Entrance to Tunnel
in Small Fortress
Entrance to tunnel
is No. 17, entrance to mortuary is No. 18
After seeing the escape ledge shown on
the previous page, we continued our tour around the outside of
the fortifications of the Small Fortress at Theresienstadt. Door
Number 18, shown on the right in the photograph above, opens
into the mortuary room, which we saw only from the outside. This
is where the corpses were stored until they could be taken to
the crematorium to be burned. Door Number 17 is the entrance
to a tunnel which goes through the old fortifications on the
north side of the Small Fortress to the former military firing
range which was used by the Nazis for executions.
The tunnel is about a quarter of a mile
long, although it seemed more like a mile. The tunnel is not
underground, as you can easily see by looking through a few narrow
slits in the wall along the way. The tunnel goes through the
double walls of the original fortifications, but it was not used
during World War II. It is shown to tourists because it is one
more scary feature in this place of horror.
When you first enter the tunnel, it doesn't
seem to be very long, but just as you think you are nearing the
end, the tunnel makes a turn and continues on. The exit from
the tunnel is shown in the photograph below, where you can readily
see that the tunnel is above ground. However, if you suffer the
least bit from claustrophobia, it would be wise to let the tour
leader know in advance so that arrangements can be made for you
to reach the execution site through the door used by the condemned
prisoners. The sandy path from the tunnel leads to the execution
site which is between the ramparts.
Exit from long tunnel
through the fortification walls
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