Theresienstadt: The Town the Nazis Gave to the Jews

J.L. Granatstein, distinguished research professor emeritus of history
at York University, is the author of Who Killed Canadian History? and
co-author of The Canadian 100: The 100 Most Influential Canadians of the
20th Century and the Dictionary of Canadi

The Nazi Holocaust was cunning in its operations. Those to be
transported were told to take only one bag; everything they needed would
be provided once they were resettled. Those to die were told to remove
their clothes because they were to be given a shower. And lest anyone
believe that the Nazis were actually killing Jews, there was one Jewish
“town” where the world was welcome to see how well-treated the
inmates were. There was even a movie featuring the camp orchestra. Vera
Schiff, a Czech Jew whose family were sent to Theresienstadt, tells the
story of the camp and her family’s life—and death—there. Never an
extermination camp, Theresien-stadt nonetheless became a death camp for
thousands who were taken there and then transported to Auschwitz for
disposal. In the camp itself, disease was rampant, food was always at or
near starvation levels, and spirits were broken as effectively in the
“luxury” of Theresienstadt as elsewhere in the Nazi apparatus of
death. Attractive women sold their bodies for a loaf of bread, while
others—Schiff was one—astonishingly fell in love in the midst of
horror. This is a personal story, but one with universal meaning. In an
era when Holocaust revisionism remains a thriving industry, books like
this on—with its transparent honesty—serve a continuing, useful
purpose.