Small Fortress (Terezín)
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The Small Fortress ( cs, Malá pevnost, german: Kleine Festung) is a fortress forming a significant part of the town of
Terezín Terezín (; german: Theresienstadt) is a town in Litoměřice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,800 inhabitants. It is a former military fortress composed of the citadel and adjacent walled garrison town ...
in the Czech Republic. This former military fortress was established at the end of the 18th century together with the whole town of Terezín on the right bank of the
Ohře The Ohře () or, slightly less commonly in English sources, the Eger (, Czech also: ''Oharka'' or ''Ohara'', Celtic: ''Agara'', pl, Ohrza), is a 316 km river in Germany (50 km) and the Czech Republic (266 km), left tributary of t ...
river. It served as a prison in the 19th century.


World War I

During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the fortress served as a prison for the opponents of the
Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
monarchy. During the war, Serbian nationalist
Gavrilo Princip Gavrilo Princip ( sr-Cyrl, Гаврило Принцип, ; 25 July 189428 April 1918) was a Bosnian Serb student who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. Pr ...
, assassin of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. F ...
, was imprisoned here. Princip died after nearly four years in the prison on 28 April 1918 of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
.


World War II

During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the fortress served as a prison for the
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
from 10 June 1940 until May 1945. It was the largest prison in the
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; cs, Protektorát Čechy a Morava; its territory was called by the Nazis ("the rest of Czechia"). was a partially annexed territory of Nazi Germany established on 16 March 1939 following the German oc ...
. Unlike the Terezín Ghetto, where the Jews were imprisoned, the Small Fortress served as a prison for the political opponents of the Nazi German regime,
Czech resistance Resistance to the German occupation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia during World War II began after the occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia and the formation of the protectorate on 15 March 1939. German policy deterred acts of ...
members, some British POWs, and other people from the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, France, Italy etc. Throughout the operation of the Gestapo prison, around 32,000 people (including 5,000 women) were incarcerated here. Executions in the fortress were carried out from 1943, based on the
Sonderbehandlung (, "special treatment") is any sort of preferential treatment. However, the word ''Sonderbehandlung'' was used as an euphemism for mass murder by Nazi functionaries and the SS, who commonly used the abbreviation ''S.B.'' in documentation. It ...
treatment. In total more than 250 prisoners were executed here, with the last execution of 51 people taking place on 2 May 1945. Living conditions in the prison were deteriorating every year, with the prisoners being used as slave labor mainly outside the fortress with various companies in the area. Nazi authorities used forced slave labor for military production for the Reich until the very last days of the war. The Small Fortress had the character of a transitional prison, where the prisoners were being gradually sent to
concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
. Around 2,600 prisoners died directly in the fortress as a result of hunger, torture and poor hygiene. Thousands died after being transported from Terezín to concentration camps and elsewhere. Commanding officer of the Small Fortress was SS-Hauptsturmführer , executed after the war in October 1946. Notable prisoners of the Small Fortress include ,
Ludvík Krejčí Ludvík Krejčí was a Czechoslovak army general and legionary of the First World War. Biography Early life and World War I He was born on 17 August 1890 in Brno-Tuřany, near Brno, as the youngest of eight children in a peasant family. He gradu ...
, , , Siegfried Lederer,
Josef Bílý Josef Bílý (30 June 1872 in Zbonín-Ochoz – 28 September 1941 in Prague) was a Czech general and commander of the Czechoslovak national armed forces. Early life and education Bílý attended the State Real Gymnasium from 1883 to 1888. Milit ...
, ,
Milada Horáková Milada Horáková (née Králová, 25 December 1901 – 27 June 1950) was a Czech politician and a member of underground resistance movement during World War II. She was a victim of judicial murder, convicted and executed by the nation's Commu ...
,
Kamil Krofta Kamil Krofta (17 July 1876 – 16 August 1945) was a Czech historian and diplomat.Honajzer George (1995). ''Vznik a rozpad vládních koalic v Československu v letech 1918-1938.'' stablishment and dissolution of government coalitions in Czecho ...
,
Anna Letenská Anna Čalounová-Letenská (née Anna Svobodová) (29 August 1904 – 24 October 1942) was a Czechs, Czech theatre and film actress. During the 1930s and 40s, she appeared in twenty-five films. She was murdered in the Nazi concentration camp of M ...
,
Emil František Burian Emil František Burian (11 June 1904 – 9 August 1959) was a Czech poet, journalist, singer, actor, musician, composer, dramatic adviser, playwright and director. He was also active in Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politics. Early life an ...
,
Věra Tichánková Věra Tichánková (7 December 1920 – 9 January 2014) was a Czech actress, whose career spanned over seven decades. Věra Tichánková died on 9 January 2014, aged 93, in Prague, Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Cze ...
, and others.


