Shoah | Facts & History | Music of Terezin | Butterfly Poem | Killing Centers |

"...But I never Saw Another Butterfly"

Terezin, (in German 'Thereisenstadt') was highly advertised by the Reich as the Ideal Community for Retirement, a resort-like community, where while being 'resettled' in the east, Jewish families could send the elderly and infirm to be sheltered during the War. It was not the only deception of the War, but by far it was one of the greatest. The Community was indeed carefully planned, but mostly as a propaganda technique to hide what became known as the "Waiting Room (Anteroom) to Auschwitz.

Terezin, a city at the beginning of the war of 5000 people, was located just to the north of Prague. During Krystallnacht and the invasion of Austria and Poland, during the pogroms in which Jews were arrested and killed and their synagogues burned, the Nazis confiscated myriads of items and icons such as Torah Scrolls, Furniture, sacred garments and menorahs and sent them to be cataloged at Pinkas Synagogue in Prague. They had hoped to establish the "Museum of the Extinct Jewish Race" to herald their victory after the war (See The Museum of the Extinct Jewish Race" Many of the Jews from these deportations to whom the items had belonged, were interred initially at Terezin.

Terezin LINKS

As the deportations in Poland and surrounding areas started, Hitler faced two major problems in cloaking what he was doing from the rest of the world. One was in dealing with celebrities and those in the Arts who were of some reknown, and the other was in dealing with the elderly Jews who because of age and infirmity might have greatly slowed the process. The solution was a "City for the Jews" advertised almost as a resort retirement community, where the famous could be interviewed without fear from the reprisals of the Press, and where families would willing send their elderly to 'wait out the war'. The Czech town of Terezin, formally a frontal 'Fortress' and prison, became the retirement town of Nazi Propaganda, but until after the war, little was known about the conditions where over 97,000 died and many more were sent to their deaths at Auschwitz and its subcamps, such as Furstengrube and Birkenau. Men, women and Children of all ages were interred there, there were probably more elderly Jews living there than anywhere in Europe at the time, as elderly Jews who were deported were often the first killed.

The Real Terezin

The Real Terezin was a grueling nightmare for the residents. Growing from a few thousand at the beginning to as many as 55,000 at a time, it is estimated that close to 200,000 passed through the fortress doors by the end the camp. Even though it is generally classified rightly as one of the Ghettos [it was that]; it is included as a prominent killing center because of the sheer # of deaths that occurred here: 97,297, of which 15,000, or 15.4% were children. There were four operating krema, or ovens at Terezin, which at its peak cremated approximately 200 a day whom had died of starvation, malnutrition and disease processes [there was some natural attrition also]. Food was scarce, and as newcomers became accustomed to their surrounds, they found quickly that the primary reasons for Terezin were 1)Propaganda and 2) as a transit camp to Auschwitz, where many, including musicians were killed. Some families were kept there from Terezin for inspection, after which almost all were killed.

The Children of Terezin

Not all of the Killing and Atrocity Centers took children, but Terezin was one that took many, and hence there were many child deaths. Perhaps one of the most notable things about Terezin was its spirit: because there were so many interred there from the fine arts, Music, Art and Performance had a profound effect on morale of those interred, most notably the children during times of despair. Musicians and Artists began to train the young people and there was a Children's Choir and troupe who performed the operetta "Brundibar" over 50 times: the play was the story of a horrible ogre who had come to take over the village, and the children's ingenuity in stopping him. The 'illegal contraband' of art supplies and paper was also smuggled in, and perhaps more than anywhere else, the children of the community expressed themselves in poetry and drawings. The most famous poem was written by a young man named Pavel Friedman, called, "I Never Saw Another Butterfly

One other unique thing that took place in the ghetto was the education of Jewish children, which had been outlawed. In other places, education took clever forms, such as teaching children phonetics and letters in a song. (See School & Shoah. In Terezin, although it was kept quiet, school continued, living ever in the hope that it would be necessary when 'the war ended', which was constantly providing the hopefulness of 'any day now'. The residents kept the schooling clandestine, and continued training their children. Perhaps the only brighter note, was that in Terezin some families were able to keep together until their deportations and deaths, a small but sure comfort.

