After days filled of lighthearted fun and Christmas activities, our group took a more serious trip where a term I had never learned of before this trip played out in real life: dark tourism. Dark tourism is a form of tourism that involves traveling to sites known for death and human suffering. Traveling to the Terezin Memorial and Concentration Camp gave that term justice. Terezin was a camp filled with Jewish prisoners, as well as political prisoners of World War II. We were mainly silent as we walked the historic space where so many atrocities took place. We saw the cells in which people were held, where the Nazi’s were housed, and even the bullet marks left in the bricks surrounding the shooting practice field, and the later execution site. It was fascinatingly disturbing, haunting. We even saw the cell in which Gavrilo Princip, the student who assassinated the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and caused the start of WWI, was detained and later died in 1918. Experiencing the daunting atmosphere, I could tell why so many travelers seek dark tourism. This niche is so engrossing in the history and the psychological aspect of cruelty and brutality.
Soon afterwards, we took a short trip to the Theresienstadt Ghetto near the camp. This was a Ghetto where many Jewish prisoners were held, waiting for transportation to the harsh extermination camps. This site was filled with propaganda covering up the atrocities of the Nazis to the outside world, but the disturbing reality of the Jewish and political prisoners broke through. We saw the art works of childrens drawing who would later be sent to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp to die. We saw a shot clip of the actual staged documentary that the Nazis filmed of the “everyday life” for those at Theresienstadt, covering up the cruelty and death. This Ghetto was unique for the fact that it was a transit camp, gathering people before sending them off the the larger, harsher concentration and extermination camps. It was so daunting seeing the numbers of prisoners being sent to camps in the thousands and then seeing the number of survivors, 1 or 2 or none.
Later in the day, some of us returned to a more lighthearted activity than prior in the day and visited some of the Christmas markets surrounding our hotel. Again, I could not get over how beautiful the city was. Lit up with countless Christmas trees, holiday lights, and smells of cinnamon and mulled wine, it was such a warm atmosphere despite the cold weather. After shopping for some holiday gifts and souvenirs for family and friends, we saw the magical setting sun paint the sky purple and pink. The perfect start to an adventurous night!