According to Joza Karas (9), the forceful "evacuation of the Gentile population had hardly begun when the first Jewish transport arrived in Terezin on November 24, 1941." The task assigned to these 342 young men was building new structures in the town of Terezin for new inhabitants who would consist of Jews and others destined for incarceration by the Nazis. The camp, called Theresienstadt, served any number of purposes, not the least of which was a propaganda function. The purpose of this essay is to identify the rationale used by the Nazis in establishing this camp as a unique prison primarily for European Jews drawn from among a population consisting of prominent artists, musicians, physicians, writers, university professors, affluent businesspeople, and other privileged classes ("Unique Camp Teresienstadt," 3).
Karas (8) stated that under the leadership of SS Obergruppenfuhrer Heinrich Heydrich and his assistant, Adolf Eichmann, this ghetto-like camp was conceived as a place where prominent European Jews and others could be held. This occurred on October 10, 1941 and plans were put into motion to evacuate most of the residents of the village of Terezin to accommodate these prisoners. The ghetto would be "self-governed by a Jewish administration called the Council of Elders, with direct responsibilities to the SS.... The original population of this Bohemian garrison town was to be evacuated by the time the first transports arrived, so no one would see and no one would know the truth" ("Unique Camp Teresienstadt," 3).
The vast majority of the individuals sent to this camp were prominent men and women whose disappearance would be noticed. George Berkley (163) said that the camp was initially conceived of as offering a model town in which certain privileged inmates would be housed and available for view by international organizations such as the Red Cross. Many of the initial detainees sent to the ghetto believed ...