Fortress of My Youth: Memoir of a Terezin Survivor PDF
Preview Fortress of My Youth: Memoir of a Terezin Survivor
FORTRESS OFMYYOUTH Memoir of a Terezin Survivor A JANA RENEE FRIESOV Translated by Elinor Morrisby and Ladislav Rosendorf THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PRESS The University of Wisconsin Press 1930 Monroe Street, 3M floor Madison, Wisconsin 53711-2059 uwpress.wisc.edu 3 Henrietta Street London WC2E 8LU, England eurospanbookstore.com Copyright ~ 2002 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any fonnat or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a Web site without written pennission of the University of Wisconsin Press, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles and reviews. Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Friesova, Jana Renee, 1927- [pevnost meho mIlidi. English] Fortress of my youth: memoir of a Terezin survivor I Jana Renee Friesova; translated by Elinor Morrisby and Ladislav Rosendorf. pp. em. ISBN 0-299-17810-2 (cloth: alk. paper) 1. Friesovli, Jana Renee, 1927- 2. Jews-Persecutions-Czech Republic-Prague. 3. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)-Czech Republic-Prague-Personal narratives. 4. Prague (Czech Republic)-Ethnic relations. 5. Theresienstadt (Concentration camp) I. Title. DS135.C96 P718913 2002 940.53'18'092-dc21 2001052471 ISBN-13: 978-0-299-17814-7 (pbk: alk.paper) Jana Renee Friesova was born in Prague in 1927. She was deported to the Terezin ghetto in 1942. After the war she resumed her studies and completed a PhD at the Charles University, Prague, in 1952. She taught philosophy and aesthetics at the University until her retirement in 1979. Renee Friesova lives in Prague, teaches yoga, works as a counsel lor and recently lectured in Jewish Studies at the Charles University. She has translated works by Kazantzakis from English to Czech and, more recently, work by Judy Blume, the children's writer. She has also travelled extensively throughout Europe, Australia, Canada and the United States. She has made a video recording of her experiences as a Holocaust survivor and is currently working for the Shoah Foun dation in Prague. To my daughter Lenka and her children, Hannah, Rachel, and Ben- jamin, as well as to my son-in-law, Rubin, my husband, Ota Gregor, and to Elinor, my closest friend. Principal Translator's Note I first met Renee Friesova in 1969, the year in which I began studies in music at the Prague Conservatorium. Twenty-seven years later, I am honoured to be able to translate her book into English. I wish to record warm thanks to my fellow translator Ladislav Rosendorf, whose commitment, time and patience have been an inte gral part of this translation. The Czech version of names and places has been retained through out the book, with the obvious exceptions of Prague (Praha) and Auschwitz. Some personal names in the book retain the variant forms that apply in Czech. For example, the wife and daughter of Richard Fries were known by the feminine surname Friesova. Similarly the Czech use of affectionate diminutives allows a name such as larmila to appear in any intimate context as larmilka. Hobart, Tasmania, Australia November 1995 Contents Dates of significant events viii Map x Prelude 1 Scenes from childhood 3 Violet 21 Towards the unknown 63 Floodgate to the ghetto 71 The house in Q Street 80 Miidchenheim 94 Dancing on the edge of death 135 Love in a concentration camp 154 A taste of freedom 171 Afterwards 182 Dates of significant events 1938 30 September The Munich Agreement, signed by Hitler, Chamber lain, Daladier and Mussolini, forced Czechoslovakia to give up the Sudeten Land. Nazi Germany took over one-fifth of Czechoslovakian territory. 1939 15 March The German army entered Prague. The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was established. Up until that time Jewish children attended state schools. 26 July The Zentralstelle fur Auswanderung der Juden (Cen tre for Jewish Emigration) was set up. Immediately, a census of the Jewish population was carried out. 1 December Jewish children were expelled from state schools. 1940 14 June The concentration camp at Auschwitz was estab lished. 1941 27 September Reinhard Heydrich was named as Head of the Pro tectorate in Czechoslovakia. One of his first acts was to order the mass deportation of Jews and the con version of the small town of Terezfn into a Jewish ghetto. 16 October The first transport left Prague for the ghetto at Lodz. It included children. 24 November The first transport of Jews arrived at Terezfn. viii 1942 9 January to Transports from Terezin to the east began, with an 26 October average of 1,000 people in each one. Children were included in these transports. Of the people taken. only one per cent ever returned. 3 June Heydrich was assassinated by means of a bomb, in Prague. 31 August There were now 51,554 inmates in Terezfn. Each person had a 1.6 square metre floor-space. The average working time was 80-100 hours per week. Children aged 14 and over had the same work responsibilities as the adults. Between 106 and 156 people died daily. 18 September There were 58,497 prisoners in Terezfn. 6 December There were 3,541 children living in Terezfn. Approximately 2,000 of them lived in designated Children's Homes. 1943 31 December There were 3,031 children in Terezfn, 1,969 of them in the Children's Homes. 1944 31 December Only 819 children up to the age of 15 were accounted for in Terezin. 1945 7 May Terezfn was liberated by Russian troops. ix
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