently held orchestral performances. The camp, a small prison city, also contained a library and hospital for the residents. However, the conditions prisoners experienced were more like hell-on-earth than the retirement village it was portrayed to the rest of the world as. The lack of food, sanitation, or medical supplies meant slow, miserable death for tens of thousands of Eastern European Jews.

"Theresienstadt" United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.

Talisman, Mark. "Terezin Concentration Camp: History and Overview." Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.

Aim: The purpose of the Theresienstadt camp was multifaceted and included several goals which helped the Germans work toward their overall objective of Jewish extinction. One of the main purposes behind the camp was to transportation center to larger extermination facilities such as Auschwitz. This purpose was largely achieved, “ Theresienstadt fulfilled its function as a transit station for the killing centers  with chilling effectiveness” (“Theresienstadt: Transit Camp for Czech Jews”). Another purpose behind the Theresienstadt concentration camp was for the use of deceptions and propaganda. “ Theresienstadt was cynically described as a ‘spa town’ where elderly German Jews could ‘retire’ in safety” (“Theresienstadt”). The use of this facade was helpful because it prevented Jews who had not been taken to the camps yet from seeing the need to run away. Theresienstadt also served as a work camp which allowed the Germans to weaken Jews while they were held there, until they were sent to another concentration camp to die. These three specific aims of Theresienstadt helped to play into Hitler’s overall goal of the final solution by providing a location in which Jews and other undesirables were kept until they could be sent off to their deaths at another location.

"Theresienstadt: Transit Camp for Czech Jews." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 15 Sept. 2015. "Theresienstadt" United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.