Terezin League – Sport and Youth in the Theresienstadt Ghetto

The exhibition describes the athletic activity in general and soccer in particular that took place in Ghetto Theresienstadt during 1942-1944. The league featured teams for children, youth, and adults. Naturally, the adult league attracted the most attention: soccer practice, preparations for the games, support for the players or of one team or another, and gathering to watch the games, were a source of strength for the ghetto inmates, particularly the young, in their struggle for survival, granting them moments of joy.

The exhibition features videos showing parts of a soccer game, filmed in the ghetto as part of the Nazi propaganda film, testimonies by ghetto survivors who had played in the games and watched them, photographs and objects related to athletics in the ghetto, diaries, press cuttings, and drawings by youth and adults, documenting the athletic activities and their impact on youth in the ghetto. The exhibit introduces visitors to the characters and stories of sports teachers, including Stella Herrmann and Fredy Hirsch.