SIGHTSEEING
Terezín Memorial and the memory of the Holocaust
in Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic since 1945
Vojtěch Blodig Deputy Director Terezín Memorial
On 6 May 1947 , the government of the Czechoslovak Republic decided to set up a Memorial to National Suffering in Terezín as a reminder of the fate of those who passed through it during the Nazi occupation . Later renamed the Terezín Memorial , it was the only institution of its kind on Czech soil . It was established on the site where the largest Nazi persecution facilities in the country operated .
When the Memorial was established , its staff sought to stress the fate of the Jewish victims in Terezín . Consequently , the Jewish Cemetery and the Crematorium in Terezín were included in the memorial . These decisions were made by the Jewish religious community in Prague . At the time , there was a consensus among all the political parties that the Memorial should be kept in its original state as a place of remembrance to all the victims of Terezín . Some publications about the Terezín persecution facilities were published from 1945 to 1948 , including the first survivors ’ testimonies , many of which described details of life in the Terezín Ghetto . The most important of those publications was the testimony of Rabbi Richard Feder from Kolín , one of the great personalities of spiritual life in the Ghetto .
After the Communists seized power in February 1948 , the situation changed rapidly . Communist Czechoslovakia ’ s foreign policy towards the state of Israel became hostile , following instructions from Moscow . This was reflected in the focus of the Memorial ’ s activities , which were closely connected with the orientation of state policy .
This situation was evident in the form and content of the Memorial ’ s first permanent exhibition , opened in the Small Fortress Museum in June 1949 . The theme of the exhibition was the role of the Communist faction in the Czech resistance movement against the
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Observing Memories Issue 7