Jewish cemetery in Theresienstadt

The Jewish cemetery in Theresienstadt stands beside the former crematorium just outside the walls of the fortress built in the late 18th century by Emperor Joseph II. It is one of the most sobering Holocaust memorial sites in the Czech Republic, connected to the Theresienstadt ghetto that Nazi Germany established here in 1940.

How did the cemetery come into being?

From the earliest days of the ghetto, prisoners who died were buried in individual and mass graves near the nearby village of Bohušovice, and it was from this practice that the Jewish cemetery gradually developed. Burials continued from December 1941 until October 1942, a period during which thousands of ghetto inmates died from starvation, disease, and the appalling sanitary conditions of the camp. Roughly 9,000 victims of the ghetto are buried here.

What was the role of the crematorium?

Everything changed once the camp crematorium came into operation on September 7, 1942. From that point on, it became the primary means of disposing of the dead — not only those who died in the ghetto itself, but also prisoners from the Gestapo police prison at the Small Fortress and later inmates of the forced labor camp at Litoměřice. Surviving cremation records indicate that around 30,000 victims were cremated there in total, a scale that dwarfs the number of individual graves at the cemetery itself.

Why is today's cemetery described as symbolic?

After the war, most of the ashes from the crematorium were exhumed and reinterred in front of the Small Fortress, which is why the Jewish cemetery surrounding the crematorium today is regarded as a symbolic burial ground rather than a site containing the original remains of all its commemorated victims. It nonetheless serves as the focal point for remembering those who perished at Theresienstadt.

How has the site been commemorated over time?

A first memorial, bearing inscriptions in Hebrew and Czech, was erected in the eastern part of the cemetery in 1955. The site took on its present form in 1975, when uniform symbolic headstones were installed throughout the grounds and a central granite memorial shaped like a seven-branched menorah was unveiled. At the same time, individual tombstones bearing the names of victims were relocated to the western edge of the cemetery, creating a layout that balances collective remembrance with the recognition of specific individuals.

What can visitors see today?

The Jewish cemetery is part of the wider Terezín Memorial (Památník Terezín), the institution responsible for preserving the former ghetto and the Small Fortress. Visitors encounter rows of symbolic headstones, the central menorah monument, and the preserved crematorium building itself. Together these elements make the site both a cemetery and an open-air museum documenting the tragic history of Theresienstadt.

Frequently asked questions

How many people are buried at the Jewish cemetery in Theresienstadt? Around 9,000 victims of the ghetto are buried there, interred between December 1941 and October 1942, before the crematorium began operating.

What is the difference between the cemetery and the crematorium? The cemetery was used for burials before the crematorium opened in September 1942. After that date, most victims were cremated, and the ashes were largely exhumed after the war — which is why the cemetery today functions mainly as a symbolic memorial site.

When was the memorial at the cemetery built? An initial memorial was erected in 1955, while the site's current form, including the symbolic headstones and the central granite menorah, dates from 1975.

Can the cemetery be visited? Yes, it is open to visitors as part of the Terezín Memorial, alongside tours of the former ghetto and the Small Fortress.