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Girl's Home L 410
Room 28 drawing by Maria Muehlstein
Entry in Flaska's poetry album of Zajicek, Ruth Schaechter, who was killed in Auschwitz.
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The Girls from Room 28The true story behind Brundibár Droemer Verlag, Munic 2004 – Hardcover
The book will be published in English
They were prisoners of the ‘ghetto’, among the 75,666 Jews who, with the invasion of German troops into their homeland Czechoslovakia lost their homes, property, and human rights, and were subsequently deported to Theresienstadt, a small fortress town near Prague. There, in Room 28, their paths crossed. In a space of thirty square meters, thirty children spent night and day together. They slept on narrow two- or three-bed wooden bunks, ate their meagre rations of food, or listened avidly as one of their caretakers read to them from the scant library of books. When the lights went out they would talk of the events of the day, of their thoughts and dreams, of their cares and fears, and very often of the futures they planned to have after the war. Time and again one of the group would be torn from their midst to report to the feared transport. Other girls came into Room 28 and became accustomed to the prison-like life. New friendships formed, only to be torn asunder by the next transport. And again the girls would cling to each other all the more tightly under the increasing pressure of unrelentingly threatening events. In September and October 1944, the devastating wave of transports rolled over Room 28 itself and ended the existence of that little community. And yet—sheltered by the Girl’s Home and the caretakers, once in a while the children enjoyed an almost normal life. They learned and sang and grew into a community that created their own hymn and flag. They even founded an organization called “Maagal,” which is Hebrew for circle, and which represents perfection. Perfection was their goal. And thus, in the middle of a miserable situation, a little island emerged, on which humanity, friendship, tolerance, and hope were no empty words. Here, art and culture unfolded their intrinsic powers. The performance of the children’s opera Brundibár in September 1943, in which several of the girls had a role, became the symbol of resistance, hope, and faith—resistance to their conditions, faith in the victory over Nazi-Germany, and hope for a better future. Only fifteen of about sixty girls who passed through Room 28 survived. The book and the exhibition “The Girls of Room 28” are little stones of remembrance for those who died.
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