Terezin
Propaganda
Work makes you free
Living conditions
• Barracks named after different German cities
• Usually an older boy or girl would be
appointed to be the head of a younger group
of children and live in the same barracks
• Men and women were separated from each
other and the children
barracks
bathroom
Memorials
Why Terezin?
• Built in 1780 by Emperor Joseph II of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
• Named after his mother, Maria Theresa
• Big fortress can house up to six thousand
people
• Instead of being used as intended, to protect
the empire, it has been used as a maximum
security prison in multiple cases
Big Fortress
A Czech education
• Music was not a pastime, but integral part of
life
• Music was included in general education, and
private music education produced a high
number of professional musicians. Even
amateurs participated in various ensembles.
Timeline
• June 21, 1939, Jews are ordered to wear yellow stars on
their clothes and display them in their businesses and
homes.
• Shortly after this Jewish property was confiscated by the
Germans
• By 1941 they could not own furs, cameras, typewriters,
skis, phonographs, or musical instruments
• Not allowed to attend theaters, movies, concerts, or sports
events
• Not allowed to buy cigarettes, sugar, fruit, or newspapers
• By 1942, professionals lost their jobs, and all Jewish
education ceased to exist in Czechoslovakia
Timeline, cont.
• Czech Jewish performers begin to perform
under false names in September 1941, as all
Jewish performers were restricted from
performing in public
• Gideon Klein used the name Karel Vranek;
Karel Berman used the name Frantisek Havlas
• This was very dangerous, so they started
giving recitals in private apartments
Timeline, cont.
• In 1940, the first Jewish concentration camp
opened in Lipa, southeastern Bohemia
• Several successful musicians were sent here,
and after daily work they would organize
musical activities
• These musicians returned home after several
months, while the camp stayed open, but
became a full-fledged concentration camp
Organization of Terezin
• On September 27, 1941, SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard
Heydrich succeeded Konstantin von Neurath as ViceProtector
• Along with other SS officials, they he organized the camp at
Terezin in October 1941
• The ghetto in Terezin was designed to have Jewish
administration who answered to the German SS
• First commander at Terezin was Dr. Siegfried Seidl
• Jakob Edelstein was appointed to be the head of the
Council of Elders
• SS would tell them how many people had to be sent to
Auschwitz, and the Jewish administration would have to
select the individuals
Freizeitgestaltung
• “Administration of Free Time Activities”
• Sanctioned by the SS Command, under
direction of Rabbi Weiner
• Beginning of highly organized musical
activities in Terezin
• December 17, 1941, alto opera singer Hedda
Grab-Kernmayr arrived in Terezin. She was a
very active member in the Freizeitgestaltung
• Once this was established, all cultural activities
were approved by the Germans, although
sometimes censored
• “Employees” of Freizeitgestaltung were excluded
from manual work
• First fully vocal concert performed on June 11,
1942
• Performed by Gerta Harpmann, Jakob Goldring,
Emmy Zeckendorf, Anka Dub, and Hedda GrabKernmayr
Choral music
• Gideon Klein arrived in December 1941. Until a
piano was available, he wrote music for the
chorus.
• Collaborated with Rafael Schachter to arrange
Czech, Slovak, Hebrew, and Russian folk songs
• Eventually there was a women’s chorus, a men’s
chorus, and then a mixed chorus
• With the help of the Freizeitgestaltung, Schachter
was able to rehearse in the basement of the
“Sudeten” barracks
• At first, the choruses performed with only a pitch
pipe
• Then, a broken down reed organ and half broken
accordion
• A “battered old baby-grand piano without legs”
was found in the outskirts of town, and secretly
snuck into the ghetto
• With this, they were able to perform Smetana’s
The Bartered Bride on November 28, 1942
Opera
• Smetana’s The Bartered Bride and The Kiss
were widely performed in Terezin. Both are
comic operas that depict life in a Czech village,
and feature songs that are influenced by
Czech folk songs and dances
• Later, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and
The Magic Flute were performed with new
performers Machiel Gobets, Ada Hecht
Der Kaiser von Atlantis
The Emperor of Atlantis
• Composed by Viktor Ullman, libretto by Peter
Kien
• The opera begins with a trumpet call similar to
the Death theme from Asrael, a symphony
written by Czech composer Joseph Suk
• Suk lost his father-in-law, Antonin Dvorak, and
wife, Dvorak’s daughter, in rapid succession
• The symphony was used to remember
someone who had recently passed away
Der Kaiser, cont.
• Ullman also included the Nazi anthem,
however he wrote in a minor key
• The opera ends with Ullman’s adaptation of
the chorale A Mighty Fortress is our God
• The opera was supposed to be performed in
fall of 1944; unfortunately it was never
premiered because in October, Ullman and
almost all of the performers involved were
brought to Auschwitz
Set of Der Kaiser
Brundibar
• Composer Hans Krasa met playwright AdolfHoffmeister in December 1935, before WWII
began
• Brundibar was created for a competition of
the Ministry of Education and Culture, and
was supposed to premiere in 1938.
