The selected reminiscences of Erik Polak depict the life at Heim, as well as the personality of its warden, Valtr Eisinger.

A three-day stay at the assembly area in Veletržní palác followed by the departure for Terezín with my mother; my father died in 1941. After arrival the Schleusse (“sluice”) in Podmokly barracks, then a short stay in Hannover barracks in mass quarters together with the adults. It lasted for some 3 – 4 weeks, just at the time when the character of the camp was changing. The civil population was gone by then; the regime slackened and only at the beginning some minor restrictions were in operation. I had heard about the Jugendheim (which was a Kinderheim in fact) and got to stay – more or less by chance – at Heim 1 with prof. Eisinger. I was a boy of 13 then and, like everyone else, was admitted after a personal interview with Eisinger.
The government did not exist then; it only came to existence sometime before Christmas 1942. Heim 1 was a regular home then. Things were only taking shape. Eisinger was apparently still searching. From the beginning of my stay, I worked in the garden-husbandry, although the obligation to work arose only at 14 years of age. At the Home, there were two groups of boys: 1) those who worked and 2) those, who studied and stayed at the Home. The Home was occupied by boys born between 1928 and 1929. Sometimes, the older boys avoided work and studied in one of the hobby groups. Working in the garden, however, carried along material advantages; it was possible to smuggle out vegetables, and vegetables could be bartered for anything. I was glad to work there. There were also apprentices among us, for instance Honza Boskowitz was trained to become an electrician. I worked in the garden without training. Those who worked returned home (to the Home, that is) more tired, while the others were more hungry. (We got the so called zusatzes – “seconds”.) During evening programs, I often fell asleep. I could do nothing about it, even though I wanted to listen. I think it happened to me on the middle bunk bed, where I lay (we could not all of us fit around the table, of course), when Poláček was lecturing. Only later I came to realize, that this fact, this division of the boys to “working” and “not working”, influenced the relationships in the Home. The ones who studied knew more, of course. There was a difference between us in the level of education.

The Community
There were about 40 – 50 boys in the Heim; of course, the number changed as trains came and went. The ratio between the ones who worked and others was roughly 1:1, but even that was changing. We did experience a certain “golden age” of Terezín, when less people were leaving and the Terezín core remained relatively stable. Boys, who reached 15, left for the youth quarters in L 218.

Patriotism
Our Home was a rectangular room with a narrow space in the middle, surrounded by bunk beds. The bunk heads formed a sort of frontage, and the aisle was transformed into Wenceslas Square and decorated. We used paper and colors that we managed to get. We painted houses and stores and the block of bunk heads represented the National Museum. Prague was very dear to us all; everything had its meaning here. In front of the Museum, tram number 1 was painted; it did not matter, that nr. 1 never went there; the painting presented our Home.

The Škid Anthem
(consisted of three stanzas and was sung on the melody of the Worker’s Song)

Oh, what glory; all are cheering
The whole of One is on its feet
Government has come to being
Of the Republic of Škid

Every man is our brother
Christian or Jewish kid
United we march under the banner
Of the Republic of Škid

Insult us no one shall dare
No one shall dare to hit
To work hard we swear
To honor the Republic of Škid.

This was sung every Friday. The anthem also opened all government meetings, readings from the magazine Vedem and the evening programs, attended by everybody. It was also sung on ceremonial occasions.

Vedem
The contributions were collected roughly as follows: Some of the boys contributed willingly; sometimes the contributions had to be asked for, or even extracted from, the boys. P. Ginz managed to virtually squeeze them out of you, harshly and without scruples. I was more into sports; here I did well. There is an episode connecting to this: One day, a long distance race was held. We ran around Magdeburk and Jégrovka and then back home. (It was, I think, organized by the head of the Home.) I did very well. Two days later, Ginz came up to me and virtually scolded me, asking me what I was thinking, that being good at sports is not everything, and that I should do something for the Home as well and write something. I wrote a long article together with H. Boskowitz (Z. Ornest and J. Kotouč, who was in the government, were, of course, much more active in Vedem; Kotouč was also the one to design and manufacture the badge of Škid) and it is a part of the exhibition Art in Terezín, transcribed in P. Ginze’s hand. It describes, how we went to steal potatoes in the Dresden cellar with a sack to stock up for winter. I have to admit, I laughed when I read the article by Jiří B. about the delousing chamber. We called this boy Teddy; he was strong, a plumber apprentice in the ghetto and had no intellectual inclinations whatsoever. And Ginz forced even him to write an article which turned out entirely matching his character: a description of the chamber, all its technical components etc. He had to virtually grind it out; he was no big writer. He was a fine boy, but working in the magazine was entirely out of his character. The magazine was red out loud; but not only that. It was put up and then archived (At the Ginzes. After that, if I remember it well, it was only discussed among the boys.)

