Theresienstadt

As we neared the German border, after a long drive across the Czech Republic, I noticed we were near the town of Terezin, home to what was the Nazi concentration camp and ghetto of Theresienstadt. I'm not a great fan of Holocaust tourism but it was something we had to do. We have no photos because it was hardly a place for selfies. In fact it was barely a place at all. Terezin is a town in its own right but while it was for a long time a garrison town, it lost this some years ago and the local economy collapsed. As a result the town is as empty as it is an open museum to the former ghetto. It was a slightly surreal experience because clearly there were some locals but very few and the only groups we saw were outside the main ghetto museum. Inside we walked through room after room of exhibitions showing much of the artwork of the former inmates. We saw little of the former structures except some well-created replica barracks. It was a numb experience throughout, in almost total silence. It feels more painful now to write than it was then. Outside we did drive to a local memorial but found it was too far on foot. We felt drained and had another hour or two before Dresden.