National Cemetery in Terezín

The National Cemetery in Terezín is one of the most moving memorial sites in the Czech Republic — a vast burial ground established right after the end of World War II to honor the victims of Nazi terror connected to the Small Fortress, the Terezín Ghetto, and the forced labor camp in Litoměřice.

How was the cemetery created?

The cemetery did not exist during the war itself — it was built only after liberation, on the initiative of former prisoners and the families of the dead. On September 16, 1945, in the presence of survivors, relatives of the deceased, and representatives of post-war Czechoslovakia, a solemn funeral was held for 601 people whose remains had been exhumed from six mass graves in the ramparts of the Small Fortress. It was a symbolic act restoring dignity to victims who had previously been buried anonymously and in haste.

A second major funeral ceremony took place on May 5, 1946. On that occasion, victims exhumed from mass graves in Lovosice, from mass graves at the Litoměřice forced labor camp, and from the communal cemetery in Terezín were buried, along with the ashes of 52 prisoners executed at the Small Fortress on May 2, 1945, and victims of the typhus epidemic that decimated prisoners in the war's final months.

How many people are buried here?

Between 1945 and 1958, roughly 10,000 victims from the Small Fortress, the Terezín Ghetto, and the Flossenbürg camp were reburied at the National Cemetery. Today the cemetery contains 2,386 individual graves — both urn burials and inhumations — yet the vast majority of victims rest in mass graves, marked by five distinctive pylons. Fewer than 1,200 people have named, individual graves; the rest remain nameless, a fact that speaks to the sheer scale of the tragedy.

Who is buried here?

Among those interred are prisoners interrogated and held at the Small Fortress — a Gestapo police prison through which some 35,000 people passed in total, including many resistance fighters. The cemetery also holds urns with the ashes of typhus epidemic victims, brought from the Terezín crematorium, along with remains recovered from large pits nearby where the dead of the ghetto had been buried. In 1977, the exhumed remains of 49 Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of Czechoslovakia were also buried here.

Why visit?

The National Cemetery in Terezín is a place of silence and reflection that complements a visit to the Small Fortress and the Ghetto Museum. Rows of crosses and gravestones, the monumental pylons rising above the mass graves, and the sheer scale of the cemetery help visitors grasp the enormity of the tragedy that unfolded in this small fortress town. It is an essential stop for anyone visiting Terezín to learn about the history of the Holocaust and the Czech resistance movement.

Frequently asked questions

When was the National Cemetery in Terezín established? The cemetery was created after liberation in 1945, and its first solemn funeral took place on September 16, 1945.

How many people are buried at the cemetery? Between 1945 and 1958, around 10,000 victims were reburied here, of whom fewer than 1,200 lie in named, individual graves.

Are there any soldiers' graves at the cemetery? Yes, in 1977 the remains of 49 Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of Czechoslovakia were buried here.

Is admission to the cemetery paid? The National Cemetery can be visited as part of the wider Terezín Memorial, which is open to the public along with the rest of the memorial site.