Place: Terezin, Theresienstadt. "Way to Heaven", on stage

Terezin, Theresienstadt, emerging Arts theme
.

The Nazis used Terezin as a kind of stage, on which they set up a sham settlement of happy-looking, well-fed adults and children. 
.
Petr Ginz was kept at Terezin for several years before being sent to Auschwitz-Berkenaum, to his death.  We do not know if the Red Cross inspections noted here occurred while he was there. Terezin is the Czech name for the German Theresienstadt concentration camp.
 .
The Nazis used those fake well-being tableaus and scenes to convince Red Cross workers and other inspectors in WWII that the place was benign, with scenes to show how independent and fully functioning this community of the displaced were.
.

See this as the them of a new play, at Czech Republic Road Ways, Terezin on Stage, "Way to Heaven," by the Spanish Juan Mayorga.
.

The play is now in New York City, with alternate evenings offering the performance in Spanish.
.

There was also an inmates orchestra, with works from that era now on programs in the United States and elsewhere. See Czech Republic Road Ways. Brundibar and Music of Terezin.

Site now combines "Places of Petr Ginz" and "Petr Ginz: Lens and Legacy."

Now combined: Two prior sites, "The Places of Petr Ginz;" and "Petr Ginz: Lens and Legacy,"  here as one. We separated the materials by the same two sections, however.

1. The "Places" - Click on Places of Petr Ginz, Posts dated August 2008.

Find photographs and comment, Prague, Hradec Kralove, Plzen, Sudetenland area, Terezin (Theresienstadt) ghetto, and Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland, where he died. Find specific titles and topics at the margin Posts listing here, and by Label.


2. The "Lens and Legacy" - Click on Lens and Legacy of Petr Ginz, Posts dated July 2008.

Find photographs and comment on his writing, his era, other child diarists of the time, further background. Find specific titles and topics at the margin Posts listing here; and by Label.

PLACE. Places of Petr Ginz; Lens and Legacy. An Overview.

Prague, view from Charles Bridge toward distant St. Vitus' Cathedral


Petr Ginz lived with his family in Prague during the German occupation in World War II. He wrote poems and stories, drew, and kept a diary. He was sent to Theresienstadt (Terezin CZ), see description at ://www.kennesaw.edu/holocaustmemorials/amsterdam.shtml; and then to Auschwitz (Osweicim PL) where he was killed at age 16.

Some of his art and writing survived and was held at Yad Vashem in Israel, see ://www.yadvashem.org/. He became known as a particularly gifted child. One drawing was even taken on board the Columbia space shuttle (you may recall the explosion that killed all aboard, see ://www1.yadvashem.org/about_yad/press_room/press_releases/ilan_ramon.html).

More was discovered in the attic of the family's Prague home, in 1993, and translated into English in 2007: "The Diary of Petr Ginz 1841-1942," ed. Chava Pressburger (Petr's sister), Atlantic Monthly Press NY 2007.

See him, and read of his artwork, the diary and other writings, at ://isurvived.org/InTheNews/PetrGinz-diaries.html.  For an overview of listed facts, we are invited to link to Factbites, and do so here: Factbites, Petr Ginz.

This site: Photographs and informal research on places and issues from the Diary.

For us, visual impact is important, to help bring events alive. Our photos are happenstance: we were in the Czech Republic and Poland before we knew of the book. See our Czech Republic Road Ways for an expanded view of the country; and our Poland Road Ways for more information on the concentration camp complex of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where Petr was killed.

Why supplement The Diary.

The entries may seem dry at first look.

There are extensive notes to explain places and events, and those are indeed needed for context. Add the inventory-like entries of Petr himself, however, and someone might put the book down. He records, rather than narrates.

For many of us, as well, Eastern European names, culture and locations are new. Without visuals, some references are meaningless. In its present, carefully historical form, the Diary may not even reach a child's library. We suggest an authorized, careful version for children - perhaps a next project for Petr's sister's consideration, and before the play (and likely film) are produced.

The photographs. Parts of Petr's world.

Here is a view of Prague that Petr would have seen often: toward the section known as the Little Quarter, looking at St. Vitus Cathedral up the hill. Petr writes of the huge bell at St. Vitus Cathedral, the bell named Zikmund. See Diary at p. 94.

And here is a historic home just off the square at the town of Hradec Kralove, the town where Petr's mother was raised. Her family continued to live in Hradec Kralove (address not known) during the War. The town square at Hradec Kralove is at our home page here. If your hotel is by the bell, bring your earplugs. No problem - just have them handy.

Hradec Kralove, facade, sgraffito


The name is probably not familiar. Few of us have background in its beauty and history. We read that Petr's mother used to return there for respite, to her family, on occasion; and they would visit in Prague, but have no reference, no context for it. Identifying it as words-only may be anatomically correct, but still not hold our attention long.

