I had heard about concentration camps in school while growing up but I had never been to one so once I found out that there was one just outside of Prague I decided that I had to go to see what I had learned about. Terezin is a town that was built inside of a hill back during the Napoleonic era but was emptied during WWII. The Fortress was turned into a Jewish ghetto during this time and was used to show the UN precursor that they were not treating the Jews poorly. However if you got sick while you were here then it was straight out to Auschwitz for you. Not far from the Fortress is the town where you can explore old buildings and visit the former boys school which is now a museum dedicated to this disaster.
Driving Distance from Prague: 1 hour
Taking the Train from Prague: 1 hour (take a direct train from Holesovic Railway Station)
Sights & Sites
- Small Fortress
- Main Fortress
- Ghetto Museum
If you are wanting to improve the mood after learning and seeing the horror then head to Litomerica (a couple of km away) to check out the interactive exhibition on Czech wine making in a reconstructed castle.
This is one place that I ended up checking out and it was very interesting to not only learn about the history but to actually walk amongst it. The locals did not understand why we would want to go to such a place of suffering but for me it was to actually see what we had learned about in school. It's one thing to see it in person, it's another thing to read about it.
