Day 10: Day of Contrasts: An Invigorating Ride and a Sobering Experience at Terezin

(The Nazi concentration camp recalls a cruel period in history)

Day 10, From Decin to Roudnice, Via Camp Terezin

After a quiet first day in the Czech Republic, Larry and Nancy Embree found beauty that should be trumpeted. 

    It's difficult to say whether all of us knew the emotional swing we would be feeling on a day that began amid the spectacular flowers and lush grasses and trees of the Czech Republic countryside. This

The springtime poppies were constant companions along the Elbe Bike Path. 

would be our last ride over 30 miles (31) and the longest we would go the next day was 17.

    We kept a leisurely pace throughout the morning and pulled into Litomerice, a charming town of well-maintained buildings from the Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance periods. We had lunch on our own, so my wife, Kay, and I took the time to explore before settling on a cute cafe with an open front for sidewalk lunching. While there, we saw Carl Heinz Schneider, who was Group Leader Dirk Broeren's wingman and the fellow who so ably transported our luggage from hotel to hotel for nearly two weeks. We invited Carl to eat with us, and later we strolled the streets and ran into Nan Ottenritter. We walked with her before returning to our bikes.

    I wasn't sure what to expect as we rode into Camp Terezin, a cruel trick played by Adolf Hitler, who

The Terezin Cemetery.

told the world that he had built a city for the Jewish people, to protect them from the ugliness and stresses of war. In fact, within the serene facade lay a real concentration camp, with nearly 60,000 Jews inhabiting an area designed for only 7,000. The close quarters, disease and lack of food were omnipresent.

    Notable Jewish musicians, artists and leaders were sent there, allegedly safer than elsewhere. Hitler did this as a way to stave off uprisings or objections around the so-called civilized world. His plan worked for a long time, resulting in nearly 200,000 men, women and children who passed through its gates as a way station to the east and probable death.

    Words, mine at least, lose their value in trying to explain the atrocities of Hitler's actions. Photographs of the Terezin grounds suggest a better depiction of what occurred here.

This was an isolation room where Terezin prisoners who spoke out, or were believed to, were kept for endless days. 

From 1940, Cell Block A in the Small Fortress was used by the Gestapo to house prisoners, including Allied POWs.

In 1991, the Ghetto Museum opened with help from former prisoners in the building of the former Terezin School. 

    With its two fortresses, numerous memorials, a Ghetto Museum and Jewish Cemetery, suffice to say, the image of the living memorial of Terezin doesn't leave a person, ever. The mood was somber when we rode out of Terezin, fittingly in a light rain, headed to our hotel in Roudnice.



Elliot's Day's Biking Total: 31 miles.