St. Patrick's Day: More blue than green.

This morning I headed out of Prague to visit Terezín, the infamous concentration camp an hour north of the capital. It is unique in that it was considered the model camp and was filled with notable Jews, mostly artists, writers, and musicians. They filmed several propaganda films here to show the world what a nice alternative living situation the Nazi's had provided for the Jews. However, the city which is located in the remains of the lower fortress held around 7,000 thousand people including it's militia prior to the occupation. At the peak of its use nearly 60,000 people were interned here contributing to high death rates due to poor living conditions. There were hundreds of executions here as well, but the majority of prisoners were shipped east to their deaths. A few years ago I saw the play I Never Saw Another Butterfly in Bozeman. It recounts the stories of the thousands of children that were here and the rare education programs that were instituted by the Adults, the result was an incredible amount of drawings and writings that survive even today. After the play a survivor of Terezín who now lives in Bozeman spoke about her experiences as a child in the camp. Being there today was a powerful experience, especially walking through the Lesser Fortress which served as a prison and housed the SS members. There are still rows of bunks in the old cells, and the old crematorium is still intact. It was chilling to walk over rooms that had served merely as holding places for bodies before their disposal.

The edge of the main fortress, which is where the ghetto was located. Today it's a town again, but the bleakest and most silent town I've ever seen.
This is the ceiling of a secret Synagogue in the ghetto of Terezín hidden in a building cellar. The religious dedication of the Jewish faith has started to awe me, and it makes me wonder what beliefs I would fight so strongly to keep.
The entrance to the Lesser Fortress.
So after such an uplifting morning I continued on to the little village of Litoměřice for a change of pace, and was greeted with lots of brightly painted buildings and not a postcard in sight: a real Czech town! And with a cake shop of every corner to boot.
I set out in search of lunch right away, having not wanted to eat in one of the three glum looking cafés in Terezín and found a busy little hole in the wall. After a good ten minutes puzzling over an incomprehensible menu, the waitress brought me another version with a chuckle and I ended up ordering "Chicken Specialty Mixture with Mushrooms" and potato pancakes with a little apprehension. It was delicious! This was Grandma's cooking for sure, and well worth the wait.
After lunch I bought dessert at a bakery with a line out the door. One thing I've quickly learned is while annoying, lines usually means something good is at the other end and generally worth a few extra minutes, even when you're not quite sure what you're waiting for. Turns out I was waiting for a little pastry filled with poppy seeds, danish cream filling, and plum preserves. The little kid standing in line in front of me was really excited to get his. To full to have cake as well, but knowing full well I'd not seen curkrárna, a cake shop, yet in Prague and I'd seen over five in my few hours in Litoměřice, I decided to buy a piece of what looks like walnut cake for dinner later. It's waiting for me upstairs...