From Praha

June 8, 2010
As we are passing through the countryside through Bavaria to Munich via the rail, my father reminded me that my grandmother died exactly one year ago today. It is because of her that I have been able to make this trip. And, it’s strange because there have been many times, especially during my travels now, that I’ve thought to myself, “I can’t wait to tell grandma…”
Apparently, she and my grandfather (my grandma’s second husband after my dad’s dad passed away), took a train through this same countryside at one point. My dad says she reluctantly said it was beautiful, but felt conflicted about saying anything good about Germany. WW2 was still fresh in her mind. Let us not forget it was even more recent history for her, than it is for me now. I suppose a Jewish woman who lived through that time (in America), might have continued to be weary. I just found it interesting. I’ve been falling in love with Germany, 2 generations later.
We left Praha (Prague) about 4 hours ago. I have to say I liked the city, but often felt frustrated when trying to get around. Yes, I did use a map, and still it wasn’t as easy as other places I’ve been. It looked like a cobblestone maze to me. The buildings were beautiful though. They remained relatively untouched by WW2, which is why most of them are originals from the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century.
About an hour away from Praha, we visited Terezin. This is where the Small Fortress concentration camp and Terezin Ghetto concentration camp were used by the Nazis during WW2. The small fortress was primarily used for political prisoners, but there were many Jews, people of other religions, abilities, etc. who were held there. This was very different from Sachenhausen because most of the buildings were in the original form, and the descriptions of torture went more indepth. At the Samll Fortress, I was able to see the prisoner barracks, as well as the solitary confinement cells, where some prisoners were brutally tortured and kept in cells without daylight for periods of days to months. There were many diseases that spread there too. Typhoid, TB, and others spread by pests and bedbugs. They also had a shooting wall, and places were people were hanged.
The Terezin Ghetto was also very interesting. I did not know this prior to my visit, but people actually live in the small town of Terezin amongst all of the historical barracks and museums. The people of Terezin see it as part of their history, but since the Nazis did not actually build the town, but rather used the existing buildings, like they did at the Small Fortress, the feeling is that the Nazis left, so they got their town back. Anyway, this is where most of the Jews were transported before Auschwitz. I saw a propaganda film that was created for the Red Cross portraying the ghetto as a small Jewish self-governed town where everyone was happy. Obviously, it was quite the contrary. There was slave labor, people being shipped to death camps, and rampant disease. So many people died there everyday that they had mass funerals and had to use cremation, although it went against orthodox beliefs. This “town” was originally set up for about 7,000 people, but was filled past capacity at 58,00 toward the end of the war. Bathing was allowed maybe once a week. Laundry was done every few months. Imagine the hygiene.
At the end of the tour, we were able to see a hidden German synagogue. It was about 8ft long and 5 ft wide. Maybe 6ft tall at the highest of the arches. This went unnoticed until about the late 90’s. Under communist rule, the Holocaust was barely brushed over as part of Czech history, so it is not really much of a surprise that certain things went unnoticed. Now, it is very well taught to this generation as part of Czech history, as the communist rule ended in 89.