Arrival
When large transports of Jews started to arrive at Theresienstadt, there was a great disperity between individuals about how much they knew about their new home. Some, like Norbert Troller, had enough information in advance to know to hide items and valuables.1 Others, especially the elderly, were duped by the Nazis into believing they were going to a resort or spa. Many elderly actually paid large sums of money for a nice location within their new "home." When they arrived, they were housed in the same small spaces, if not smaller, as everyone else.
To get to Theresienstadt, thousands of Jews, from orthodox to assimilated, were deported from their old homes. At first, many of the deportees were Czech, but later many German, Austrian, and Dutch Jews arrived. These Jews were crammed in cattle cars with little or no water, food, or sanitation. The trains unloaded at Bohusovice, the nearest train station to Theresienstadt, approximately 2 km away. The deportees were then forced to disembark and march the rest of the way to Theresienstadt - carrying all of their luggage.
Once the deportees reached Theresienstadt, they went to the checking point (called "floodgate" or "Schleuse" in camp slang). The deportees then had their personal information written down and placed in an index. Then, they were searched. Most especially, the Nazis or Czech gendarmes were looking for jewelry, money, cigarettes, as well as other items not allowed in the camp such as hot plates and cosmetics.2 During this initial process, the deportees were assigned to their "housing."
Housing
One of the many problems with pouring thousands of human beings into a small space has to do with housing. Where were 60,000 people going to sleep in a town meant to hold 7,000? This was a problem for which the Ghetto administration was constantly trying to find solutions. Triple-tiered bunk beds were made and every available floor space was used. In August 1942 (camp population not yet at its highest point), the allotted space per person was two square yards - this included per person usage/need for lavatory, kitchen, and storage space.3
The living/sleeping areas were covered with vermin. These pests included, but certainly were not limited to, rats, fleas, flies, and lice. Norbert Troller wrote about his experiences: "Coming back from such surveys [of the housing], our calves were bitten and full of fleas that we could only remove with kerosene."4
The housing was separated by sex. Women and children under twelve were separated from the men and the boys over age twelve.
Food was also a problem. In the beginning, there weren't even enough cauldrons to cook food for all of the inhabitants.5 In May 1942, rationing with differential treatment to different segments of society was established. Ghetto inhabitants who worked at hard labor received the most food while the elderly received the least. The food scarcity affected the elderly the most. Lack of nourishment, lack of medicines, and general susceptibility to illness made their fatality rate extremely high.
Death
Initially, those who had died were wrapped in a sheet and buried. But the lack of food, lack of medicines, and lack of space soon took its toll on Theresienstadt's population and corpses began to outgrow the possible locations for graves.
In September 1942, a crematorium was built. There were no gas chambers built with this crematorium, it was built to dispose of the growing number of corpses. The crematorium could dispose of 190 corpses per day.6 Once the ashes were searched for melted gold (from teeth), the ashes were placed in a cardboard box and stored. Near the end of the war, the Nazis tried to cover their tracks by disposing of the ashes. They disposed of the ashes by dumping 8,000 cardboard boxes into a pit and dumping 17,000 boxes into the Ohre River.7
Though the mortality rate in the camp was high, the largest fear lay in the transports.