• Competition never took place
• Hoffmeister’s libretto is mediocre. He
misinterprets certain verbal accents and very
badly imitates children’s speech
• The music of the opera makes up for these
deficiencies by being upbeat, melodic, and
charming
• No original score available, only piano
reduction
• Before being sent to Terezin, the director of the
opera, Rudolf Freudenfeld, Jr., began rehearsing
the opera with children of an orphanage run by
his father, to be performed at his fathers’ 50th
birthday
• Rafael Schachter, Hans Krasa, Gideon Klein, Emil
A. Saudek (poet), and Frantisek Zelenka
(architect) also helped
• Schachter went to Terezin on the first transport
on November 24, 1941, and was unable to be
present for the premiere
• Freudenfeld, Jr. took over and the opera was
performed in the dining room of the orphanage
in the winter of 1942-43
• Frantisek Zelenka designed the entire stage,
which was dangerous because at that time
this type of activity was forbidden for Jews.
• Set consisted of some boards making a fence,
three posters of a dog, cat, and sparrow
• All roles were sung by boys
• Three instruments accompanied: piano, violin,
and drum
Synopsis
Two children, Pepicek and Aninka, have a sick
mother. The doctor prescribes milk for her, but they
have no money. The children see the organ player,
Brundibar, playing on the street, and start singing
along. Three animals, a dog, a cat, and a sparrow,
join in the singing. Together all of them sing a
charming lullaby. The passers-by give them money
for the performance. However, Brundibar steals the
money from the children. The children and animals
chase him and get the money back.
• By the time the opera was performed in
Prague, Schachter, Krasa, and Zelenka had
been sent to Terezin
• By July 1943, everyone from the orphanage
involved in the opera had been sent to Terezin
• Freudenfeld Sr. arrival was honored by a
performance of The Bartered Bride and in
return Freudenfeld presented the vocal score
to Brundibar to Schacter
• After this, rehearsals for Brundibar began in
Terezin
• Premiere took place on September 23, 1943 in
the Magdeburg barracks
• Brundibar was performed in Terezin 55 times
• In order to perform for the International Red
Cross, Zelenka was ordered to make a brand
new, more colorful set, overnight
• Major roles: Honza Treichlinger-Brundibar;
Pinta Muhlstein-Pepick; Ela Stein-cat
• At first, Brundibar was performed with the
same basic instruments as in the orphanage
• Later, Krasa wrote a new orchestral version of
the score, so that musicians living in Terezin
spefically would have parts.
• Violin-Karel Frohlich; piano-Gideon Klein;
cello-Fredy Mark; clarinet-Fritz Weiss
Importance of Brundibar
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A top attraction in Terezin
No cost, but tickets were given out because of high demand
Status symbol to attend this opera
Why? The music is charming, the children represented
hope, Brundibar is a symbol of evil
• Final chorus “Brundibar is defeated, we got him already”
represents victory over Hitler
• Poet Emil A. Saudek changed the last lines from “He who
loves so much his mother and father and his native land is
our friend and he can play with us” to “He who loves justice
and will abide by it, and who is not afraid, is our friend and
can play with us”.
Hans Krasa
• Showed early talent in music lessons, took
piano and violin lessons
• Compositions were performed in Zurich and
Boston in 1926
• Received a Czechoslovak State Prize for
Composition in 1933
• Composer of Brundibar
• member of Freizeitgestaltung, head of the
entire music section
• Last work composed in Terezin was Three
songs in 1943, for baritone, clarinet, viola, and
cello
• Once Brundibar was performed for the Red
Cross, Krasa was no longer useful in Terezin.
• Sent to Auschwitz on October 1944
Viktor Ullmann-life before Terezin
• Music critic, composer
• Studied music theory and composition with
Arnold Schoenberg, very well known composer
• Moved to Prague in 1919 and worked for the
New German Theater
• Left Prague in 1929 to become the music director
of the opera house in Usti nad Labem in Aussig
• Moved back to Prague to teach lessons, lectured,
and worked with Czechoslovak Radio
Viktor Ullmann-life in Terezin
• Once in Terezin, Ullamn didn’t have to worry
about making a daily living, and got
preferential treatment for being an officer in
the Austrian army during WWI
• Arrived in Terezin on September 8, 1942 with
his third wife and one son
• Assigned to Freizeitgestaltung as a music critic
and organizer of rehearsals
• Wrote 20 compositions while in Terezin for
piano, strings, voice, along with operas and
chorus music
• At the last mintue, Ullmann gave all his music
to Dr. Emil Utitz, who then gave the music to
Dr. H. G. Adler, and his music was saved
• Shipped to Auschwitz with his wife on October
16, 1944; one week later his ex-wife and son
Max also were sent and immediately killed
Other renowned musicians
• Alice Herz-Sommer-pianist, survived
• Karel Berman-voice and stage directing,
survived
• Karel Frohlich-violinist, survived
• Haas Pavel-composer, died in Auschwitz on
October 17, 1944
Auschwitz
• 139,654 people passed through Terezin
• 33,419 people died in Terezin, either from illness
or individual executions
• 86,934 people were deported to extermination
camps in the east
• 17,320 people survived in May, 1945
• Of this number, 15,000 were children under the
age of 15
• Of these 15,000, only 1,000 lived to see liberation
day
Individuals sent to Auschwitz
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Egon Ledec-October 1944
Viktor Ullman-October 1944
Gideon Klein-October 16, 1944
Many more…
Project ideas
• Biographical sketch on any of the following: Hedda Grab;
Gideon Klein; Viktor Ullman; Hans Krasa; or your choice
• Model of Terezin, big fortress
• Perform a song or poem
• Re-enact a scene from Brundibar
• Translate list of Freizeitgestaltung members
• Create a playlist based on a program
• Write a review of the play “I Never Saw Another Butterfly”;
relate two facts from the play that we learned about in
class
• Timeline of events