Theresienstadt Ghetto Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination ca ...

was a concentration camp established by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during World War II in the garrison town of Terezín (German: Theresienstadt), located in German-occupied

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; cs, Protektorát Čechy a Morava; its territory was called by the Nazis ("the rest of Czechia"). was a partially annexed territory of Nazi Germany established on 16 March 1939 following the German oc ...

Documentary films

Theresienstadt (1944 film) ''Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet'' ("Theresienstadt: A Documentary Film from the Jewish Settlement Area"), unofficially ''Der Führer schenkt den Juden eine Stadt'' ("The Führer Gives a City to the Jews"), ...

A Nazi propaganda film. Only 20 minutes survives of the originally 90 minute film. *''Where Death Wears a Smile'' (1985). Produced by Australian journalist Paul Rea, the film alleges that dozens of Allied POWs were murdered at Terezín, where they had been illegally held. These claims were refuted by Alexander McClelland, an Australian veteran and former prisoner at the Small Fortress, in his book ''The Answer – Justice''.Australian International Justice Fund.
/ref> *'' Paradise Camp'' (1986) * '' Un vivant qui passe'', from a 1979 interview with

Maurice Rossel Maurice Rossel ( – after 1997) was a Swiss doctor and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) official during the Holocaust. He is best known for visiting Theresienstadt concentration camp on 23 June 1944; he erroneously reported that T ...

— a Red Cross official known for producing an unwarrantedly favorable report on Theresienstadt—by

Claude Lanzmann Claude Lanzmann (; 27 November 1925 – 5 July 2018) was a French filmmaker known for the Holocaust documentary film '' Shoah'' (1985). Early life Lanzmann was born on 27 November 1925 in Paris, France, the son of Paulette () and Armand Lanzmann. ...

; the film was later released with English subtitles as "A Visitor from the Living" *'' Voices of the Children'' (1997), American, made for television *''

A Story about a Bad Dream ''A Story about a Bad Dream'' (2000) is a docudrama made by Czech director Pavel Stingl, dramatizing the diary of Eva Erbenova, a young girl who survived the Holocaust. The film based on her memoir uses reenactments. With its child narrator and n ...

'' (2000) *'' Prisoner of Paradise'' (2002) *''Defiant Requiem: Voices of Resistance'' (2013). Film of a multi-media concert-drama performance in New York City; broadcast on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. *'' The Last of the Unjust'' (2013) directed by

, about Benjamin Murmelstein, a surviving elder of Theresienstadt *''Berlin Calling'' (2013), follows a second generation Holocaust survivor who retraces her father's footsteps to Theresienstadt; directed by

Nigel Dick Nigel Dick (born 21 March 1953) is a British music video and film director, writer and musician from Catterick, England, now based in Los Angeles, California. He directed the Britney Spears videos " ...Baby One More Time" and " Oops!... I Did I ...

*'' The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life'' (2014), the story of

Alice Herz-Sommer Alice Herz-Sommer, also known as Alice Herz (26 November 1903 – 23 February 2014), was a Prague-born Jews, Jewish classical pianist, music teacher, and supercentenarian who survived Theresienstadt concentration camp. She lived for 40 years in ...

Dramatic films

*'' Transport from Paradise'' (''Transport z ráje'') (1962), Czech *''

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

'' (1978), television mini-series *''

War and Remembrance ''War and Remembrance'' is a novel by Herman Wouk, published in October 1978 as the sequel to Wouk's '' The Winds of War'' (1971). ''The Winds of War'' covers the period 1939 to 1941, and ''War and Remembrance'' continues the story of the extende ...

'' (1988), television mini-series; part of the '' Winds of War'' adaptation *''The Last Butterfly'' (''Poslední motýl'') (1991), in Czech and English, dubbed, with actor

Tom Courtenay Sir Thomas Daniel Courtenay (; born 25 February 1937) is an English actor. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Courtenay achieved prominence in the 1960s with a series of acclaimed film roles, including ''The Loneliness of ...