The Artists and Musicians of Terezin

In 1933, Hitler, as soon as he was in office, declared that Jewish Musicians, Artists, Writers and Performers would no longer be allowed to teach German Children, hold office or Perform for the Jewish public. This was a dramatic and horrible move for many of the leaders in the Fine Arts, such as Professors and heads of the Opera Houses and famous artists were very influential and prominent. At the time, some fled the country, others tried to arrange for foreign copyright agents to sell their work, and others went into hiding, but when the deportations began, many were deported to Terezin, again to 'wait out the war'. The Third Reich at the beginning of the war still hoped to sway American opinion and perhaps even support in their favor, and with the American passion for free speech and expression of the Arts, any artists who were abused or mistreated would become widely known, and the Reich feared public outcry before the better part of Endlosung or the "Final Solution" was completed. Terezin, the 'retirement spa' was the perfect solution: the Artists would be "relocated", and the wording chosen was careful. So many professional musicians were interred at Terezin, that there was never a dearth of performance: orchestras, quintets and other small performance groups, choirs, pianists etc. Some of the most notable at Terezin were Pavel Haas, Gideon Klein, Viktor Ullman, and Hans Krasa. (For a larger list see "Music of Terezin. While most died at Auschwitz or Terezin, a few later expatriated to the United States where they continued careers in Academics, teaching and performance and the Movie Industry.

Ullman wrote an opera at the time, which was performed in Terezin called "The Emperor of Atlantis". This was a thinly veiled story about a tyrant, with 'Atlantis' referring to certain Nazi Beliefs. This raised musical fist was the only expression of opposition allowed openly, and the Musicians and people of Terezin stood in secretive defiance against the regime who had wrongfully incarcerated them there. The artists likewise, knew that this was a moment in history that the world must find out about, whether their deaths came or not. Appearing to be merely producing drawings and paintings, they actually chronicled daily life in their artwork: they encouraged children to express their experiences also. The Art and Music of Terezin gave soul and spirit to those facing death, a survival spirit to those who would live, and the history and knowledge of nobility in the face of enslavement and genocide to all of us. Today, there is a resurgence of interest in performing many of the pieces written at Terezin. (See Terezin Music Performed)

Propaganda, Terezin, and the Red Cross

We have already noted that Terezin was designed for propaganda: the "retreat spot" of the Nazis was in fact a converted prison/fort community replete with starvation overcrowding and disease. Deaths were cloaked as 'natural causes' as malnutrition and starvation took their tolls, and the deaths of most were not tallied as they were deported to Auschwitz. Terezin though was a showplace not just to the outside world but to the Nazis and German Domestic Press as well: it was a deceptive foyer to the killing centers which could be photographed and held accountable. At least one major visit of the Red Cross is noted July 23, 1944. For the few days they were there, preparations had been meticulously made. Eichmann accompanied at least part of the visit, and most likely was instrumental in the procurement of the prepared visit. Renovations, Gardens, appropriate clothing, enough food and music-always music was arranged for the Red Cross visit to assess treatment of prisoners. The Red Cross has come under fire in modern times for failing to report even known conditions about atrocity centers, but part of the reason, was the cloaking of conditions for the time of the assessment. There were similar events in Auschwitz, which for a short time contained a family unit mostly of Terezin deportees, who were treated well during a Red Cross assessment, and then killed at their departure. The accountability of the Red Cross during WWII is considered elsewhere. (See The Red Cross As soon as evaluative teams left, camp conditions returned to normal. While many argue than Terezin was "better" than camps such as Auschwitz or Buchenwald, Terezin residents who survived tell of daily starvation and deaths, psychological oppression of knowing they were waiting for death, mercenary 'euthanasias' in the hospital and in elderly care and other forms of abuse.

Looking Back on Terezin

Terezin is remembered today in memorium as a museum and center for history and archives of eyewitness accounts. More than any other aspect, the Arts and Artists of Terezin are remembered near Prague where Heydrich's assasination occurred, and where the "Museum of the Extinct Human Race" is now the Jewish History Museum, commemorating the life and culture and timelessness of the Jews and not the Nazis. Seidel, Rahm and Burger, the kommandants, were sentenced to death, although Burger escaped justice. A resurgence of the music of Haas, Ullman, Klein and others has found its way even in the US, where it is now regularly performed. Terezin Museum now stands monumentally in the shoah education and the teaching of tolerance. Most of the former structures are still standing, with replications of barracks and other fixtures. More than any other lesson, Terezin teaches the nobility of spirit and purpose in a people, a whole people facing death, and of the essential element of refusing to lose the last vestiges of the soul: music, purpose, and belief. The deceased of Terezin met their deaths knowing that even in death, the Nazis could not rob them of their being and identity: which was probably the prize they most wanted from the start.

Poem: Terezin Postlude