Watch this clip of testimony from Sidney Eger, who describes his recollections of Theresienstadt and its use as a “model ghetto” of “Jewish settlement” by the Nazis.
After hearing his story, think about why having a prayer room in the ghetto would have been important for the Jews who lived in this ghetto.
About the Interviewee
Sidney Eger was born on May 3, 1923, in Komĕříž, Czechoslovakia. He was brought up in a traditional Jewish household. After the Nazi annexation and occupation of the Sudetenland, he was forcefully kicked out of school and sent to a forced labour camp for six months. When he returned home, he learned that his father’s business had been taken away. In 1942, his family was deported to Theresienstadt. They were then transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. After the war, Sidney moved to Vancouver, met his wife and went back to school to become an accountant. Sidney was interviewed by the USC Shoah Foundation on July 17, 1996, in West Vancouver, British Columbia.