Transports to the East
Within the original transports into Theresienstadt, many had hoped that living in Theresienstadt would preclude them from being sent East and that their stay would last the duration of the war. On January 5, 1942 (less than two months since the arrival of the first transports in), their hopes were shattered -- Daily Order No. 20 announced the first transport out of Theresienstadt.
Transports left Theresienstadt frequently and each one was made up of one thousand to five thousand Theresienstadt prisoners. The Nazis decided on the number of people to be sent on each transport, but they left the burden of who exactly was to go on the Jews themselves. The Council of Elders became responsible for fulfilling the Nazis' quotas.
Life or death became reliant on exclusion from the transports East -- called "protection." Automatically, all members of the AK1 and AK2 were exempted from transports and five members of their closest family. Other major ways to become protected were people who held jobs that helped the German war effort, important workers in the Ghetto administration, or being on someone else's list.
Finding ways to keep yourself and your family on a protection list, thus off the transports, became a major endeavor of each Ghetto inhabitant.
Though some inhabitants were able to find protection, nearly one-half to two-thirds of the population were not protected.8 For every transport, the bulk of the Ghetto population feared that their name would be chosen.
The Embellishment
On October 5, 1943, the first Danish Jews were transported into Theresienstadt. Soon after their arrival, the Danish Red Cross and the Swedish Red Cross began inquiring about their whereabouts and their condition. The Nazis decided to let them visit one location that would prove to the Danes and to the world that Jews were living under humane conditions. But how could they change an overcrowded, pest infected, ill-nourished, and high mortality-rate camp into a spectacle for the world?
In December 1943, the Nazis told the Council of Elders of Theresienstadt about the Embellishment. The commander of Theresienstadt, SS Colonel Karl Rahm, took control of planning. An exact route was planned for the visitors to take. All buildings and grounds along this route were to be enhanced by green turf, flowers, and benches. A playground, sports fields, and even a monument were added. Prominent and Dutch Jews had their billets enlarged, as well as had furniture, drapes, and flower boxes added.
But even with the physical transformation of the Ghetto, Rahm thought that the Ghetto was too crowded. On May 12, 1944, Rahm ordered the deportation of 7,500 inhabitants. In this transport, the Nazis decided that all orphans and most of the sick should be included to help the facade that the Embellishment was creating.
The Nazis, so clever at creating facades, didn't miss a detail. They erected a sign over a building that read "Boys' School" as well as another sign that read "closed during holidays."9 Needless to say, no one ever attended the school and there were no holidays in camp.
On the day that the commission arrived, June 23, 1944, the Nazis were fully prepared. As the tour commenced, well-rehearsed actions took place that were created specially for the visit. Bakers baking bread, a load of fresh vegetables being delivered, and workers singing were all queued by messengers who ran ahead of the entourage.10
After the visit, the Nazis were so impressed with their propaganda feat that they decided to make a film.
