Gallery I

Traces of Everyday Life in the Ghetto

How did prisoners live in the ghetto? What did their living spaces look like? How were their rooms furnished? Numerous traces and vestiges still found in Terezin provide answers. Often, only after a closer look do the historical traces become obvious: the demeaning living conditions, the struggle for daily survival and dying in the ghetto. The ghetto served primarily as a ghetto and transit camp for Jews; a temporary stop on their way to Auschwitz-Birkenau and other death camps in the East. This knowledge is crucial for understanding these silent witnesses and traces. They represent fragments of the backdrop against which a chapter of the “Final Solution” played out.

Forbidden: Discovery in an attic. “Entrance strictly FORBIDDEN to UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS!” is written on the door in a German writing style of the 1940s. Where did this door lead? To whom did this restriction apply and for whom did it not? These questions have yet to be answered.

Orientation in the Ghetto: A special administrative structure was established when the town was turned into a ghetto. Streets were renamed and “block designations” were introduced. For example, “Q 219 C VI “ was the administrative designation of one house. “Q 2” stood for the street, the Second Crossroad, “19” was the actual house number and “C VI” was the term for the block (a whole block of houses).

Overcrowding: In 1942 the houses and barracks in Theresienstadt were already so overcrowded that people also had to be housed in the attics. This photo shows a typical example of temporary attic conversions, which were planned and constructed by the Jewish self-administration due to the lack of accommodations. The small living spaces (that can be detected from the remains of three door frames) shows vast differences in size and building methods among the “kumbals.”

Electricity. Porcelain insulators are silent witnesses that can still be found in almost all attics. They were used to secure the temporary and exposed wiring required for the lighting of the dark attics.

Due to overcrowding, privacy in the ghetto did not exist and intimacy was nearly impossible. This situation resulted in prisoners’ initiative and ingenuity in constructing small attic rooms called “kumbál” or “kumbálek.” Having one was a privilege. The materials, a few boards or pieces of furniture, were usually “organized.” In the ghetto slang, this meant acquired by any means, even stolen.

Mass Death: The picture shows two furnaces in the Theresienstadt crematorium which were operated between 1943 and 1945. Only a few months after the ghetto was established, the mortality rate was incredibly high. More than 33,000 people died in Theresienstadt, one fourth of all prisoners who passed through the ghetto. Fear of epidemics drove the SS to solve the high mortality problem by building a crematorium. Today this building is part of the Terezín Memorial and is open to the public.

Death and Dying in the Theresienstadt Ghetto: There are also inconspicuous signs like this metal plaque with the year “1944” in Hebrew. It is attached to the metal grill of the entrance gate near Ravelin XIX. The ashes of those who died in 1944 were kept in the casemates until summer 1944. At the time the SS covered up their crimes by throwing the ashes of prisoners who died in 1944 into the Eger River.

Cultural Activities: The yellow Star of David (Mogen David) on a red background is a theatre decoration that still adorns the attic entrance today. In Theresienstadt many theatre performances held in Czech and German took place, at first still in secret. There are hardly any traces left like this one.

Faith: These candles adorned a Jewish prayer room only recently discovered in the 1990s. The room is completely decorated with wall murals. Religious practice was officially prohibited in the ghetto, but it was ignored if conducted in the houses. The prayer room belongs to the Terezin Memorial complex and is open to the public.

Mourning: We see a mortar heart in which two names, five crosses and the numbers 44, 47 and 48 have been immortalized. The heart is on a chimney in an attic of a residential building.

Care: The wall drawing is found together with two other murals in an attic room of about twelve square meters (around 34 square feet) located in a private house. All murals are at children’s eye level. This room was most likely used – at least temporarily – as a nursery during the ghetto period.

Torture: These are no ordinary cellar doors. These are the doors to the cells number 6 and 7 of the infamous “bunker”, a cellar located under the former SS headquarters. In these cellars prisoners were tortured, some of them murdered by SS-men for alleged offenses. Today these cellars serve the tenants of this residential building.

Gallery II

An Attic Full of Stories – L237

It is hard to imagine that this small attic room had to be shared by as many as four people. Prisoners, therefore, became resourceful, and even creative, when setting up their cramped abodes. Through their wall drawings and graffiti, they told stories of human trial: lovesickness, sleepless nights and longings for home. Yet, despite the indescribably atrocious hygienic conditions that made vermin a daily problem in the ghetto, humor could sometimes still prevail in the everyday lives of the prisoners, such as a Dutch author’s verse about an eternal plague of bedbugs.

