Terezín Ghetto and the Gestapo Prison

Since we were visiting Prague, we knew that a visit to Terezín, as it is known in the Czech Republic, or Theresienstadt, as I have always known it, had to be part of our trip. Terezín is about an hour's drive north of Prague, but its history reaches far beyond the town itself. During the Second World War, the Nazis turned the former fortress town built by the Habsburg monarchy, into a ghetto and transit camp for tens of thousands of Jews. They also used Terezín as a tool of Nazi propaganda and deception. In 1944, they carefully staged a visit by representatives of the International Red Cross, beautifying parts of the ghetto and creating a false impression that prisoners were living in good conditions. The nearby Small Fortress was used as a Gestapo prison. From Terezín, many prisoners were later deported to extermination and concentration camps further east.

We booked a semi-private tour with Bat-El Tours, whose founder is Pavel Batel, an author, documentarist, and researcher specialising in Terezín. Our guide was Helge. He picked us up at our hotel and drove us to Terezín, starting the tour right away by giving us the essential history and background information needed to understand what happened at Terezín during the Holocaust.
Upon arrival, we were somewhat taken aback to discover that the town of Terezín is still inhabited today. We had expected to find a museum and not a place where people live and work. Despite this, some of the town's historic buildings have been turned into museums, and Helge explained that he and others are working to preserve more of them.

We began at the Ghetto Museum, the former Boys' Barracks, where our guide showed us drawings made by children imprisoned in the ghetto. While some pieces show ordinary childhood subjects, memories of home and imagined worlds, others showed much darker images of ghetto life.
A short drive from there, we entered a tunnel leading to what is now an area of open grassland, and Helge explained how prisoners were forced to work there during the war, growing crops including potatoes. The produce was largely intended for the SS rather than for the prisoners themselves, making the agricultural work another cruel reminder of the conditions in which they were forced to live. What made the tunnel particularly poignant were the messages and drawings engraved into its sandstone walls by Jewish prisoners: names, dates, symbols and other personal traces left behind by people who had passed through Terezín.

One of the most unexpected places we visited was the Hidden Synagogue, a tiny prayer room secretly created by Jewish prisoners in a former storage room. It was decorated by the prisoners themselves, who used materials they were able to obtain through their work to paint symbols and Hebrew religious texts on the walls. The room was only rediscovered in the early 1990s, and the remarkable decoration has survived almost intact.
The prayer room was created by Artur Berlinger, a Jewish artist and religious teacher who arrived in Terezín with his wife, Bertha, in 1942. He conducted services there and created a space where prisoners could continue to practise their faith despite the terrible conditions around them. Artur and Bertha were both deported to Auschwitz in 1944 and murdered. Standing in this tiny room, surrounded by the words and symbols painted by people imprisoned in the ghetto, was incredibly moving.

We visited the Magdeburg Barracks, which served as the headquarters of the Jewish self-administration of the ghetto. There was a reconstruction of a typical prisoner dormitory, giving us some idea of the dreadful conditions in which people lived. But perhaps what struck me most was the evidence of the extraordinary cultural life that continued within the ghetto. The exhibitions displayed artwork, musical compositions and theatrical programmes, alongside a reconstruction of a theatre setting.
Amidst the suffering, prisoners created art, music and theatre, and organised educational programmes in an effort to maintain some sense of normality, identity and human dignity. The barracks, once occupied by Jewish artists, musicians, writers and educators, now preserve some of the work they created. These remnants of creativity are a testament to the determination of people who refused to let the circumstances around them completely extinguish their humanity. It was a place of both despair and defiance.

Passing the arrival and transport courtyards and the remains of the railway lines that brought Jewish prisoners to Terezín, and later carried many of them on to death camps, including Auschwitz, we came to the Jewish Cemetery and Crematorium. The cemetery contains both marked graves and mass burial sites, while the original crematorium ovens remain as a horrifying reminder of the sheer scale and brutality of the Nazi persecution. Standing there, it was almost impossible to comprehend what had happened in this place, the suffering, the deaths and the sheer number of people who passed through Terezín.

