Term

Theresienstadt

Concentration camp in what is now the Czech Republic.

The Czech fortress town Terezin, known as Theresienstadt in German, was used as a concentration camp for Czech Jews. It was later designated as a model camp where privileged Jews from all over Europe were to receive preferential treatment.
The town was even visited by a Red Cross delegation. The visit to this camp was intended to suggest humane treatment of the Jews in all concentration camps. Prior to this visit, the town was fixed up, and some of the residents were deported. The town had a theatre for concerts and plays, a café, a library filled with volumes of Judaica (seized from those who were deported) and a bank that issued special bank notes. Despite its humane façade, Theresienstadt was a gate to Auschwitz.

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