The overall presentation of the following photographs provides a unique and, above all, close look into the lives of the prisoners who lived here. The viewer is given access to an unparalleled world, one rarely more than 10 square meters in size. It is all the more surprising that such a large quantity of graffiti and wall drawings could have gone undiscovered until 2014. This attic is only one of many such spaces where traces of ghetto life still exist. In the course of this project, we would also like to identify their authors and, if possible, document their fates. We will continually post our results on www.ghettospuren.de

The contrast could hardly be greater: The sheeting against the underside of the roof reveals that this room was refurbished. The partitioning wall on the left was made of Heraklith insulation panels, a material of wood wool and cement, often utilized in the ghetto. One side of the wall is entirely plastered. On the other side, it is only patched.

On the door made of joined boards, a rusted case lock and number sequences written in chalk catch our eye. To the left of the door, we can make out the remains of a door casing.

The room behind the door, a small attic mansard, is only about 10 square meters and served as living space during the ghetto years. Larger wall drawings immediately catch our eye. The building style of the room is easy to make out. Plastered and painted Heraklith panels can be seen behind the chimney. Also the remains of a suspended ceiling, destroyed during the last roofing job, are still visible.

The artist used only two colors, blue and brown, to create the realistic image. There is much that leads us to believe that it probably depicts an actual place. We recognize a conveyor system with shaft tower and a group of buildings. In the background, smoke billows from a smokestack. One can only speculate why the prisoner would have wanted to capture this particular scene.

Although hardly visible to the naked eye, pictures were also drawn on the chimney wall. One must look closely so as not to miss them, as some are very small. The rustic, decorative painting was most likely applied around a stove pipe which no longer exists. At the top, next to the opening where the pipe might have been inserted, we see a painted spider web. This was typical of Boheme design. It was an appreciation of irony, possessed by the ghetto residents that allowed them to fashion their living quarters the way they did.

These data written on the wall verify that these are without any doubt remnants of the ghetto time. “Terezín 13.II.1944“ (Terezín, February 13, 1944) is a date that we may assume was written by an unknown prisoner. So far, we have no leads as to its meaning.

This inscription tells us more: The translation of the Czech graffito reads, “November 1944 ZDENĚK”. It is quite possible that Zdeněk survived the Holocaust, as no transports left the camp between November 1944 and the liberation of the ghetto in May 1945.

Mourning: A grave mound with cross, next to this, the Czech name Věra Voborská. The name is not listed in the database of Holocaust victims from Theresienstadt.

”MIJN NIEUWE BEL“ is Dutch and means “my new bell.” Next to this, spaced a little bit apart we read “HOLLANDA” and see a tiny windmill. This graffito points to the origins of its author. Approximately 6, 000 Jews from occupied Netherlands were interned in Terezin, including German Jews who had escaped to the Netherlands. Transports from Holland to Theresienstadt began in April 1943.

These lines were written by a resident of this room. The verse, written with a pencil in Dutch, tells us about a sleepless night. “Oh bedbug, oh bedbug, oh thou ugly beast, thou dances all night upon me. I lie, the itching […] I feel you creeping. From head to my toes.” Bedbugs and fleas were a constant plague in the ghetto making nights unbearable for many of the prisoners. Although the ghetto’s Jewish self-administration made efforts to address the problem, the plague of bugs continued unabated.

„NEMOHU SPÁT! CHAPMAN VSTÁVÁ VE 3, HONYNY 5, PICKA V ½ 6. A ŠTĚNKY JSOU V PERMANENCI CELOU NOC.“ This graffito laments the difficult conditions of everyday life. Despite its bleached colors, the text is still legible. It is a complaint of a Czech prisoner who had been unable to find quiet at night. „I CANNOT SLEEP! CHAPMAN GETS UP AT 3, HONYNY AT 5, PICKA AT 5:30. AND THE BEDBUGS ARE AT IT THE WHOLE NIGHT.“ Bedbugs were apparently not the only roommates causing sleepless nights in the ghetto's tight living quarters. Also, noises came about in the night when others had to rise to go to their regular early morning or late night work shifts. Cramped conditions and lack of privacy were in themselves torturous. With this in mind, we understand that the message is illustrating a general problem of most inmates in the ghetto. The sarcastic punch line indicates that „the bedbugs were always working busily“ which points to the hygienic disaster at this shared living space. The gallows humor was, therefore, one way how to deal with the everyday difficulties in the ghetto. © WILDFISCH

A weeping heart pierced by an arrow is symbolic of a lost love. It hardly needs any explanation. Only the initials “H” and “K” offer but a tiny clue as to who was struck by Love’s arrow. Elsewhere, measuring about half an inch in height, we find yet another graffito. This time it is a heart next to a gallows.