The tour then took us to the Small Fortress, a very different part of the site. While the main fortress town had become the Jewish Ghetto, the Small Fortress became a Gestapo prison during the Nazi occupation, a place of unimaginable cruelty where prisoners endured appalling conditions. Here we saw prisoner cells, isolation and punishment areas, showers and disinfection facilities, the execution courtyard and shooting range. It was difficult to comprehend the suffering that took place within these walls.

This is where we ended our tour. Leaving Terezín, I was filled with a deep sense of sadness, but also with a profound appreciation for the resilience of the people who were imprisoned there. Behind the buildings, exhibitions and physical remains lay overcrowding, hunger, disease and the constant fear of deportation to the death camps. Our visit was far more than an exploration of history. It was an experience that brought the human reality of Terezín painfully close, and reminded us of the importance of remembering and bearing witness to what happened there. It was, without doubt, one of the most powerful and memorable experiences of our entire trip to Prague.

* This post has been shared on Sweet Tea & Friends Link Up, Skywatch Friday, Funtastic Friday

32 Years Deserves a Medal

I made a fun card for a friend's birthday in 2024, showing him scuba diving on his bike. Recently, his wife once again asked me to make him an anniversary card, but this time the brief was a little simpler. She sent me a favourite photo of the couple at their daughter's recent wedding and asked me to recreate it. She also had one additional request: "Give him a medal with 32 on it", a humorous way to mark their 32nd wedding anniversary.

I carefully recreated their photo, taking care to capture all the details, including my friend's sparkly dress and the backdrop of the wedding venue. She had also asked me to decorate the card with hearts, so my finishing touch was to add gold and red hearts.
I wonder if anyone in my friend's group will recognise the happy couple from the card? I think it really does look like them – even if I say so myself! I hope they were able to recognise themselves and enjoy once again the happy memories of their daughter's wedding day.

* This post has been shared on Handmade Monday, Monday Morning Blog Club, The Really Crafty Link Party, Talking About It Tuesdays, Creatively Crafty Link Party, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop and Thursday Favorite Things.

Prague Jewish Quarter

One of the parts of Prague I was particularly looking forward to exploring was the Jewish Quarter, or Josefov as it is known locally. At the beginning of the 20th century, much of the old medieval quarter was demolished as Prague underwent a huge programme of urban redevelopment. Houses and synagogues disappeared, along with many of the tangible traces of 800 years of Jewish life. The destruction prompted members of Prague's Jewish community to establish the Jewish Museum in Prague in 1906. This year, the museum celebrates its 120th anniversary.
Today, the Jewish Museum is not a single building, but a collection of historic synagogues, the Old Jewish Cemetery and exhibitions spread throughout Josefov. Together, they tell the story of centuries of Jewish life in Prague. And, of course, no visit to the Jewish Quarter would be complete without the famous legend of the Golem of Prague, an artificial clay giant said to have been created by the 16th-century rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the Maharal of Prague, to protect the Jewish community from attacks. The Golem has become a symbol of faith, protection and the limits of human power.

We purchased tickets online which included a guided tour of Josefov and entry tickets to all the synagogues. Our tour of the Old Mikveh required a separate ticket.

The gorgeous Spanish Synagogue is one of the highlights of Prague's Jewish Quarter, with its spectacular Moorish Revival interior, richly decorated with intricate patterns, gilding and beautiful stained glass. We loved it so much that we returned that evening for a beautiful concert, "Hallelujah", which included songs from Fiddler on the Roof and even Bohemian Rhapsody. It was a very special way to experience this stunning building.

Just outside the synagogue is a rather unusual statue of Franz Kafka, below, depicting the writer sitting on the shoulders of a headless, handless figure. It is said to represent Kafka's departure from the Jewish Quarter and his sense of being caught between different worlds.

The Maisel Synagogue was built in the late 16th century by Mordechai Maisel, the mayor of Prague's Jewish Town and one of the wealthiest members of the Jewish community in 16th-century Prague. Originally built in Renaissance style, the synagogue was later rebuilt after a fire and today houses an exhibition about the history of Jews in Bohemia and Moravia.

