When I was 14 I had the opportunity to visit the Czech Republic for three days in middle school. Over the days I have had the opportunity to learn a lot about the Jewish community and the work of the Nazis in the State.
One day we visited the city of Terezin, with particular attention to the Theresienstadt concentration camp: it was an experience that required a lot of strength, sensitivity and respect, as you feel very strong emotions.
Built between 1780 and 1790, it was born as a fortress-city at the behest of Joseph II of Habsburg-Lorraine; during the First World War, Gavrilo Princip, killer of Archduke Francesco Ferdinando, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was imprisoned in the small fortress and died there.
From 24th November 1941, the great fortress was destined to become a ghetto after being surrounded by a wall and the camp, founded by one of the SS leaders, Reinhard Heydrich, soon became the point of arrival for a large number of Jews from all over Czechoslovakia, but also from Germany and Austria, often then transferred to extermination camps.
The field consisted of a gigantic entrance, introduced by a long walk over a bridge and the famous maxim "Arbeit macht frei" (work makes you free) engraved on an arch. There were also many rooms, each of which used a function: the dormitory was extremely small, with wooden and metal scaffolding similar to bunk beds and on which people certainly struggled to sleep, both for the quality of the furniture and the overcrowding.
There were also bathrooms, consisting of two huge rooms, one with sinks and one with showers (pipes placed on the ceiling), a canteen and an "infirmary": a white and tiled room with lockers inside and two medical examination tables.
Two peculiarities of the camp were the swimming pool, built specifically by the prisoners for the SS guards, and a library: in fact, many cultural figures were welcomed at the camp (from writers and poets to musicians and painters).
We were also given the opportunity to visit small shortcuts: alleys, stairs, very small and narrow corridors crossed by the SS; a very exciting experience but not lived for example by the companions who suffered from claustrophobia.
The field, surrounded by walls and containing an immense garden, also houses an immense cemetery in memory of the victims, the crematory ovens, cold, dark and hidden and a small museum containing the drawings and the poems of Jewish children.