2015.8.3
Ted Drake
Small Fortress in Terezin. Small Fortress in Terezin, Czech Republic, Nikon D200
“During WWII, the Gestapo used Terezín, better known by the German name Theresienstadt, as a ghetto, concentrating Jews from Czechoslovakia, as well as many from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Denmark. Though it was not an extermination camp, of the over 150,000 Jews who arrived there, about 33,000 died in the ghetto itself, mostly because of the appalling conditions arising out of extreme population density. About 88,000 inhabitants were deported to Auschwitz and other extermination camps [2][3] At the end of the war there were 17,247 survivors. Theresienstadt was the home of Hana Brady and her brother George Brady from 1942-1944.
The Small Fortress in Terezin was also used as a punishment prison for Allied POWs who persisted in escape attempts. POWs from Australia, New Zealand, England and Scotland were imprisoned and witnessed the horrendous inhuman mistreatment of the largely Jewish population. Keeping POWs in such a camp was against the Geneva Convention, and the camp was under the direct control of the Gestapo who refused to acknowledge the POWs' special status. They saw that elderly Jewish inmates were given food every second day and forced to do hard labour constructing a 1 km long tank trap,mainly using their hands. Prisoners who stopped jogging, with handfuls of dirt, were beaten unmercifully. Prisoners were forced to sit on the head and legs of a victim while the guard repeatedly struck the victim with a nailed post, reducing their buttocks to pulp. Jews were also whipped with strips of thin wire that tore their bodies apart. Prisoners were forced to collect the bloody parts and load them on a cart.
Terezin was the punishment prison for Walter Wise (Australia), Charles Croall(NZ), Roy Lomas,Ray Reid(NZ), Gerry Mills (NZ) Sid Davidson, Tom McLeod (NZ), Alf Booker (NZ), Jock Bone, Herb Cullen (Australia), Tama Tamaki (NZ), Wal Riley (Australia), Tom Motram (NZ), Jim Ilott and Alexander McClelland (Australia). All survived but suffered chronic physical and mental health problems for most of their lives.
Part of the fortification (Small Fortress) served as the largest Gestapo prison in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, separated from the ghetto. Around 90,000 people went through it, and 2,600 of those died there.
It was liberated on May 9, 1945 by the Soviet Army.”
The Small Fortress in Terezin was also used as a punishment prison for Allied POWs who persisted in escape attempts. POWs from Australia, New Zealand, England and Scotland were imprisoned and witnessed the horrendous inhuman mistreatment of the largely Jewish population. Keeping POWs in such a camp was against the Geneva Convention, and the camp was under the direct control of the Gestapo who refused to acknowledge the POWs' special status. They saw that elderly Jewish inmates were given food every second day and forced to do hard labour constructing a 1 km long tank trap,mainly using their hands. Prisoners who stopped jogging, with handfuls of dirt, were beaten unmercifully. Prisoners were forced to sit on the head and legs of a victim while the guard repeatedly struck the victim with a nailed post, reducing their buttocks to pulp. Jews were also whipped with strips of thin wire that tore their bodies apart. Prisoners were forced to collect the bloody parts and load them on a cart.
Terezin was the punishment prison for Walter Wise (Australia), Charles Croall(NZ), Roy Lomas,Ray Reid(NZ), Gerry Mills (NZ) Sid Davidson, Tom McLeod (NZ), Alf Booker (NZ), Jock Bone, Herb Cullen (Australia), Tama Tamaki (NZ), Wal Riley (Australia), Tom Motram (NZ), Jim Ilott and Alexander McClelland (Australia). All survived but suffered chronic physical and mental health problems for most of their lives.
Part of the fortification (Small Fortress) served as the largest Gestapo prison in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, separated from the ghetto. Around 90,000 people went through it, and 2,600 of those died there.
It was liberated on May 9, 1945 by the Soviet Army.”