Warden Valtr Eisinger
1. He was ripping in approaching the adolescent, unruly kids, such as were in the ghetto. Even those who did not love him respected him tremendously. He was able to nail down what the boys needed. I remember the evening debates at the barrack, after the lights were turned off. He’d climb on the bunk bed and start to tell stories. The atmosphere was intimate and the boys dared to ask more. He would talk about things that mattered to us, about sexual problems, about the problem of masturbation among the boys. All these things he managed to discuss with delicacy.
2. KK SKRZ (Disciplinary Squad “Through”) – He would never use corporal punishment himself, but let the “Skrz Boys” do, what they judged appropriate. They were the ones who punished. He always remained neutral.
3. He had the gift of being able to laugh at himself. He would come up with anecdotes in which he was among the laughing stock. He did not mind his professor’s dignity; it was by no chance that he would let us call him Shorty. (New Year’s Eve 1943 – a procession of masks was burying the old year; the whole Home marched behind the coffin, singing.)
One important feature of Eisinger’s character and political inclination was true internationalism. Home 5 – DROR – Vlaštovky (“The swallows”) was a Zionist home, with rivalry and competition. We had a more Bohemian-Jewish spirit, whereas they had the Zionist spirit.
Eisinger was also able to extract everyone’s hidden qualities. He would assign specific tasks in the community. We would compete in essay writing; e.g., we wrote an essay on our views on upbringing in the family and in a community. I wrote it on the roof on a straddle scaffold behind the chimney, where I would search for the scanty privacy that was nowhere else to be found. Eisinger thought my essay a very good one. Eisinger’s upbringing, his sense for the community, remained with you somehow. Such were his ideals. – On the other hand, he was able to play the fool at one of the numerous SS inspections, in front of the commission in 1944. We’d sit and await the inspection. The SS man came and asked us what we were doing. Eisinger replied that we are reading “Toman und Wald-Jungfrau” (Toman and the Wood Nymph). He looked completely serious. He was that kind of man. Not every boy got along with him. One was W. Roth,  who was later in the “opposition”. He was a truly noble boy, had something English in himself.

The subsequent articles from various issues of the magazine VEDEM require no comment. They show the everyday life in the ghetto, problems as well as the attempts at solving them. They are mostly written humorously and candidly.

MOTTO: DESTROY WHATEVERYOU CAN A TEREZÍN PROVERB

I don't know why it is - perhaps the reaction to some injection, heaven knows, anything is possible here - but it's a proven thing: the inmates of our home (interestingly only those up to the age of fifteen) have been afflicted by a strange disease that, so far, has never occurred anywhere else. It's more or less painless, at least for those who are aftlicted. What's it like? Suddenly (the incubation period is very short) the patient feels an irresistible urge to destroy or disturb some part of Home L 417. Since it is my responsibility to care for the well-being of the Home and its furnishings - and I stress: the Home and its furnishings - I decided to seek out the particulars of what, for me, is a treacherous disease. After detailed investigations I have come to the conclusion that people infected by this unknown virus respond in different ways. One might almost characterize it as a form of specialization. I would like to describe some of these areas for you, so that you can avoid them, if you are healthy, or discuss your own area with other specialists.
Some of those affected, for instance, carry things in such a clumsy manner that they break as many windows as possible. (Highly irresponsible, is it not, given the shortage of glass in the ghetto? Fool, you object, that's just why they're doing it. At least they'll have fresh air.) Football is played exclusively in the corridors, and unless there is a conílicting program, it's played in the home as well. (What's wrong with dirty smudges on the walls?) Who needs a wastepaper basket, when we have windows that give out onto the garden? We steal the bulb from the cellar for our very own private night light. (Who cares if someone breaks his neck down there in the dark?) Boys, I know a new game: if you stick enough potatoes down the washroom drains, you'll have a really neat flood there in no time. (You could, if you wanted, use millet, noodles, or some other food.) Never take ashes all the way to the dump; take them to the pump or empty them between the doors. If you see a good blackout blind anywhere, tear it down immediately. (Serious reprimands - twenty-eight so far - have been received by the Jugendleitung, but so what?) Broken dishes can be thrown down the toilet. (Then Dr. Jachnin has a lot of trouble finding new ones.) It only takes a few seconds to ruin the lock to the gymnasium door. Kicking down a bit of the corner wall is child's play for the expert. Emptying the tar container is fun. Mrs. Bachnerová got the corridor beautifully clean (poor woman, she had to use cold water), so don't hesitate to strew pieces of paper or dirty bandages about. It won't look so monotonous. I found many more areas of specialization, but this is enough for one article. Still, I'm an optimist and so I say: it's better than catching typhoid. Off you go, boys, the north wall of our house is still spotless. Go to it, give me something to do.

- Technician-journalist (Leo Demner)

WHY?