Prague, Day 4 Sunday March 1

So much for the darling boys in the room next door. They are now the loud lads. I did get some sleep last night, but only with both earplugs and a pillow over my head! Honest I didn't mind that they were playing music loudly; it was their choice in music. Isn't Rap dead yet? I still hope it will go the way of disco. They damaged the shower, completely removed a panel so that it will now be impossible to keep the water inside the shower. No one was at the 24/7 desk this morning, so I let myself out with the pass code. I packed everything up this morning and will change rooms tonight. Today I went to Terezin Concentration camp. This was not a "death" camp but many who passed through went to them. Terezin was built by Emperor Joseph II from 1780 to 1790. It is named after his mother, Maria Theresa. Built as a fortification guarding the North entrance of the Czech lands from Prussia. It consists of a smaller fortification for defense and a larger garrison town. But it was never used for defense. The small fortification became a prison for mainly political prisoners. WWI was started by an assassination. The men charged with the murder were held at Terezin. The gunman died 4 years later, officially of tuberculosis, but punishment was harsh. The Nazi invaded the Czech lands in 1939. Immediately began using the small fortress as a prison, mostly for Communist Czechs, political prisoners. The garrison town was cleared to be used as a Jewish Ghetto. Those there were no gas chambers here (construction was started, but not completed) there were crematoriums. Conditions were horrible and people died of malnutrition, lack of sanitation, overcrowding. Current estimates are that 155,000 men, women and children came to the camp between 1942 to 1945. Sometime as many as 60,000 were here at one time. (By contrast, the garrison held 7,500 before it was emptied for a ghetto) Of these, 35,000 died here, 87,000 were sent to death camps (mostly Auschwitz). Approximately 3,600 of those sent out were liberated at other camps. The tour includes 2 cemeteries, a walk through the small fortification, the crematorium/morgue and two museums, the former boys school showing children’s drawing and the former women's house containing drawings, writing, music and a portion of a propaganda film made for the Red Cross. Mostly original furnishings are on display. The place looks cold, wet miserable. This was all very interesting and moving. The shear numbers of people, the waste. It is hard to take in. It is surprising then that the thing I found most chilling was the sign over the entrance: "Arbeit macht frei" I don't remember learning this phrase, though I'm sure I've been exposed to it. I could translate it instantly, "work will make you free". But it didn't, of course. The other thing was the group showers. You could see how easy it would be to gas people in mass. Chilling. The guide spent a lot of time talking about all the preparations for the Red Cross visit of the camp--how the Nazis had 8 months to prepare and the visit took only 6 hours. Our guide, Jane (pronounced YA ney) is an unusual woman and I can't help but imagine that she has been greatly affected by this work. She seems German to me and walks through her spiel as though this is her penance. I'm sure she is speaking Czech, but it sounds German, and no one else does. When I say German, I really mean a caricature of a German: contained and ramrod straight, commanding, stern, and needing to control us. She would try to give us time to look on our own, but you could see that she could not control herself and had to start explaining the displays, even the ones with detailed explanations. Jane is also very bitter about the Yalta Conference and feels the East and particularly the Americans abandoned the Czech people to Russia. She spoke with hatred about the bombing here (which was less than in Germany) saying that the US "wanted to break up things so that the Soviets would not be getting such a strong country". She mentioned this no less than 6 times and implied we should feel guilty. She is, of course, far too young to have experienced the Yalta conference, but she would well remember Soviet control and the Velvet Revolution! Jane never mentioned whether she was Jewish, but I think she is not. She is probably my age. Also, the entire Terezin area was under water in 2002. The Jewish cemetery stayed submerged for almost a year. You can see the watermark on most of the buildings. Hard to say what was lost in this flood. Frankly there are few signs in any language and with out a guide, you wouldn't get much from the visit, particularly of the cemeteries and small fortress, though the 2 museums are well marked in 4 languages. It is hard to say what will become of this area. The town emptied out about 10 years ago when the army left. Now only the old remain as there are no jobs. The Jewish cemetery has 9,000 graves. Approximately 22,000 cremains were dumped into the river when the Germans abandoned the camp. Another 3,000 were buried hastily. There is no way to identify any of them. At the end of the tour we were deposited at Republic Square, site of the Powder Gate and former site of a small palace. It is near Tyn Church and the Old Town square. Tyn church has dark, twin towers, but the church is "closed for climatic conditions". The St. Nicholas church on the edge of the old town square is open. It has the most beautiful crystal chandelier I've seen. Amazing frescos. (There is also a St Nicholas church in the Male Strana, Little Quarter.) I had a sausage and beer on the square and watch various street musicians before going back to the hostel for a break. LaterI've moved to another room! It is the same set up in that I have to walk through another bedroom to get to my small private room, which I can lock. I feel good about this because the four Italian men are cooking and it smells wonderful! Also one of them is reading a Bill Bryson book, one of my favorite authors. And it does not hurt that they are more mature and very handsome. The hostel mistress went with me to help me move, concerned that there would be trouble and to inspect the shower. I already had everything packed, even my bedding, so it took about 2 minutes to move. No problems. I'll go out for dinner, but will "try" for something lite. Assuming that is possible! I've just checked and I've only taken 415 photos so far! 7pmI've come to Jama for dinner after the enthusiastic recommendation of the hostel mistress and a 10% off coupon. This is what a Czech must imagine an American bar is like. There are posters every where. But such a mix: Johnny Cash, Kiss, Kathy Ireland, R.E.M., Robert Plant, Janis Joplin, Yoda and Muhammad Ali, to name a few. I order a grog (hot rum with sugar and lemon) because it is warm and cheaper than hot tea. They claim to serve "tradion food of Czechy" but I only see goulash listed on the back page. The rest of the menu is hamburgers, wings and potato skins. There is one salad, but it is iceberg lettuce with fried chicken and bacon. I decide that I'm not really that hungry and it's probably tough to ruin potato skins, so that's all I order. The potatoes are tiny, but they've managed to put a pound of bacon into 6 potato halves. And melted cheese. And sour cream. My arteries will be permanently damaged by this trip. I set aside the sour cream and some of the cheese, but keep the bacon. As Elle McPherson--whose poster stares as me across the room--I could be a vegetarian, except for bacon!