Today we visited Terezin, a former concentration camp during World War 2. The fortress was originally built by the Hapsburgs in 1780, as a military base to protect against the Prussians during the Austrian-Prussian rivalry. There were two main portions of the fortress, the “Small Fortress” and the small town known as the “Main Fortress”. During World War 2, in 1940, the Nazis took control of Terezin and began transforming it into a prison camp. Terezin was not classified as an extermination camp but still a large number of inmates died due to the harsh conditions or were executed.
I have never had the opportunity to visit a WWII camp until today and it was definitely a sobering experience. When we were touring the small fortress we saw the cells that people were confined in and heard about the conditions they were put through and it was truly heartbreaking. It is insane to me that people would willingly put other human beings through that tortuous life. We also toured parts of the town of Terezin and something about it felt just a little off. The town felt almost manufactured.
Before coming on this trip I learned more about some of my early family history during that time. I learned that my ancestors on my great grandmothers side of my family live around Prague during WWII and were part of the resistance at the time and at least one of my distant relatives was held at Terezin and managed to survive. Although this is a somewhat distant relative of mine it made our visit to the camps feel a bit more personal than I expected.
Places like Terezin must be visited and remembered so that we can learn more about our past and never let anything like that happen again.
Swanson School of Engineering 