The first change in the Memorial ’ s activities occurred in the first half of the 1960s . It was decided that the Memorial should be transformed from a monument with one exhibition into a research centre with its own collections of documents and objects , including collections related to the former Ghetto . Of course , this positive development still had its limitations . The Memorial ’ s activities remained within the Communist ideological system , which put considerable restrictions on change . Positive shifts were possible only as part of a vast liberalisation of the Communist Party and , subsequently , of society as a whole .
The Prague Spring in 1968 made the Memorial ’ s working conditions more favourable . After a long period of silence , the need to establish a Ghetto Museum in the town of Terezín was stressed once again by the Memorial ’ s new leadership . At the time , preparations began to establish the Ghetto Museum , as did work on the architecture of places of remembrance at the Terezín Memorial , such as the Jewish Cemetery and Crematorium , the National Cemetery , the site at the Ohře River ( where ashes of Terezín Ghetto victims were thrown into the water ) and the Crematorium and surroundings of the former concentration camp in Litoměřice . This positive development continued even a few months after the Warsaw Pact armies ’ invasion of Czechoslovakia , but was scaled down under pressure from the occupation authorities . The Stalinists returned with what they called normalisation . Unfortunately , this also entailed the return of anti- Semitic and anti-Zionist policies . the Socialist order that stood in its way , as it was the Soviet Army that liberated Auschwitz and Terezín , as well as other places where Jews were liquidated ... In this spirit , we are ready to set up a museum in one of the concentration camps that Fascism established throughout the world . Nor will we forget the concentration camps in Vietnam and in Israel ” ( Terezín Memorial Archives , I . N . 85 ). Instead of paying homage to the memory of the victims of the Terezín Ghetto , who perished directly in Terezín or in death camps in the East , the museum was planned to become an instrument of propaganda . So after a very short period of liberalisation in which the real story of the Holocaust was presented , a new period of regression began .
Fortunately , the aforementioned anti-Semitic design of the museum was not implemented , as the building intended to house the Ghetto Museum was transferred to the Ministry of the Interior and the Permanent Exhibition of the National Security and Revolutionary Traditions of Northern Bohemia , as it was called , was to be established there . To create such a museum on a site connected with the memory of tens of thousands Jewish victims of the Holocaust was an indication of the arrogance of the regime . The new museum stood empty . It received no regular visitors , with the exception of organised groups , and there was no evidence of the former Ghetto in the town of Terezín . The results of such a policy were dangerous . After so many years , many young people did not even know of the existence of the Terezín Ghetto . The Small Fortress was the only symbol of the history of Terezín in World War II .
At the time , plans to establish the Ghetto Museum were not stopped immediately , but the essence of the content had to be changed . A document written in April 1973 lists the main tasks of the Terezín Memorial : “ One of the greatest ( tasks – V . B .) is to build a Ghetto Museum , the need for which , in a period of rising Zionism whose aggression threatens world peace , is especially urgent . Yet elsewhere in the world , there is so much evidence proving that imperialism is what upholds racism and that it was
On the other hand , we must mention that some positive changes in the Memorial ’ s work from the late 1960s remained . The art collection gained many valuable works made in the Ghetto and a great number of valuable modern artworks dealing with anti-war themes . The professional processing of archive documents also improved to a degree , a picture library was established and a collection of survivors ’ testimonies was recorded . Most importantly , research on the history of the Terezín
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