Photos by Hannah Rappoport
We awoke in the beautiful historic city of Prague at the Hotel Modra Ruze, and strolled through the bustling city to greet our bus. We then embarked on our journey to Terezin, where the Theresienstadt Ghetto, and later concentration camp, was found. In Terezin, we learned about the camp, which was used as a “model Jewish settlement” for propaganda purposes. While conditions in the Theresienstadt camp seemed suitable at first glance, almost all of its inhabitants were aware that they were awaiting certain death upon being sent to Auschwitz. To cope with the stress of their impending doom, children, led by their teacher Mrs. Brandeis, created various works of art to depict both their emotions, and life before or during the war. We had the privilege of seeing an exhibit of these children’s artwork, which was accompanied by a plaque with their names and their fates in the Holocaust. While extremely sobering, the artwork preserved their spirit and made a statement that they would not allow the Nazis to dehumanize them and make them into victims. At the conclusion of our trip to Terezin, we visited the “Hidden” Shul, which we learned is somewhat of a misnomer because the Jews of Terezin were originally allowed to have shuls. While small in size, it was similar to the larger shuls we had seen in that it was beautifully constructed and had walls plastered with Hebrew phrases, reminding those who entered that they were standing On holy ground. As we were overwhelmed by the strength of the Jews in Terezin, who, through all their pain remained faithful, we broke out in song, a heart-warming show of unity in the face of the horrors we had previously witnessed. We then wrapped up with the Holocaust portion of the trip, stating that on the auspicious day of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, we would take the inspiration from our experience and harness it to make changes in our own lives.
After wrapping up at Terezin, we headed up to the remote mountains of Prague for some snow sports, and enjoyed ourselves immensely while having snowball fights and snow tubing in the frigid weather.
A couple of bruises and bloody noses later, we headed back to our hotel in Prague, eager for a hot dinner and an early night’s rest. After our two hour drive back to Hotel Modra Ruze, we wished a farewell to our bus drivers, and later to our beloved security guard Adam. A special thank you to Adam for not only acting as a security guard, but also as a medic, a translator, and for putting up with our antics.
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