Theresienstadt concentration camp tour from Prague

General information

Destination
Prague, Czech Republic

Program details

Pay homage to a tragic chapter in European history at Theresienstadt, the concentration camp where nearly 35,000 Czech Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and other ‘undesirables’ died during World War II. Just north of Prague, this stately 18th-century Austrian fortress was converted to a grim Jewish ghetto after the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia. Follow the road out of Prague that led many prisoners to this hellish camp, and discover how a sleepy little Czech town became part of the Final Solution.



Step through the entrance where the sign ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ (Work Sets You Free) still conjures the terrors of the camp. Your guide will lead you around the complex, explaining its history and recounting true personal stories of despair and horror, but also those of hope, kindness, and bravery. Theresienstadt lives in infamy for its role in 1944 as the carefully staged ‘paradise ghetto’ which convinced the Red Cross that the Nazis were treating the inmates humanely. Yet although Theresienstadt had no gas chambers, it still traded in brutality. Over 140,000 people came through its doors, and half never returned from their ultimate destinations: the death camps of Auschwitz and Treblinka.



The site remains a deeply moving and disturbing relic of a shameful period of history. At the Theresienstadt memorial, take a moment to walk quietly among the grave markers and remember the millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust. This educational and deeply affecting tour will leave with you more questions than answers but stands as a lasting memorial of a time that should never be forgotten.