IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 1556 WL 504c
Held at: Wiener Library
Title: Theresienstadt Activity Report (microfilm)
Date(s): 1942
Level of description: collection
Extent: 42 frames
Name of creator(s): Siegfried Seidl, Commandant of Theresienstadt
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
On June 10, 1940, the Gestapo took control of Terezín (Theresienstadt), a fortress, built in 1780-1790 in what is now the Czech Republic, and set up prison in the Small Fortress (Kleine Festung). By 24 November 1941, the Main Fortress (große Festung, ie the town Theresienstadt) was turned into a walled ghetto. The function of Theresienstadt was to provide a front for the extermination operation of Jews. To the outside it was presented by the Nazis as a model Jewish settlement, but in reality it was a concentration camp.
Theresienstadt was also used as a transit camp for European Jews en route to Auschwitz and other extermination camps. Dr. Siegfried Seidl, an SS colonel, served as the first camp commandant in 1941. Seidl oversaw the labour of 342 young men, known as the Aufbaukommando, who converted the fortress into a concentration camp. Although the Aufbaukommando were promised that they and their families would be spared transport, eventually all were transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1943, for Sonderbehandlung, or gassing without selection.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Typescript report detailing every aspect of the activities of the Theresienstadt Concentration camp under the following sub-headings: Abteilung für innere Verwaltung; Arbeitszentrale; Wirtschaftsabteilung; Spedition; Landwirtschaft; Produktion; Finanzabteilung; Technische Abteilung; Abteilung fuer Gesundheitswesen.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: German
System of arrangement:
N/A
Conditions governing access:
Open
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
Physical characteristics:
Microfilm
Finding aids:
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Jewish Central Information Office
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
The following is a sample of additional WL document collections which pertain to Theresienstadt: 504d, 574, 578, 1373, 1339, 1136, 1169, 1189, 1117, 1206, 1166, 1179, 574, 1237, 1320, 1267, 1554, 1365, 1548, 1086, 1308, 1145.
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn.
Date(s) of descriptions: Oct 2007