Page 24 - Jewish News | November 2021

24A November 2021 JEWISH INTEREST

Theresienstadt is established K’zohar Ha-Ivrit

By Paul R. Bartrop, PhD tural scene. Because the prisoners in-Tza-va – Army
heresienstadt (in Czech, camp where elderly, disabled, or so- part of the preparations for the ICRC
Terezín) is located approxi- called “prominent” Jews were housed. visit, 7,503 sick, elderly and disabled cluded many scholars, philosophers, By Dr. Rachel Zohar Dulin
Tmately 35 miles northwest of The Nazis called the camp a “spa people were sent to the so-called “fam- artists, writers, teachers, actors and he holiday of Chanukah is at our
Prague. Under Germany’s Nazi regime town,” lying to the world that those ily camp” at Auschwitz in May. From musicians of all types, inmates bene- door. On this Holiday of Lights,
in occupied Czechoslovakia during detained in Terezín were well treated the SS perspective, such people had no fited from concerts, plays, lectures, art Tthe Jewish world celebrates
World War II, it was “retirees.” place at Theresienstadt, which was be- exhibits and other cultural events. The the great military victory of the Mac-
the location of a By 1940 it was resolved to trans- ing broadcast to the world as the “ide- library at Theresienstadt held several cabean army over the Greek imperial
ghetto, a concentra- form Terezín into a ghetto and concen- al” Jewish settlement – a town for the thousand volumes, and although it was might. It was Judah the Maccabee who
tion camp and a tran- tration camp. Initially, prisoners were Jews, as it was euphemistically named. forbidden to teach children, older pris- declared Chanu-
sit camp for Jews Jews from Czechoslovakia who began The visiting ICRC officials were oners held daily classes for hundreds of kah a holiday to
prior to being sent arriving on November 24, 1941. June impressed with cultivated gardens, young inmates. be celebrated for
to their death at Aus- 1942 saw the first German and Austri- clean and renovated barracks, and fresh- On May 2, 1945, with Soviet forc- eight days after
chwitz. The camp an Jews come in, harbingers of tens of ly painted buildings. Camp officials es approaching, camp personnel hand- he led the small
Dr. Paul Bartrop was enclosed within thousands of others from Germany and even ensured that the Jewish inmates ed control of Theresienstadt to the Judean army to
a fortress constructed by the Habsburg Austria deported there in subsequent held social and cultural events, includ- ICRC. Soviet troops officially liberated overcome the re-
Empire as a defense against Prussia months. Hundreds of Dutch and Dan- ing the children’s opera Brundibár. A the camp on May 8, 1945, finding just ligious oppression
during the eighteenth century. Eighty ish Jews arrived during 1943. film was made of the visit, but once the 17,247 survivors still alive. of the Greek re-
years ago this month, on November The first transport from Theresien- ICRC personnel left, deportations from After the war, Czechoslovak au- gime. In honor of
24, 1941, Theresienstadt commenced stadt left on January 9, 1942. Its desti- Theresienstadt resumed. Most of those thorities put several SS members who Dr. Rachel Dulin this victory, let us
operations officially. It was to function nation was the ghetto at Riga, Latvia. featured in the film were dead before had served at Theresienstadt on tri- explore the Hebrew word tzava, which
until May 8, 1945, when it was liberat- Throughout the year, large numbers it was shown. The deportations contin- al, including all three of those who means army or military.
ed by the Red Army. of Jews from Theresienstadt were de- ued until October 1944. had acted as commandant during the The noun tzava, which appears
The original fortress was built ported to the euphemistically named At least 150,000 Jews, includ- camp’s existence. Siegfried Seidl and 484 times in the Bible, has several
between 1780 and 1790. Named by “East,” where most were killed imme- ing 15,000 children, were interned or Karl Rahm were extradited to Czecho- meanings depending on context. Tzava
Emperor Joseph II after his mother, diately, either in the death camps locat- passed through Theresienstadt between slovakia, tried, convicted and executed means gathering, host, warfare, force,
Empress Maria Theresa, the fortress ed in Poland or at mass execution sites 1941 and 1945. Around 90,000 of these for their crimes. Convicted in absentia troops, public service, Temple duty and
also served as a prison during the 19 th such as Kalevi-Liiva (Estonia) and were deported to death or concentration and sentenced to death, Anton Burger fixed time. It is derived from the verb
century. During World War I, it held Maly Trostenets (Belarus). camps in the East, and most perished. managed to evade arrest and lived un- tza-va, which appears 14 times in the
political prisoners, including Gavrilo The Nazis continued to refer to Of some 5,000 children transported to der a false name in West Germany until Text and means gather, assemble, serve
Princip, the Bosnian Serb who assas- Theresienstadt in glowing terms as a Treblinka or Auschwitz, at least 90% his death, aged 80, in 1991. (especially at the Temple) and wage
sinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and “model Jewish settlement” to keep the were murdered. Within the camp, the The town today is divided into the war. Interestingly, in the Bible, tza-
his wife, Countess Sophie Chotek, on outside world from learning the true death toll was estimated at 33,000, with small fortress and the former ghetto va implies both military action (Zech.
June 28, 1914 – generally acknowl- scale of the Holocaust. most dying from disease, illness, mal- from the Nazi era, where the Ghetto 14:12) as well as civilian service in the
edged as the spark that ignited the war. After receiving negative press nutrition, exposure or abuse. By mid- Museum and other sites are located. cultic center. (Num 4:23; 8:24)
During the Holocaust, Theresien- about the German deportation of Dan- 1942, the camp authorities had to build Paul R. Bartrop is Professor Emeritus Moreover, in the Book of Job, tza-
stadt had two key functions. It was a ish Jews to Theresienstadt, the Nazis a crematorium just outside the walls, of History and the former Director of va is used to imply a task every human
transit site for Czech Jews being de- allowed members of the International processing up to 200 bodies daily. the Center for Holocaust and Geno- being should fulfill while on earth, as
ported to other camps, especially Aus- Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Unlike most concentration camps, cide Research at Florida Gulf Coast it is written: “truly man has a tzava, a
chwitz. In addition, it served as a labor to pay a visit there in June 1944. As Theresienstadt boasted a vibrant cul- University. term of service, on the earth.” (Job 7:1)
However, in most biblical citations,
PRESENTS PRESENTS tzava is used in reference to a military
force whose mission was to go to battle
for the protection of the land and the
people. (Josh. 4:13; 2 Sam 10:7; I Kgs
ust Museums

Holoca
Holocaust Museums Confronting the Complexity 4:4; et al) And the person who led the
tzava at war was known as sar ha-tza-
and Memorials

and Memorials of Holocaust Scholarship va, namely the commander of the army.
(1 Kgs 1:19; 1Sam 17:55)
It is interesting to note that tzava
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