Language:
Spanish
Year of publication:
2012
Titel der Quelle:
Raíces; revista judía de cultura
Angaben zur Quelle:
92 (2012) 76-83
Keywords:
Theresienstadt (Concentration camp)
;
Jews
Abstract:
Describes the organization of the Theresienstadt ghetto (1941-45), highlighting the relationship between the Jewish Council and the Nazi commanders. Relates especially to the visit of the Red Cross officials in June 1944. Sick or fragile inmates were deported so that only good-looking people were seen in the streets. The delegation of the Red Cross came on 23 June 1944 and stayed for eight hours. It consisted of representatives of the Danish Red Cross and members of the International Committee of the Red Cross. They visited a Jewish autonomous court of justice, a hospital, a laundry, a bakery; they attended a football match and a children's opera. They saw elegant stores, café houses, restaurants and theaters, a bank, a post office, and a firemen's station, all of which were false stage sets. The delegates then sent a positive report to Geneva, stating that living conditions in the ghetto were much better than expected, that the prisoners received at least 2,400 calories of food a day, that they were vaccinated against infectious diseases, that they received wages for their work, and that the ghetto was well provided with medicines. The report was kept a secret for many years after the war. One member of the delegation, Maurice Rossel, admitted much later that he was the victim of a Nazi ruse.
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