This photo tells us about blissful love: “CHAPI JEN TYS NAŠE LÁSKA“. “Chapi, only you are our love”. The original text is in Czech. However, Chapi is neither a Czech nor a Dutch name. It could be a nickname. Another graffito refers to Chapmann as a family name.

A scene dear to most Czechs: Prague’s Charles Bridge, which connects Staré město (the Old Town) with Malá strana (the Lesser Side). Theresienstadt lies about 69 kilometers north of Prague. Such motifs must have been nostalgic for the Jews from Prague who were imprisoned in Theresienstadt. The Charles Bridge and Prague Castle (in the background) are the primary landmarks of the Bohemian capital, perhaps also a reason why the artist chose to draw the scene. It is quite possible that several people were involved in drawing this scene. Damage to the wall, which is riddled with holes, occurred during a later period.

The crucifix stands out in the foreground. The drawing of one of the statues on the Charles Bridge would have been easily recognized by most Czech prisoners. Although the original statue features distinctive Hebrew script, it was left out of the drawing. In 1696, a Prague Jew was accused of blasphemy after he allegedly mocked the crucifix and was found guilty. As punishment, he was required to pay for gold-plated Hebrew lettering which read: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts.” These words remain on the crucifix today. The sign was a considerable expenditure for the Jew, but the stiff punishment represented also a humiliation to the Prague Jews who felt they were forced to praise a “false” God. The artist probably knew of the demeaning sign and chose to exclude it.

Gallery III

Messages From the Past – Poterne III

After decades of military use, after debris was cleared and the fortress gate Poterne 3* was finally open in 2005, countless graffiti (stone wall carvings) that had been carved into the sandstone came to light. Among these are many whose meanings cannot be deciphered. The dates 1942, 1943 and 1944 are clear. We recognize symbols of hope and faith, signatures, transport numbers, names and dates.

Most of the authors were prisoners and members of the ghetto police who were themselves prisoners recruited to the service. For almost 70 years, the Poterne III kept its secrets. To date, none of these remnants from the past have received any attention. Our goal is to change this and attempt to reconstruct the lives of the authors. We plan to publish our detailed findings online at www.ghettospuren.de.

*According to Glossarium Artis: Poterne was a tunnel-shaped, often a vaulted passageway through a fortress wall providing cover for troops or transport of weapons, equipment and ammunition within a fortress.

Birds-eye-view: The aerial photograph shows the northwestern section with Ravelin XVIII, a fortress defense wall system. This part of the fortress has been recently developed for tourism and also serves as a pedestrian zone for Terezin’s residents. Visible in the photo where grasses stand over three feet tall, there used to be kitchen gardens where prisoners were forced to grow fruits and vegetables for the SS.

Tunnel view: It is possible to enter this part of the fortress through a historical gate, the Poterne III. The builders of this fortress envisioned this gate as a place from which to launch attacks against enemies.

Life signs: Close to the outer gate toward the moat on both sides of the passageway, one cannot but notice the countless graffiti. Erosion and vandalism have already rendered unrecognizable a large number of these silent witnesses from the past. Many of the inscriptions date not only from the ghetto period but also from the 19thand early 20th centuries.

Guard posts: During the ghetto period, many points of entry and exit were strictly guarded by both the Czech gendarmerie and the ghetto policemen, who were recruited from among the ranks of the Jewish prisoners. The Czech inscription “STŘEŽENA STRÁŽĺ GHETTA L.P. 1944” (This gate is/was guarded by the ghetto police 1944, A.D.) leads us to believe that the Jewish ghetto policemen were also used to watch Poterne III.

Caricature: It is hard to miss the series of portraits and caricatures, one with a noticeable nose and chin, wearing a striped cap. The Italian inscription, “IL CAPITANO DELLA GUARDIA” (Italian for “Captain of the Guard”) give us a clue about the identity of the man. Why the words are in Italian remains unclear (there were no transports from Italy to Terezín). Three stripes on the cap point to the fact that the man was of a higher rank in the Ghettowache. The striking caricature shows Artur Weisl, who was chief of The Ghettowache in 1943/44.

Last message: We have no doubt that Josef Freund from Pardubice (born 1890) is the author of this framed inscription. Judging by the typography and the careful execution of the design, it seems as though the skilled author might have invested a lot of time in the work. The fine and rather elegant writing is hard to miss. We know something about Freund. He arrived in Theresienstadt on December 9, 1942, on transport Cg from Pardubice. He was married to Zdenka (née Flaschner). They had two adult children at the time of their deportation, Karl, born 12 April 1920 and Eva, born 22 March 1930. The ghetto was but a way station for the family. During the Autumn Transports in 1944, the entire family was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. All perished.

