To understand Terezin you have to understand that the fort was built by the Austrians nearly 150 years before WWII as a way to block the Prussians from using the Elbe River tributary as an entrance to Prague. The small fortress was the primary fight fortress. The large fortress or Hlavni Pevnost was the garrison town. It had fortifications around it for protection but the primary fort was the small fortress as it was also closer to the river for artillery. It really is simply a town that functions that way. When you are walking the Hlavni, it certainly does not feel like a concentration camp but truly grid town. In 1940's the Germans realized that they did not need to build a camp, they could just you the fort they acquired from the Czechs and use it to store Jews with the fortifications keeping people in rather than preventing people from getting in. Still the Large fortress need an enforcement zone and that was the purpose of the small fortress. The entire time I was there, I was simply amazed by the town. All the Nazis did was to repurpose the camp.

Accessible by bus from Autobusové nádraží Praha Holešovice, and well worth part of an entire day trip with the Mala Pevnost. Get an early bus and plan to spend an entire day here.