19. The show camp at Theresienstadt offered both life and death
In 1941 the Germans created a ghetto in Terezin in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. It was established to project an image of European Jews living happily under the protection of the German SS. Famous Jews from throughout Europe were sent to the camp at Terezin in a deliberate and somewhat flamboyant attempt to deceive the rest of Europe regarding what it meant to be transported to the east. Terezin also served as a temporary stop for many Jews on their journey to the extermination camps. The camp was self-administered by Jewish leaders (under SS supervision) and offered education facilities for children and adults.
It also offered musical entertainment, theater, and other cultural entertainment. Jews sent to Theresienstadt were fed better, lived in far cleaner barracks, wore their own clothes, and enjoyed an opportunity to purchase more. They were visited by the Red Cross and other organizations to spread the word of the Nazi’s treatment of the Jews and deny the rumors of activities at the camps in the east. About 88,000 Jews were eventually transported to those camps from Terezin. About 33,000 died in Theresienstadt from diseases, or from old age, and there were several hanged by the SS for crimes such as smuggling letters to and from the camp.