Obituary: The inscription “S. Rosen, Vienna, G.W. 31“ points to Samuel Rosen from Vienna (18 October 1878 – 1944). He was deported to Theresienstadt on 1 October 1942. He was a member of the ghetto guard who apparently had duty at Poterne III. On 28 October 1944 he left the ghetto with the last transport headed for Auschwitz-Birkenau. Rosen, 66, did not survive.

Faith and hope: The palm is a biblical allusion to symbols of victory and triumph. Even in the ghetto, where religious practice was officially forbidden, religious symbols of Judaism continued to play an important role for believers. This also held true for the nine-armed menorah, the symbol of Chanukah, celebrating the rededication of the Temple. The holiday celebrates the triumph of light over darkness. In the ghetto, the Chanukah menorah had certainly more than just a religious meaning. The lighting of the candles symbolized a victory of good over evil, as well as a new beginning. In Jewish tradition, it is customary to make the Chanukah menorah visible from the street. Apparently this is what the author had in mind when carving the motif into the sandstone.

Many prisoners left their signatures on Poterne III. This picture testifies to that. However, only a few prisoners inscribed their full names into the stone. One of them was Wilhelm Wolf Waltuch. The signature “W. W.“ with an arrow can be attributed to him. At the age of 53, he and his wife were deported to Theresienstadt from Vienna on 9 October 1942. Waltuch was the general manager of the largest cinema in Vienna’s 17th district, a job he held until Austria’s annexation by the German Reich. His dismissal was related to the Aryanization of the business. That was a period in which many Jews were dismissed from their posts and were prohibited from working in certain professions. Waltuch remained in the ghetto for two years. On 23 October 1944, he and his wife were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where they perished.

Small artwork: The motif and professional workmanship of this stone carving stand out. There is no doubt that the author was skilled. Ears of grain and various blossoms (including mallow, lily-of-the-valley and campanula) are arranged in a circle around an opening. Above center, we see the traces of a Star of David that was forcibly removed.

Also with this inscription, the Star of David catches our eye at second glance only. Glossed over with a varnish, it remained undetected until now. It is located directly to the right of the gateway, somewhat apart from the other numerous graffiti. The inscription “FRIED 1943” does not offer sufficient information to identify its author.

Secret code: “AKB Mezina […] 628” is a coded message left behind by a prisoner. Although the author of the inscription did not leave his name, he did leave his transport number. Only Alfred Freund (born 29 November 1896 in Krchleby) comes into question. He arrived in Theresienstadt on a transport from České Budějovice (Budweis) on 18 April 1942. On 29 September 1944 he was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where he was killed. Carving MEZIMOS […] remains puzzling. Maybe it is a nickname or it stands for Mezimostí, a town’s name.

“ŽATEC Aad 682 8.5.1944“: We have reason to believe that this inscription was written by Jaroslav Žatečka. Jaroslav (born 4 May 1928) celebrated his 16th birthday just four days before being transported to Theresienstadt. . “Aad 682“ was an important hint that led us to identifying the author. The designation refers to a transport from Kolín for Theresienstadt and to the prisoner’s transport number. The transport left Kolín for Theresienstadt on 13 June 1942. On 28 September 1944 Jaroslav along with 2, 488 prisoners was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Only 473 persons from this transport survived. Jaroslav was one of the lucky ones: The last station on his path of suffering was the concentration camp Dachau, where he was liberated in April 1945.

Missing: The inscription “B.NETTL 1943/4 G.W. 19” was left by Benedikt (Benno) Nettl (born September 19, 1896). He was deported to Theresienstadt on July 5, 1943 on transport “De” from Prague. A year later, in August 1944, the Gestapo arrested Benno Nettl, his wife Anna (Annie) Nettlová, son Mirko, and daughter Hana. They were moved to the nearby Small Fortress, the notorious Gestapo prison. The reason for the imprisonment of the entire family: Benno Nettl was allegedly caught letter smuggling. He died in the Small Fortress under unknown circumstances on October 20, 1944. His son also did not survive the arrest and died on December 22, 1944. The circumstances of his death are also unknown. „G.W. 19“ stands for the ghetto guard number 19, indicating that Benno Nettl was a member of the ghetto guard, and as such performed guard duties at the Poterne.

