Forty miles north west of Prague, Czechoslovakia, surrounded by the central Bohemian Mountains Hitler pinpointed the small town of Theresienstadt to be his paradise ghetto, his "giftaE?. Located in a scenic community, Theresienstadt had broad streets and a large square surrounded by two large parks and two smaller ones. Here within an area five blocks wide and seven blocks long, over 140, 000 Jews would spend the last months of their lives, and only a few handfuls would survive.

The first Jewish prisoners entered Theresienstadt on November 24, 1941. In the beginning, when the Fuehrer first presented the city to the Jews, many came willingly to the ghetto because life as a Jew was becoming

In September of 1942, the rules loosened a bit more. The S. S began allowing residents to send cards outside of Theresiensadt, containing no more then 30 words each month. Soon after that, the S. S began allowing residents to receive packages containing food and clothes from friends and relatives. By the spring of 1943 over 3, 000 packages were being received a month. At the same time, The S. S was allowing the Red Cross, and other organizations to send food. This both boosted the health and psyche for the residents of Theresienstadt because it reassured them that the world didn't forget about them.

With Theresienstadt filled with so many brilliant and talented people, it was a place destined to be interesting. The art and music that came from Theresiensadt is still being performed, and looked at. The poetry is still being read. Art was an essential part of the lives of the residents in Theresiensadt, whether it is music, poetry, or visual art. To each musician, artist or poet it was a small fraction of time where they could escape into a world of their own. For that fraction of time, they controlled their square of paper, or their instrument. The artistic freedom in Theresiensadt was their spirit, and it bloomed and grew through the years of its existence. It was the only way, some said, that they could have survived with a soul.

The people of Theresienstadt were not normal Jews, they were privileged Jews. Theresienstadt was the ghetto where the most respected Jews of Europe were sent; famous artists and musicians, scholars and Rabbis, as well as war veterans and any Jew married to an Aryan. There were precise regulations to who came into the ghetto; a Jew could not be ordinary. The regulations for a war veteran had to have held a high honor in World War One; veterans needed an Iron Cross, second class, or have suffered 50% disability from wounds. Three Thousand of less then 200, 000 remaining men of World War One, in the middle of 1942 met those requirements. Either people of mixed marriages were also placed in the ghetto, those that had an Aryan spouse living, a marriage dissolved by death, or a divorced woman with mixed children.

The Nazi's allowed many other things besides art, such as a limited amount of religion. Rabbi's held services and even performed Jewish rites, like bar mitzvahs. The Red Cross even donated matzah for Passover. Although not allowed, many torahs, prayer shawls, prayer books, and religious objects found their way into the ghettos, mostly from new arrivals. Other religions were also practiced. One eighth of the population in Theresiensadt were considered non-Jews and claimed themselves Konfesionslos (without religion). The rest of the people included 1, 130 Catholics and over 830 Protestants. One Jewish resident proclaimed "The Terizin Ghetto is the only ghetto in the world where Catholic and Protestant services are heldaE?.

intolerable and dangerous elsewhere with the rise and spread of anti-Semitism. The Jews wanting to enter Theresienstadt merely had to sign a contract turning over all remaining assets and property to the S. S, and in return the S. S pledged to take care of them as long as they inhabited Theresienstadt.

Although Theresiensadt was exceptional in the way that music and art, and to an extent, religion, was allowed, it was still a ghetto and there were still rules. Every able-bodied person, and even the partially disabled, between the ages of 16 and 60 were required to work unconditionally. Those who were between the ages of 14 to 16 and from 60 plus were required to do work that fit their age. Only 30% of the population were in "workingaE? condition. By June of 1943, it rose to 58% of the amount of Jews in the work force in Theresienstadt. The hours one worked depended on the trade he or she was in. Maintenance, workshops, and construction worked well over 50 hours a week while office jobs were doing only a few hours less.

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Approximate Word count = 3367
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)