After World War II

At the end of World War II, epidemic typhus erupted in the fortress and the nearby ghetto. Czech epidemiologists
Karel Raška Karel Raška (; 17 November 1909 in Strašín – 21 November 1987 in Prague) was a Czech physician and epidemiologist, who headed the successful international effort during the 1960s to eradicate smallpox. Life Raška graduated from the gymnas ...
and
František Patočka František Patočka (22 October 1904, Turnov – 14 March 1985, Prague) was a Czechoslovak microbiologist and serology, serologist. He established the study of virology in Czechoslovakia. Patočka studied medicine (specialised in microbiology) at t ...
arrived from Prague, and were leading measures to stop the spread of the epidemic in the fortress and the ghetto. Together they wrote a report describing the appalling conditions and mistreatment of German civilians incarcerated in the Small Fortress after the war ended. In 1945-1948 the fortress served as an internment camp initially for the German POWs, and later for the German civilian population from Czechoslovakia, destined to be expelled from the country in line with the
Beneš decrees The Beneš decrees, sk, Dekréty prezidenta republiky) and the Constitutional Decrees of the President of the Republic ( cz, Ústavní dekrety presidenta republiky, sk, Ústavné dekréty prezidenta republiky) were a series of laws drafted by t ...
. The expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia was a taboo topic in communist Czechoslovakia. The first research into this area was possible only after the fall of communism in 1989. Results of the historical research were published in 1997, and are available on the premises of the Terezín Memorial. There were several trials held for atrocities committed in the fortress during the war.
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
held two trials against people who worked in Small Fortress in the early 1950s. In 1950, Karl Spielmann was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for grievous bodily harm in connection to the abuse of prisoners. In 1953, a Kapo, Josef Wollenweber, was sentenced to 4 years in prison on four counts of dangerous bodily harm and one count fatal bodily harm, for abusing inmates, sometimes fatally. In the late 1960s,
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
arrested , a former Small Fortress supervisor. Wachholz was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity for participating in the murders of over 300 prisoners, some of whom he personally beat, stoned, kicked, and drowned. He was also convicted of complicity in the firing squad executions of at least 183 people. Wachholz was sentenced to death in 1968, and executed at Leipzig Prison on 28 April 1969. In 2000, German officials also arrested
Anton Malloth Anton Malloth (13 February 1912 – 31 October 2002) was a supervisor in the "Theresienstadt concentration camp#Small Fortress, Kleine Festung" (Small Fortress) part of the Theresienstadt concentration camp. From June 1940 to May 1945, Malloth wo ...
, a former Small Fortress supervisor who was nicknamed "The handsome Toni". In 2001, Malloth was convicted of beating at least 100 prisoners to death and sentenced to life in prison. Dying of cancer, he was released from prison 10 days before his death on 31 October 2002.


References

{{Coord, 50, 30, 45, N, 14, 9, 26, E, display=title Forts in the Czech Republic Terezín Prisons in the Czech Republic Nazi concentration camps in Czechoslovakia