Transport of the Elderly. This inscription is badly damaged and barely legible. Originally it read: Felix Alterthum Tilsit 1943. “Tilsit” was the key to the identification of the author. Felix Alterthum (born 10 November 1894) was a Jewish leader before the war in this Baltic city (once in East Prussia, now in Lithuania). As such he was, inter alia, responsible for negotiating the so-called “home purchase agreements.” He came to Theresienstadt via Berlin with the fourth large transport of the elderly, number I/90 on 18 March 1943, the same year he wrote this inscription. On 29 September 1944 he continued on a transport to Auschwitz-Birkenau. After a short stay he was transported to Dachau concentration camp. There he died on 17th January 1945. The exact circumstances of his death remain unknown.

Survivor: This inscription probably was made by Jiří Meisl (1921 – 1999), one of the 1, 268 Jews from the Czech city of Tábor and vicinity deported to Theresienstadt in November 1942. Jiří was one of only 70 of Tábor’s Jews to have survived the Holocaust. Before having been liberated at Theresienstadt, Meisl was also interred in Auschwitz-Birkenau (transport Dr on 15 December 1943) and later deported to the Schwarzheide Concentration Camp. After Schwarzheide was evacuated, Meisl was forced on a death march headed for Theresienstadt. He ended up being transported on open train car that brought him to Litomĕřice on May 8, the day Germany capitulated. Since the SS had fled the region, Meisl made his way back to neighboring Theresienstadt, which had just been liberated by the Russians. There, he was reunited with his girlfriend and later wife, Eva.

Gallery IV

Attic Modifications – Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Most structural changes made between 1941 and 1945 were removed after the end of the war. Surprisingly, many traces, especially in the attics, were preserved until today. They offer clues of difficult living conditions in the ghetto. At the same time, they document prisoners’ ingenuity in utilizing materials within the complex conditions of the ghetto. We are trying to detect as many clues as possible from detailed photo documentation. We identify traces to learn more about them in the course of subsequent research.

This attic located in a private house serves as a perfect example of attics spaces that were converted into living spaces after 1942. The ghetto’s technical department usually called for the planning and execution of such projects. Heraklith panels (boards made of wood wool and cement) we used under the eaves as insulation. The construction work looks incomplete because no plaster was used.

The technical department had to optimize attic space, because the incoming transports of prisoners caused massive overcrowding. The prisoners could no longer be housed in apartments, houses or barracks. This post is a rare remnant from the ghetto period. The chalk numbers indicate prisoners’ sleeping spaces 80 – 84 and 70 – 79.

Refuge: The wooden partition under the eaves is all that remains of a “kumbálek” (tiny room) in the barracks. The chalked “6” is the number the ghetto administration assigned to this space. The housing department was the section of the Theresienstadt Ghetto self-administration responsible for registering all dormitory spaces, known in the ghetto as ubikace.*<br><br> <small>*Ubikace in Czech, are places for accommodation of large groups of people; basic, utilitarian, Spartan, dormitory-like housing</small>

Traces of many “kumbáleks” found in one barracks attic. These small rooms were used as private spaces in the hopelessly overcrowded buildings. This picture shows prefabricated wood partitions designed by the technical department.

Although hardly legible, a closer look reveals a form document issued by the technical department. It is an official attic inventory issued in 1944. The form lists: 35 stools, 3 chairs, 29 single beds, 1 double bed, 1 closet and 11 wall racks. Such inventories were usually affixed to the attic doors. This photo shows the only surviving list of its kind still hanging in its original place.

Remnants of a temporary attic structure: During the ghetto period, mattresses were nailed to the wooden frame that was used as a wall partition. The general lack of building supplies turned almost anything in the ghetto into potential construction material.

Poor abode: Two casements and a few boards bear witness to the meager structures that prisoners of the ghetto built in attics.

Dim lighting: This photo shows all that remains of electrical wiring, which was used almost exclusively for lighting. Porcelain insulators of all sizes, ranging from thimble-sized to several centimeters in diameter, may still be found in many attics. Some cables such as these also still exist. Porcelain insulators were commonly used to fasten and guide the exposed wiring.

This wooden rack was used in the construction of a wall partition, most likely made out of a recycled wooden crate.

This coat rack was located under one of the roof support beams. Furniture and other items necessary for stowing personal items and clothing were scarce commodities in the ghetto. Thus coat racks such as this one were rather rare.

Inconspicuous clues: Countless hooks and bent nails remind us of how prisoners hung their clothing in these attic spaces. Most prisoners had to make do with hooks and nails, since furniture pieces of any shape or size were impossible to get.

Spitting Forbidden: This prohibition appears in paragraph 14 of the ghetto laws, which the SS would regularly repeat in their daily order of the day. The inscription, written in colored chalk, was found in the entry to an attic space in a private house. It has survived 70 years, unscathed.

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