Terezin (Theresienstadt in German) was a "model" ghetto that the Germans established in November 1941 in Terezin, occupied Czechoslovakia, about 60 km north of Prague. In October 1943, some 450 Jews from Denmark who hadn’t escaped to Sweden were brought to the ghetto, and a request was made by the Danish Red Cross to visit them. In the fall of 1943, the Germans thus embarked on a project to "beautify" the ghetto. The ghetto streets, until then marked with letters and numbers, were given poetic names. Imitation shops with some merchandise were put up. A "café" was opened, with local jazz musicians playing. Terezin ceased to be termed a ghetto, but instead was referred to as an "area of Jewish settlement".
Following the visit, a Red Cross representative reported that Terezin was a "city like all others", and that its inhabitants received larger food rations than the general populace. The delegation saw Terezin as a "final destination", and didn't inquire as to the whereabouts of the tens of thousands of Jews who had been sent from the ghetto eastwards.
Before all the props used for this deception were dismantled, a propaganda film was made about the ghetto. As Germany was defeated before its completion, this film was never screened before the general public. Most of those who took part were deported to Auschwitz and murdered.
Over 150,000 Jews were deported to the Terezin ghetto from all over Europe, particularly from western Europe. Some 90,000 of them were deported to the extermination camps, principally Auschwitz. Over 30,000 more perished in the ghetto itself from cold, starvation and disease. Only several hundred children out of the approximately 13,000 deported to Terezin survived. The vast majority were deported to the death camps.
Yad Vashem Photo Archives 4613/522