The Pinkas Synagogue is the second oldest preserved synagogue in Prague and now serves as a profoundly moving memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The walls are covered with the names of almost 80,000 Jewish victims from Bohemia and Moravia, making the scale of the Holocaust painfully real. I found it particularly moving.

Immediately next to the Pinkas Synagogue is the Old Jewish Cemetery, one of the most evocative historic burial sites in Prague. Established in the 15th century, it was in use for around 350 years and contains thousands of graves, including those of many prominent rabbis and scholars. It is surprisingly small and incredibly crowded, with more than 12,000 gravestones packed into a tiny space. Because there was so little land available and existing graves could not be disturbed, new layers of earth were added and burials took place above the earlier ones, creating the extraordinary jumble of stones we see today. The cemetery also suffered repeated flooding from the nearby Vltava, and part of it was later lost during the redevelopment of Josefov.
One of the most famous graves is that of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the legendary creator of the Golem. The timing of our visit was particularly intriguing, as it happened to be his yahrzeit, the anniversary of his death, and prayers were being said over his grave. It was a fascinating and completely unexpected moment.

We also booked a separate private tour of the Old Mikveh, a historic ritual bath dating from the early 16th century, located in the basement of the building next to the Pinkas Synagogue. It was discovered during archaeological excavations in 1968 and is one of the oldest surviving physical traces of Jewish life in this part of Prague. The small, remarkably well-preserved bath is fed by spring water, and we were able to go down the original steps and see it for ourselves.

The Old-New Synagogue is the oldest surviving synagogue in Europe and has been the main synagogue of Prague's Jewish community for more than 700 years. Built in the late 13th century in an early Gothic style, with its characteristic pointed arches, it has survived fires, wars and the redevelopment of the Jewish Quarter. The tiny women's gallery was added later and is almost hidden from view, tucked away behind the thick walls of the building. Originally known as the New or Great Shul, it became known as the Old-New Synagogue (Altneuschul) after other synagogues were built in the 16th century.
Like so many places in Prague, it is surrounded by legends. One story says that angels brought its foundation stones from the Temple in Jerusalem, while another claims that the synagogue was protected from fire by angels disguised as doves. And, of course, there is the legend that the remains of the Golem lie hidden in its attic!

The Klausen Synagogue is the largest surviving synagogue of the former Prague Ghetto, built in the early Baroque style between 1689 and 1694. Baroque architecture is known for its elaborate decoration and dramatic details, although the interior of the Klausen Synagogue is rather more restrained than some of the grand Baroque churches you see around Prague. It wasn't included in our tour, but we visited afterwards and were lucky enough to see a wonderful exhibition of photographs of Israel by Czech documentary photographer Karel Cudlín. Called Burning Love: Israel Through the Lens of Karel Cudlín, it brought together almost 200 photographs taken over three decades. It was an unexpected connection with home and a lovely way to end our visit to the Jewish Quarter.

Though not in the Jewish Quarter, I wanted to share the beautiful Jerusalem Synagogue with you. Built in 1905–1906, it is a stunning example of Art Nouveau architecture, both inside and out.
The main synagogue hall and the ladies' gallery upstairs are now used for exhibitions, while regular services are held in a smaller prayer room. We saw a fascinating exhibition about historic Jewish communities and synagogues throughout the Czech Republic. Many of these communities and their synagogues were lost during the Holocaust. I was particularly interested to see the section about České Budějovice, where we were going to be staying later in our trip. The České Budějovice synagogue was blown up by the Nazis in 1942, and the remaining walls were demolished. Today, there is a memorial on the site, which was unveiled in 1992, exactly 50 years after the synagogue was destroyed.

When it opened, the Jerusalem Synagogue was called the Jubilee Temple of Emperor Franz Joseph, commemorating the 50th anniversary of his reign. After the First World War, the name Jerusalem Synagogue gradually came into use, taken from the name of the street where it stands. Interestingly, the street itself has nothing to do with the synagogue. It was named after the nearby Church of Jerusalem, formerly the Chapel of St. Henry.
The only time the synagogue was not used for services was during the Second World War, when it was used to store property confiscated from Jewish people by the Nazis.

* This post has been shared on Thinking Out Loud Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, PoCoLo and Mosaic Monday.