Creative Defiance in a Death-Camp

Abstract

This article clarifies the history and role of Terezin, unique among Hitler's death-camps. Without gas chambers or mass execution sites, a huge portion of its inmates nevertheless perished; the rest were systematically shipped to Auschwitz. But Red Cross representatives were repeatedly shown a "model town" in which cultural activity flourished. The author shows how the creative and performing artists and their extraordinarily sophisticated audiences made the most of every opportunity. He offers examples of ambitious projects undertaken and triumphantly executed in the teeth of annihilation, with messages of defiance transmitted in seemingly innocuous works. Terezin's glory culminated in mid-1944 with the creation and rehearsal of a brilliant metaphoric opera, The Emperor of Atlantis, a thinly disguised assault on Hitler, which-decades later-emerged to awe international audiences and critics. Translator of the German libretto, the author explores this astounding achievement, ranking Atlantis high among history's instances of spiritual survival through artistic expression.