Never Forgotten

No trip to Prague would be complete without talking about the rich Jewish history of the city. Right before WWII there were 44,000+ Jews living in Prague; today only 1,500 are left in the city.

Yesterday we took a small group day trip to Terezin, the Nazi concentration camp about 45 minutes out of Prague. This camp was different than Auschwitz, as it was not a death/extermination camp but rather a transit camp that had over 139,000 Jews come through, who were later shipped to other camps (after 1942 mostly all to Auschwitz).

Crematorium at Terezin

While the tone of the day was obviously serious, the stories focused on the children of camp: the music, specifically Brundibar and the drawings and paintings that many of the children did as art therapy to cope with what happened around them.

Chatting with our guide, Lyle

Our guide was an American from Cleveland who had moved to Prague four years ago. M was able to understand and grasp everything the guide said, O often turned to me and said “I don’t understand what he just said.” It probably was better so I could explain things more on her level.

Despite their young age, they weren’t shy to ask our guide questions. Upon visiting the barracks, the girls were really able to comprehend the space and how 500 people shared and slept in one large room with only 2 toilets.

O most enjoyed the story of Helga, a young girl who was 12 when she came to Terezin. She drew beautiful paintings both of the realities of the camp but also memories of her life as a young girl in Prague. At 14 she was sent on a transport to Auschwitz and tricked the Doctor that she was actually 16 years old and therefore was able to work. She survived the war and moved back to her old home in

Helga's Original Painting

Prague, where she still lives today. O was really caught up in her “lying,” but later understood that some things happened to survive.

Today we spent the morning in the Jewish Quarter in Prague.
We started the morning with a Czech guide but her accent was so thick and she spoke sooooo sloooooowly that we lost interest. I channeled the days from my childhood when my mom took us around historical sites and was our “tour guide” (thanks Mom!). We visited the Old-New Synagogue, the oldest in Europe, the Jewish Cemetery, thought to have close to 100,000 bodies buried in layers on top of each other and the Pinkas Synagogue, where the names of the 77,000 Czech Jews are written on the walls.

Memorial to Jewish Victims of the Holocaust at Pinkas Synagogue

Ark at Maisel Synagogue

Gravestones piled on top of each other at Jewish Cemetery