Terezin...a time to reflect...

Today we went to a concentration that is about 45 mins. outside of Prague. We had a guide who was staying at the same hostel and has done much of his acandemic research about this place. We had glanced at it in the guide book and thought it might be worth a day trip...so that is where we all decided to go. It was quite a place...composed of a small fortress and a larger one....which was actually the town itself...both being part of the concentration camp. All the townspeople were shipped away and the Jewish people were brought in...political prisoners kept in the smaller (and much less humane) fortress and just regular everyday men, women and children in the 'town'. At the height of the camp each person had 1.65 square metres of living space. The conditions in which they lived in were unimaginable...and naturally many people died from disease. This was not a 'death' camp but one used for transit. So many of the prisoners that were held here made their way to Aucshwitz or other such camps. When Chris and I were in Europe we toured Dachau (which was predominately a work camp) so it was interesting to compare the two. Definitely not my idea of a great time....but so interesting to learn about the history of this time and the propaganda that the Germans were showing to the rest of the world that they were just lapping up...shocking.
I could write pages more about this...but I will stop myself there!
After our tour of Terezin we headed back to Prague and went in search of dinner (interesting how so much of our day revolves around food!!!) We bought some bread, cheese and wine and settled down to people watch on the Charles Bridge as we ate! As Rav works his way through a selection of Czech beer...I sample European chocolate!!! It seems even! Tomorrow we are leaving Prague for Cesky Krumlov in south Bohemia....can't wait!