Blogs from Ústí nad Labem Region, Czech Republic, Europe

I went to sleep last night thinking about the prison cells at the Little Fortress / the local Gestapo headquarters in Terezín, Czech Republic. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005424 There are a variety of sizes and shapes, but mostly they are rectangular, about 15’ x 25’ with a high barrel ceiling. They are whitewashed and have a window set in one end. A sink and enclosed toilet are the sole sanitary facilities for the roughly 70 men who might have been housed there. The bunk beds were made of rough cut wood and must have slept about 5 a piece. The isolation cell, reserved for ‘criminals’, was bleak and without any plumbing and very little ventilation. The only window was very small and set high in the wall. It too might hold as many as 70, But only if they ... read more

An diesem Tag bin ich mit dem Auto von Nürnberg über die schöne Autobahn an Pilsen vorbei (dort war ich 2010) zur Burg Karlstein gefahren. Dort habe ich an einer Führung durch die Burg teilgenommen. Anschließend bin ich durch Prag hindurch (dort war ich mehrere Male und auch wieder 2013) Richtung Norden nach Leitmeritz. An diesem Zielort bin ich in einem Hotel am Marktplatz Hotel abgestiegen.... read more

We found ourselves driving out of Prague with an Alternator warning light on and happy dispositions looking forward to the first hotel we actually booked and paid for in advance in Berlin, Germany. Now, remember that the last time we were going to go to Berlin our Car Battery died and we were unable to get a jump in time to make it to both Berlin and Warsaw in a timely fashion and so chose to forego Berlin for the time being. As fate would have it, once again, we would not make it to Berlin, however we did make it to a wonderful little town called Trebenice about an hour north of Prague where a detour on the main highway led us. Now, something that you should know about the Czech Republic, there are numerous ... read more

Ahoj.Minuly vikend som sa vybral konecne do Ceskeho Svycarska - uz som to dlho planoval.V sobotu som rano som siel vlakom do Usti nad Labem a odtial busom do dedinky Tisa - prvej zastavky. V tejto dedinke sa nachadza area Tiske steny s unikatnymi skalnymi utvarmi.Presiel som si velky okruh (je tam aj maly) a pokracoval som dalej cestou na najvyssiu stolovu horu - Decinsky Sneznik.Na vrchu je vyhliadkova veza, z ktorej mal byt podla fotiek paradny vyhlad na okolitu krajinu.Bohuzial nebol, kedze bola husta hmla.Tak som po malom obcerstveni z vlasntych zasob pokracoval dalej lesom k obci Maxicky odtial som povodne chcel ist do Decina a odtial busom do Hrenska a tam prencovat.Posilneny gulasom a pivom som sa rozhodol inac a pokracoval som dalej po turistickej znacke do obce Dolni Zleb.Tam som sa chcel preplavit ... read more

On March 23, Ahmed and I had our tour of Terezin (the Lesser Fortress, the Museum of Terezin, the Jewish Ghetto and the Crematorium). Terezin's fortress was used by the Nazis as a concentration camp for general Czech prisoners (most of whom were Christians) and for Jews as well (most ones who were part of underground resistance). Prisoners from other places in Europe also ended up here before being taken further East to the Death Camps. This was my first chance to visit a place like this - I have studied the Holocaust extensively as a History student in university but have never been able to visit places associated with it. Terezin was not Auschwitz, but it was terrible. The Jewish Ghetto area was used as propaganda by the Nazis to show the Red Cross and ... read more