Magdeburg Barracks (Magdeburska Kasarna)

During World War II, Terezín was the largest of the concentration camps constructed by the Nazis to imprison Europe’s Jews; while not an extermination camp in itself, more than 30,000 prisoners died here due to the appalling, disease-ridden and cramped conditions, while 80,000 more were shipped to the death camps in eastern Europe such as Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. 
The Magdeburg Barracks were originally constructed in 1780 in Baroque style and formed part of a military fortress commissioned by Habsburg Emperor Franz Josef II to protect the Austro-Hungarian Empire from invasion by Prussia. During WWII they became part of the Terezín complex, housing countless Jewish families in primitive, freezing conditions in ramshackle, ghetto-like dormitories. 
Thanks to the Soviet Army, liberation finally came to the Magdeburg Barracks in May 1945; ironically Terezín ended up as the prison and execution site for may Nazi war criminals. Today the barracks are a place of reconciliation and hope, restored and reopened in 1997 as a conference center run by the Holocaust Education Trust; also displayed there are replica prison dormitories and heart-rending exhibitions showcasing the art, literature and music produced by their Jewish inmates during the Holocaust.

Practical Info

Principova alej 304, Terezín. Opening hours Nov–Mar Mon–Fri 8am–4.30pm; Apr–Oct Mon–Fri 8am–5pm. Admission adults CZK 170; all concessions CZK 140. Best accessed by car from Prague in under an hour via the E55.