*Defiant Requiem (2012), United States, film

Plays

* ''Un opéra pour Terezín'' (1989) by Liliane Atlan *''Dreams of Beating Time'' (1994), by Roy Kift. Concerns the classical musicians in Terezín, most especially the conductor Kurt Singer, and the parallel career of Wilhelm Fürtwängler in Germany. *''Camp Comedy'' (1998), by Roy Kift. The play deals with the dilemma of the German cabaret star

Kurt Gerron Kurt Gerron (11 May 1897 – 28 October 1944) was a German Jewish actor and film director. He and his wife, Olga were murdered in the Holocaust. Life Born Kurt Gerson into a well-off merchant family in Berlin, he studied medicine before being ca ...

who was "requested" by the Nazis to make a documentary film about the "sweet lives" of the Jewish inmates in the camp. It contains original songs and texts from the Karussell cabaret. It premiered in Legnica (Liegnitz), Poland, in September 2012 under the title ''Komedia Obozowa'', and was subsequently invited to the annual Warsaw Theatre Meeting in 2013. It won the Broken Barrier award as the best play at the 24th "Without Borders" Theatre Festival in Cieszyn, Poland, and Cieszyn, Czech Republic, in the same year. *'' Way to Heaven'' (''Himmelweg'') (2005), by Juan Mayorga, an award-winning Spanish playwright; inspired by the visit of the Red Cross to Theresienstadt. The play has been produced worldwide. *''And A Child Shall Lead'' (2005), a play by American writer

Michael Slade Michael Slade (born 1947, in Lethbridge, Alberta) is the pen name of Canadian novelist Jay Clarke, a lawyer who has participated in more than 100 criminal cases and who specializes in criminal insanity. Background Before Clarke entered law schoo ...

. The story of children coming of age in Terezin, In the face of unspeakable horror, these children use their determination and creativity to build lives filled with hope and beauty—playing, studying, making art, and writing an underground newspaper. *''Signs of Life'' (2010), a musical drama with book by Peter Ullian, lyrics by Len Schiff, and music by

Joel Derfner Joel Derfner (born January 12, 1973) is an American writer and composer. He is the author of three gay-themed books: ''Gay Haiku'' (2005), ''Swish: My Quest to Become the Gayest Person Ever and What Ended Up Happening Instead'' (2008), and ''Lawf ...

. First developed in 2003 as ''Terezin'', it had concert performances in New York and workshops in Seattle. Debuting Off-Broadway as ''Signs of Life'' in 2010, it has also played in the Czech Republic and in Chicago. * ''

I Never Saw Another Butterfly ''I Never Saw Another Butterfly: Children's Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942–1944'' is a collection of works of art and poetry by Jewish children who lived in the concentration camp Theresienstadt. They were created at ...

'' by Celeste Raspanti

Music

*''Songs for Children'' (1991). New York-based composer Robert Convery wrote a cantata based on poems written by children interned at Terezin. *''Oratorio Terezin'' (2003). Canadian musician Ruth Fazal composed this full-length production scored for orchestra, children's choir, adult choir, and three vocal soloists. The

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

is based on children's poetry from Terezín, combined with passages from the

Hebrew scriptures The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Holocaust Memorial Day in Tel Aviv in 2005. *'' Terezín – Theresienstadt'', 2008 album by Swedish mezzo-soprano

Anne Sofie von Otter Anne Sofie von Otter (born 9 May 1955) is a Swedish mezzo-soprano. Her repertoire encompasses lieder, operas, oratorios and also rock and pop songs. Early life Von Otter was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Her father was Göran von Otter, a Swedis ...

*''Cantata for the Children of Terezin'' by Mary Ann Joyce-Walter.

Literature

* ''Somewhere There is Still a Sun: A Memoir of the Holocaust'' (2015) by Michael Gruenbaum with Todd Hasak-Lowy *''Austerlitz'' (2001), W. G. Sebald *''Eine Reise'' (1962), H. G. Adler, ''The Journey'' (2008), translated by

Peter Filkins Peter Filkins is an American poet and literary translator. Filkins graduated from Williams College with a Bachelor of Arts and from Columbia University with a Master of Fine Arts degree. His poetry collections include the forthcoming ''Water / Musi ...

*''Theresienstadter Bilderbogen'' (1942), by H. G. Adler *Holocaust: Theresienstadt requiem (1965), by Joseph Bohr *''

'' (1978) by

Herman Wouk Herman Wouk ( ; May 27, 1915 – May 17, 2019) was an American author best known for historical fiction such as ''The Caine Mutiny'' (1951) for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. His other major works include ''The Winds of War'' and ...

; several chapters follow the Jewish characters of Aaron Jastrow and his niece, Natalie Henry, when they are held in Theresienstadt.

References

{{Theresienstadt Theresienstadt Ghetto