Newsgroups: alt.revisionism Subject: Holocaust Almanac: Theresienstadt & The Danish Red Cross Summary: Himmler sets the stage for a visit by the Danish Red Cross, creating what amounted to a movie set in order to make the camp appear benign. Followup-To: alt.revisionism Keywords: theresienstadt Archive/File: holocaust/czechoslovakia/theresienstadt theresien.10 Last-Modified: 1994/09/28 "In May 1944, following repeated appeals from the Danish Red Cross, which above all wanted to see how its compatriots were being treated, Himmler finally agreed to permit a commission of the International Red Cross to visit Theresienstadt and a Jewish labor camp. The visit to the ghetto was set for June 23. Three days before the commission's visit, all the Danish Jews were transferred to small rooms with two or three beds, pretty bed-spreads, a table, chairs, a pot with a real plant, and on the door a nameplate with the tenants' names. In the presence of the camp commandant and Eichmann's emissary, Mo"hs, Epstein, the Elder of the Jews, spoke to the Danes and warned them not to tell the truth. Those Danes for whom better rooms could not be found were locked up in the offices of the Magdeburg barracks for the duration of the visit, so that the commission would not bump into them. In the interest of the grand display, Eichmann permitted the rescue committee in Budapest to officially transfer $10,000 to the Protectorate Jews. The ghetto leadership received new stationery headed by an idyllic scene of Theresienstadt, and the leaders of the Zionist movement - Kahn, Munk, Zucker, Epstein, O"sterreicher - wrote letters to Joel Brand in Budapest thanking him for the many shipments of packages from Lisbon and Istanbul: 'Our food supply is totally adequate and there is no need whatsoever for you to worry about it, but we are glad of the packages as a sign of your friendship.' The letter stated further that 'Theresienstadt is in all respects a Jewish city; all the work is done by Jews, from street cleaning to the most advanced medical treatment, from all technical work to cooking in the communal kitchens, from manning the fire brigade and police force to staffing the legal system and postal service, from running a bank with its own currency to organizaing cultural programs, lectures, plays, concerts, a library with 50,000 volumes, children's houses, old-age residences. The good general state of health is in no small part due to Theresienstadt's excellent climate, but also to the doctors' tireless efforts and the regular supply of medicine. We sometimes think of friends and the possibility of immigration. As we see from your letter, you too hope to achieve this solution, and not on a small scale.' Franta Friedmann, the Elder of the Jews in Prague, where only half-Jews and a handful of Jews of mixed marriages remained, sent a letter that same week in the same saccharine-sweet tone. He too told of the rich and proud Jewish life in the ghetto, despite the fact that he had never been permitted to visit Theresienstadt. The similarity in content and date showed that both letters had been written on instructions from above. The Germans spared no Jewish money, effort, or manpower to improve Theresienstadt's image. A modern children's home was built of wood and glass, with new beds, adjoining showers, and a playground with a swimming pool. A villa, til now occupied by one of the German citizens, became the (temporary) infirmary for sick children. Painted signs were hung in the streets. The residences along the route mapped out for the commission were literally white-washed to cover up all telltale signs of grime visible at a superficial glance. The bank director's office was furnished in keeping with his position. The former cinema, which had served as living quarters for masses of old people, reverted to its former purpose as an auditorium. The former Sokol building, which had housed the chronically ill and those with communicable diseases, was masked as a social center, with a performance hall and synagogue, and cafe tables with gay umbrellas were set out on its veranda. The program for the visit was worked out to the tiniest detail, with mounting tension. Epstein prepared written answers to any questions the visitors might ask and submitted them to headquarters for approval. Sidewalks were scrubbed with soap and water, the food staff was issued white gloves, the disabled were ordered not to leave their quarters, rehearsals were held for athletic shows and plays to be put on for the visitors. Rahm, a skilled organizer who was better than his predecessor at putting on a friendly face, checked every point along the route with Mo"hs; the show must pass without incident. On a fine summer day, the distinguished entourage appeared: Dr. Franz Hvass, representative of the Danish Foreign Office; Dr. Yuel Henningsen, representing the Danish health commissioner on behalf of the Danish Red Cross; Dr. M. Rossel, commissioner of the International Red Cross; the commissioner of the German Red Cross; the heads of the Gestapo in the Protectorate, the head of the department for Jewish affairs, representatives of the German Foreign Office, the Czech propaganda minister Moravec, all in civilian clothing. Epstein received them dressed in a black suit and top hat, as befit the head of a Jewish city during a roayl visit. A car was put at his disposal, a carpet had been laid in his office, and there he gave the visitors an introductory talk on the ghetto, complete with figures, few of which matched the facts. The visit lasted from the morning till seven in the evening, with a break for a long and festive lunch. The guests saw a group of suntanned agricultural workers pass by, as if by chance, hoes on their shoulders, laughing and singing. At food distribution they heard the domitory children ask, as primed: 'Uncle Rahm, are we getting sardines again?' They saw a performance of the children's opera Brundibar. They did not see the mass residences, the quarters of the old or mentally ill, the transport files, the thousands of cartons containing ashes, the Czech police on guard. Like obedient children they walked along the route laid out for them, and their general impression was exceedingly positive, as revealed in ther reports, written on their return to their respective countries. Most impressed was Dr. Rossel, the representative of the International Red Cross in Geneva, who in a confidential report wondered whith surprise why the Germans had postponed the visit for so long: they had nothing to hide after all. Theresienstadt was in all respects an admirable Jewish city, unifying the various elements of the Jewish population, who had come from different countries and diverse economic levels. There was no shortage of furniture, carpets, curtains. The living quarters were comfortable, though somewhat crowded: one flat was shared by two or three families. The nutrition appeared adequate and ghetto residents even received items that had long since disappeared from the market outside. The dining rooms were spacious (they had been set up for the day with waitresses in white aprons). [...] From the German viewpoint, according to Neuhaus, the visit had passed satisfactorily in all respects. Since the representatives of the Danish Red Cross were satisfied that all the Danes had remained in Theresienstadt, and their chief worry after all had been for the Danish Jews, they did not insist on a visit to an additional labor camp and there was no longer any need to keep the stage set with the family camp at Birkenau. It no longer served any purpose." (Bondy, 437-41) (The Birkenau family camp, no longer needed, was liquidated in July. After using their set stage for a propaganda film, the Nazis sent many of Theresienstadt's residents to Birkenau, where they were liquidated. Others were sent to Germany as slave labor - seven hundred and fifty survived to see the end of the war, out of over 3,000 that were sent to German camps.) Work Cited Bondy, Ruth. Elder of the Jews. New York: Grove Press, 1989. (Translated from "Edelshtain neged had-zeman". Zmora, Bitan, Modan, publishers, 1981
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