Theresienstadt Activity Report (microfilm)

Scope and Content

Typescript report detailing every aspect of the activities of the Theresienstadt Concentration camp under the following sub-headings: Abteilung für innere Verwaltung; Arbeitszentrale; Wirtschaftsabteilung; Spedition; Landwirtschaft; Produktion; Finanzabteilung; Technische Abteilung; Abteilung fuer Gesundheitswesen.

Administrative / Biographical History

On June 10, 1940, the Gestapo took control of Terezìn (Theresienstadt), a fortress, built in 1780-1790 in what is now the Czech Republic, and set up prison in the Small Fortress (Kleine Festung). By 24 November 1941, the Main Fortress (grosse Festung, ie the town Theresienstadt) was turned into a walled ghetto. The function of Theresienstadt was to provide a front for the extermination operation of Jews. To the outside it was presented by the Nazis as a model Jewish settlement, but in reality it was a concentration camp.

Theresienstadt was also used as a transit camp for European Jews en route to Auschwitz and other extermination camps. Dr. Siegfried Seidl, an SS colonel, served as the first camp commandant in 1941. Seidl oversaw the labour of 342 young men, known as the Aufbaukommando, who converted the fortress into a concentration camp. Although the Aufbaukommando were promised that they and their families would be spared transport, eventually all were transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1943, for Sonderbehandlung, or gassing without selection.

Arrangement

N/A

Access Information

Open

Acquisition Information

Jewish Central Information Office

Other Finding Aids

Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk

Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements

Microfilm

Conditions Governing Use

Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.

Related Material

The following is a sample of additional WL document collections which pertain to Theresienstadt: 504d, 574, 578, 1373, 1339, 1136, 1169, 1189, 1117, 1206, 1166, 1179, 574, 1237, 1320, 1267, 1554, 1365, 1548, 1086, 1308, 1145.