We are mistaken if we think of Eastern Europe in terms of rural villages. There is history and sophistication, ranges, just as here.

Here, see the Renaissance "sgraffito" on the wall, a decorative element made by scratching away a light colored top layer to reveal the darker layer beneath. Then, at the home page photo of Hradec Kralove, top right, see the "Marian column" in the main square, erected in gratitude for the passing of the plague in times past, the Black Death; and the Clock Tower - where the hour and minute hands are reversed, as we recall.

Researching further.

As you read the Diary, look up any unfamiliar references online, including in Images. We may be out of school, or school is not covering WWII, but we can self-educate.

For a broader look at war itself, see World War 1, World War 2, Studying War; and Studying War.

There is also a 1975 film depicting the Resistance assassination of SS Obergruppenfuhrer Reynhard Heydrich in 1942 in Prague, ://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/h-heydrich.htm, see "Operation Daybreak," ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Daybreak. Petr also writes of this event, identified by the Resistance as Operation Anthropoid. The village of Lidice was destroyed in retaliation. See://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/h-lidice.htm.

The informal Car-Dan Tour Company (us) has no connection to the book, except a deeply feeling one.

Place: Petr in family and community life. Hradec Kralove. Vignettes

Petr usually lists and inventories events objectively, but he also offers an occasional short description of family life, and colorful happenings.

Hradec Kralove, CZ, birthplace of mother of Petr Ginz 

1. Mother's time off.

Petr writes at Page 53 that his mother left for Hradec (R&R?), but -- as in any family where mom takes some sudden R&R --left inadequate instructions on what the family was to cook. Petr says they will manage.

No wonder she wanted to to back to Hradec, for a breather. There it is. Orderly, beautiful, historic.

2. The designer turkey.

Peter writes at Page 72. Fair use quote-

"I heard that some local people wanted to kill a turkey, but they felt sad for it and didn't want to just cut its throat so they gave it to [sic] Veronal, plucked it, and put it in water. But then the dear turkey woke up and because it was cold without feathers, they knitted a sweater for it, and it now walks around in a sweater.***"

[Veronal, or barbitol, is apparently a central nervous system depressant, also used in veterinary medicine, see cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?Veronal]

3. The prolific lungs.

Peter writes of his father at page 86, at the Jewish ambulatory hospital (I believe) in Prague. Fair use quote:

"They removed three litres of water from Daddy's lungs! They dragged some containers to him, lots of doctors came running, even the chief doctor Klein himself, and the puncture was one quite painlessly. They asked him: Shall we make it a full three litres?

"Daddy told them: 'Do help yourselves.' "

So read the diary carefully. There are nuggets there, amid the cool, detached event inventories.

Place. Prague - Charles Bridge. Meet the saints.

 Petr Ginz and the Charles Bridge, The Vltava River, The Saints

As would anyone in Prague, Petr crossed the Charles Bridge. Page 46.

Charles Bridge, Prague

This old bridge was begun in 1357, and finished in 1402. Floods had damaged the earlier Judith Bridge, in 1342.

See the history of the bridge at monuments.guide-to-prague.be/charles-bridge.php http://www.remunda.com/travel/review/prague_monuments.html. Scroll down to the Bridge section. Also see www.myczechrepublic.com/prague/sightseeing/charles_bridge.html

On both sides of the bridge, you will meet the saints, including Wenceslas.

Saint, Charles Bridge, Prague

See them all at lava.ds.arch.tue.nl/gallery/praha/tcharles.html/ YouTube also has videos of the bridge and what happens there.

It is a pedestrian bridge now (was it then?) and that leads to creative use of space by musicians and artists and caricature sketchers.*










This fellow is a one-man-band with an umbrella over his head to keep his instrumentation dry, and may or may not be a saint.



Charles Bridge, Prague, musician










From the Charles Bridge, looking toward Petrin Hill. 

Petrin Hill, from Charles Bridge, Prague











Then, there is a view from one of the tourist boats that scoots around the bulwarks, and cruises down the river.

Charles Bridge, Prague, from river


















The most spectacular views of the city, either side, are from the bridge.
.................................................................................
* Panhandling. Some on the bridge creatively handle pans. See www.unm.edu/~dave/words/panhandler.html.

I set some change in the pavement cap of an individual looking in particular misery crumpled on a dirty blanket. He suddenly revived, with a friendly grin and a distinctly American thank you. And, even more suddenly, the ragged, mittened stump at the end of his forearm showed distinct finger wriggling inside the mitten. Free enterprise worldwide. Gotta love it.

However, on another occasion, with a bona fide person in need elsewhere in the city, not a trafficked tourist area, his eyes and his gratitude and disbelief that anyone would actually offer to get him through the day, are with me still. Nobody's govt, that leaves healthcare up to the profit-makers, is doing the job broad-based.