Terezin was called Theresienstadt during WW II. It is known today in the Czech Republic as Teresín. It is located north of Prague, close to the German border. Theresienstadt was set up as a model ghetto between 1941 and 1945 albeit one might just as well have referred to it as a Transit camp, because a staggering 62.6% or 88,196 were deported from this ghetto to several death camps or other ghettos and concentration centres. They were sent to Auschwitz (44,693), Treblinka (8,000), Sobibor (1,000), Riga (2,000), Zamosc (2,000), Izbica (3,000), Lublin (3,000), Warsaw (1,000), Minsk (1,000), and to other unknown destinies (22,503). Most were exterminated upon arrival, or worked to death. Records indicate that only 2,971 of all those incarcerated in Theresienstadt survived the war. A noteworthy survival rate compared to other camps. However, of the 149,037 Jews that reached Theresienstadt, 33,529 died in Theresienstadt of starvation and disease, or execution.

       Theresienstadt was in fact a Jewish ghetto. The original inhabitants of Terezin were forced to leave the town in order to make room for thousands of Jews coming from many areas in Europe. They were compensated for the loss of their poor level housing. Of course with Jewish money confiscated from the hapless Jews the Nazis intended to house there. The ghetto was administered by the SS. Its first commandant was SS-Offizier - SS Officer Dr. Siegfried Seidl. He was commandant from November 1941 until July 1943. He was replaced by SS-Obersturmführer - SS-1st Lieutenant Anton Burger on orders of Eichmann. Burger, who acted as commandant from July 1943 until February 1944, was ordered by Himmler and Eichmann to change the appearance of Theresienstadt. This was done to accommodate and fool the Red Cross members who had requested access to a Nazi concentration camp. The changes were cosmetic in nature. Nothing worked, all was fake. The scheme worked. The Red Cross gave her thumbs up following inspection. The third and also the last appointed commandant was SS-Obersturmführer - SS-1st Lieutenant Karl Rahm who held the reigns from February 1944 until May 1945 when the camp was liberated by Soviet Red Army. Seidl and Rahm were executed after the war for war crimes against humanity. Burger was sentenced to death in absentia. He died in 1991 having lived in Germany under an assumed name, a free man.

       The first deportees arrived at Theresienstadt from Prague in late November 1941. During the first months life in the ghetto differed little from that of other Nazi ghettos. Hopes that the ghetto served as safeguard against further deportation soon evaporated. In January 1942 the first two thousand victims were deported to Riga ghetto where they were shot in a nearby forest by Einsatzgruppe A

       The ghetto was guarded by Czech gendarmes who were loyal to the Nazi regime. The internal affairs of the camp was run by the Ältestenrat - Council of Elders composed of Jewish leaders, a similar principle as was used in camp Westerbork in the Netherlands. The only real difference was that Theresienstadt was a ghetto as well as a transit camp while Westerbork, strictly speaking, was a transit camp. The Council of Judenältesten - Council of Jewish Elders for Theresienstadt was first headed by the Judenälteste -Jewish Elder Jacob Edelstein. Edelstein, and subsequently Eppstein and Murmelstein were directly appointed by Adolf Eichmann.

       Jacob Edelstein, a Zionist official, was the first Judenälteste so appointed by Adolf Eichmann. Edelstein believed that Terezin (Theresienstadt) could be used as a kind of Hachshara - preparation for young Jews to make Aliyah - moving to Israel after the war. He held that position from 4 December 1941 until January 1943. Eichmann replaced him with Paul Eppstein because Edelstein was accused of having corrupted transportation lists. However, Edelstein remained on as first deputy and Rabbi Benjamin Murmelstein as second deputy to Eppstein. Then, Edelstein finally was arrested by the Gestapo in November 1943 accused of having falsified deportation lists in order to rescue several fellow Jewish inmates from deportation. Edelstein was sent to Auschwitz where he was locked away in a punishment cell. Finally, on 20 June 1944, he was shot to death. But first he was forced to witness the execution of his wife and young son before he himself was executed.

       His successor was Paul Eppstein. As Judenälteste he took charge in January 1943 and remained in that position until 27 September 1944 when he too was arrested by the Gestapo. They accused him of allowing the organization of self-defense units among the inmates. The truth was that Eppstein was far removed from any such involvement, regardless the fact that such action would of course have been illegal. Another probable reason for his arrest and death may well have been his involvement in arguments between SS officers Moehs, Burger, and Rahm. He was shot and killed on Yom Kippur 1944. It should be noted that Jews had no right to live and therefore trials were not deemed necessary.

       Officially, Murmelstein's appointment started on 5 December 1944. Rabbi Benjamin Murmelstein of Vienna became the third and last Judenälteste of Theresienstadt. He held that position until 5 May 1945 when officially the command over the ghetto was turned over to the International Red Cross delegate Paul Dunant. Rahm, together with another SS man, left on 5 May 1945 still wearing his uniform and holding on to his weapons. Two days later the ghetto was liberated by the Soviet Red Army. Rabbi Murmelstein, who was the last of the Judenältesten, resigned his position that same day. The next day Murmelstein received a letter from Rabbi Leo Baeck, who had been a fellow inmate, thanking him for way he had performed his task. Always under constant pressure and with great difficulty, Rabbi Murmelstein had shown himself to be a great champion of the people. Especially the elderly and orphans had benefited from his ardent labors. Rabbi Murmelstein and Rabbi Baeck both survived the war. Rabbi Murmelstein went to live with his family in Italy while Rabbi Baeck moved via England to the United States.

       That almost 3,000 could survive must be contributed to the hard work and diligent leadership of Rabbi Murmelstein, the last Judenälteste - head of the Jewish Council before Paul Dunant of the Red Cross had taken Terezin under its protection. When delegates of the International Red Cross of Geneva, Switzerland, visited Theresienstadt on 6 April 1945 Rabbi Murmelstein, at great personal risk, managed to sound the alarm by twice saying in his address to the visitors, Das Schiksal Theresienstadts bereitet mir Sorgen - The future fate of Terezin causes me great concern. The Red Cross delegates understood the massage. That same day they took action. They approached SS General Karl Hermann Frank, German minister of state for the Protectorate (of) Bohemia and Moravia and obtained his promise that no further deportation of inmates would take place. Furthermore, Murmelstein prevented riots among the remaining inmates, which, had they taken place, would have given the SS reason to act harshly. The SS were looking for any excuse to liquidate the camp. Rabbi Murmelstein prevented that.

       When initial information about extermination centers began to filter through to the free world, the Nazis decided to show off Theresienstadt to an investigation committee of the International Red Cross. The external appearance of the ghetto had to be changed for this purpose. Serious overcrowding condition was reduced by additional deportation to Auschwitz. A bank, false shops, a cafe, kindergartens, and schools were set up in the ghetto and the town was beautified by adding flower gardens. Communal bathing facilities were built as well. Had the Committee Members tested the water faucets they would have discovered that none of the faucets were attached to plumbing. They were fake.

       Following the visit of the committee members, the Nazis filmed a propaganda movie on, "The new life of the Jews under the protection of the Third Reich." When filming was finished, most actors, including most of the ghetto children, were deported to the Birkenau gas chambers.