Bidspirit auction | SIDDUR (PRAGUE 1893), WITH DEDICATION

SIDDUR (PRAGUE 1893), WITH DEDICATION WRITTEN AT THERESIENSTADT IN THE MIDST OF THE HOLOCAUST. - SIDDUR  WITH IMPRESSIVE  BINDING This siddur seems to have been given as a gift from an inmate to a couple during the horrendous days of the Holocaust, whilst incarcerated in the infamous concentration camp/ghetto, Theresienstadt. The inscription reads, (free translation) “To remember our common day, at Theresienstadt in the Bohemian region, And our mutual circumstances of tragedy and sickness, However also our shared hope in a better future, for us, Our children and our unhappy nation. Our eternal G-d will not forsake us, He should remember us and send us peace, peace, peace, Ad meah shonim (until 100 years) my dear friend, Theresienstadt 3/1/43 dedicated to Issac and Chaya Frankel.” Theresienstadt concentration camp, also referred to as Theresienstadt Ghetto, was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress and garrison city of Terezín (German name), located in what is now the Czech Republic. Tens of thousands died there, some killed outright and others dying from malnutrition and disease. More than 150,000 other persons (including tens of thousands of children) were held there for months or years, before being sent by rail transports to their deaths at Treblinka and Auschwitz extermination camps in occupied Poland, as well as to smaller camps elsewhere. More than 33,000 inmates died as a result of malnutrition, disease, or the sadistic treatment by their captors. In the fall of 1944, the Nazis began the liquidation of the ghetto, deporting more prisoners to Auschwitz and other camps; in one month, they deported 24,000 victims. Late in the war, after D-Day and the Invasion of Normandy, the Nazis permitted representatives from the Danish Red Cross and the International Red Cross to visit Theresienstadt in order to dispel rumors about the extermination camps. The visit was solely for propaganda purposes and weeks of preparation preceded the visit. The area was cleaned up, and the Nazis deported many Jews to Auschwitz to minimize the appearance of overcrowding in Theresienstadt. With calculated cruelty the Nazis directed the building of fake shops and cafés to imply that the Jews lived in relative comfort. Miraculously surviving the Holocaust this siddur is a true symbol of the eternal Jewish spirit, of turning to G-d in prayer even in the most distressing of times. A unique expression of Jewish essence in the darkest days of the Holocaust. In excellent condition with a fine decorative binding seemingly of ivory.