Secret Hallway

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On November 24, 1941, Felix Kolmer came to Terezín in the so-called Aufbaukommando. He was one of the first Jews imprisoned in Terezín. In that place he was repeatedly contacted by Doctor Bergmann. They talked a lot and he asked him about his opinions. Retrospectively Felix Kolner realized that he passed some kind entering exam and became a member of civil underground movement: “In that time I did not have any idea there are two of these movements. I did not even know our commander.” The supporters of the movement were divided into groups of three. Within the group they knew each other and because of the undercover one of them always knew somebody from another group. The alleged target of the whole movement was smuggling revolvers into the cap, but Felix Kolmer is not sure about it even today. “My task was to find a hallway leading out of Terezín. We knew there is a whole system of hallways under Terezín, built simultaneously with the fortress in 1780. The purpose of this complex was assuring an escape route from Terezín in case of encircling the building by the enemy armies. Approximately in a half of a year I really found the way leading out. We wanted to use the exit, but the SS men started to shoot.” Felix Kolmer used the way twice, but he always came back before the evening line-up and counting: “I was very young and did not think about what I might do at large, so I went to swim in the Elbe River.”

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Prof. Ing., DrSc. Felix Kolmer

Prof. Ing. Felix Kolmer, DrSc. was born May 3, 1922 in Prague into a family of an Italian legionnaire and tradesman with electrotechnics. Influenced by his father's profession, he was interested in electrical technology since his childhood, and his future career path was clear to him - he would become an electrical engineer. After the father's death in 1932 he would usually spent summer holidays and Christmas with his uncle in Austria, where he watched the occupation of the country by Nazis. He was an eager and active scout. After the rise of Nazism, as a result of anti-Jewish repression he became a carpenter's apprentice. On November 24, 1941, he went to Terezín as a member of the so-called Aufbaukommando, where he worked on the ghetto construction, and later he witnessed the horrors taking place in the Small Fortress and also became a member of the underground movement there. His mother died in Terezín in 1941. On October 16, 1944 he was transported to Auschwitz, where he also saw smiling Dr. Mengele sending people to gas chambers. By lucky coincidence he, however, managed to escape to the camp Friedland, where he survived till the end of the war. After that he was finally able to study and he eventually became a world-renowned expert on acoustics. He is one of the pioneers of this field in our country. He is active as a lecturer and he also authored and co-authored many works. He incessantly works on the process of recompensing the victims of Nazi terror. He has received several awards and decorations for this activity and for his academic achievements.

Terezín (Theresienstadt), Main Fortress

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The Terezín Main Fortress is part of the defensive complex founded by Emperor Joseph II in 1780. It lies on the confluence of the Rivers Labe, (Elbe), and Ohře, and was originally supposed to serve as a defensive fortress in the case of a Prussian invasion. It was never used in a military capacity however, as the Prussians simply circumvented it. Terezín gained the status of garrison town, the army remained present here until the end of the 20th century. The fortress comprises two parts: the Main Fortress and the Small Fortress. Already since its construction, the Small Fortress served as a military prison; the Main Fortress was inhabited. However, the Nazis decided to create a Jewish ghetto there, and so the civilian inhabitants were deported and on 24 November 1941 the Jewish ghetto of Terezín was founded. When preparing the ghetto, the Nazis made use of the Jewish Community of Prague. The Nazis claimed that Terezín would be a camp in which the Jewish population of the Protectorate would be interned, but from which it would not be transported East. In 1942 at a conference in Wannsee, the Nazis confirmed the specific status of the Terezín ghetto. It was supposed to be a so-called “old-age ghetto,” which would house old people, often veterans of World War 1 not only from the Protectorate, but also from Germany and Austria. In this way, the Nazis created an alibi for themselves – they could claim that old people were not being sent East into “labor camps,” but that they remained in Terezín. This was a lie because even from Terezín transports were dispatched, which were full of old people. In actual fact, the primary function of the ghetto was to collect the Jews and transport them elsewhere. The average number of inmates during the four years of the ghetto’s existence fluctuated between thirty to forty thousand, (before WWII the town had about 7,000 inhabitants, military garrison included). During its peak in September 1942, however, the camp held almost 58,500 prisoners (At the time, an average of 127 people died every day!). The overloaded capacity meant that the ghetto offered very bad living conditions causing a high death rate. To top it all, towards the end of the war a typhus epidemic broke out in the camp. Overall, approx. 155,000 people passed through the Terezín concentration camp, of which 118,000 did not survive World War II, (including those killed by the typhus epidemic). Terezín was liberated without any fighting. On 1 May 1945, control of the camp was entrusted to the Red Cross, on 5 May the last Nazis fled before the nearing front, and on 8 May 1945 the first Soviet units arrived.