Gate of Death in the
Small Fortress
Gate of Death leads
to the execution site outside the walls of the fortress
After visiting the firing range in the
Small Fortress at Theresienstadt, our tour group went through
the Gate of Death which was the gate through which condemned
prisoners had to walk to reach another execution site outside
the fortress. If you don't want to go through the tunnel to get
to the execution site, you can reach the Gate of Death by walking
straight ahead when you enter the Small Fortress, instead of
turning left into the Administration Court. You will then enter
the Fourth Courtyard which is where our tour group emerged when
we came through the Gate of Death. The photograph above shows
the Gate of Death, taken from inside the Fourth Courtyard. In
the background, you can see the high wall of the firing range.
After we entered the fortress again through
the Gate of Death, our tour group made a right angle turn to
the left and walked a few yards to the swimming pool, shown in
the photograph below. The pool was built in 1942 for the benefit
of the guards and their families. According to a pamphlet that
we were given "It was constructed by students of Roudnice
and Jewish prisoners who were tortured and beaten while working."
The pool is quite small and no more than six feet deep. In the
background you can see the earth piled up against the ramparts.
The pool is located in the northeast corner of the fortress and
behind it is a bastion which sticks out on the outside of the
fort.
Swimming pool in Small
Fortress for the guards and their families
The photograph below shows the view looking
from the swimming pool towards the arched gate through the bastion
at the southeast corner of the fortress. On the left side of
the photograph is the former administration building for the
Fourth Courtyard. Today it holds dirt that was brought from the
concentration camps where thousands of the prisoners were sent
from the Small Fortress after being interrogated and determined
to be "an enemy of the state." The location of the
administration building is shown on the map
of the fortress which we were given on the tour.
Gate in Fourth Courtyard
leads outside the fortress
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