Theresienstadt's Role In The Holocaust

Theresienstadt served three purposes. First to gather the Jewish people, then to dispose of them, and finally to deceive the world into thinking this place is different from what they had been telling the world (“Theresienstadt”). The camp of Theresienstadt, first known as Terezín, was a ghetto-like place in Czechoslovakia during the Hitler regime. Not only was Theresienstadt a place where they kept Jews, it was also used later on for propaganda. Propaganda was a huge part of the Holocaust and Theresienstadt kept many secrets hidden away from the outside world. Theresienstadt is significant because it was a camp used during the Holocaust, but was different in the fact it was a facade to cover up the Nazi atrocities.

In the Holocaust, Theresienstadt

Its purpose may be good, like a doctor 's purpose to save lives, or it may be appalling like a concentration camps purpose to kill Jews. Theresienstadt overall served three main purposes as well. The camps’ first purpose was to be used as a transit camp, where Czechoslovakian Jews would be housed temporarily until they were transported to another place. Rounding up millions of Jews is a complicated process. It was hard to find a spot for each person so the Nazis used places like Theresienstadt to keep them together until they were later moved to killing centers, concentration camps, or forced labor camps. Another purpose Theresienstadt served was to be used as a ghetto-labor camp. At one of these places, the prisoners would be classified by their background, where they were from, and their mental health. From here, they would be either put to work based on their abilities or transported if they weren’t necessary for the needs of the Nazis. Theresienstadt served one last purpose which was to be used to make the world perceive it as a nice place for Jewish people to resettle. However, this wasn’t the reality of Theresienstadt. It was a horrible camp in the Holocaust were Jewish people would face their death which was covered up by lies (“Theresienstadt”). Theresienstadt purpose was a huge benefit for the Nazis and a major detriment for the people who had to live through

Outbreaks of diseases were very common, but with a minimal amount of medicine in the camp, most people didn’t do much to cure it. “Here the sound of shouting, cries, and oh, so many flies. Everyone knows flies carry disease…. Here in Terezin, life is hell, and when I’ll go home again, I can’t yet yell” (Volavková). There were flies everywhere ready to bite anyone they could, but flies carry disease. Once that fly made its bite on a prisoner in Theresienstadt, that disease it once acquired spread from person to person, but life there wasn’t privileged which made it tough. So people waited for the day they would be set free so they could be cured and live a normal life again, but that day wouldn’t come for a while and nobody knew when the time fading away would be over. The people of Theresienstadt also suffered from hunger. Some people would try to get rid of the ache of hunger they had by sucking on the buttons of their shirts. By doing this they hoped they could trick their brain into thinking they were eating food (Thomson). Even though these prisoners tricked their brain into thinking they were eating, they couldn’t fool their body. The body ate away at itself until there was nothing left of it. Prisoners of Theresienstadt had to suffer from everything from diseases to starvation with minimal support, so instead of getting better, they only got worse and worse every