Happiness built on sadness

Jacki & I had some unusual luck in finding our apartment in Vienna; wonderful location, friendly neighbors, large and comfortable. We hope it will be our home for years to come.

Gregor, our close friend and landlord, brings to our attention that our current situation comes with a sad legacy. Our apartment was once the home of Charlotte Kerpen. On the date of her 88th birthday, june 28th 1942, she was deported from her apartment, our apartment, Jägerstraße 16/4 into Theresienstadt, a concentration camp in what is now the Czech Republic. She was killed 11 days later on july 9th 1942.

I think of my own grandmother who lives in the warmth and security of her family. I reflect on the horror that Charlotte Kerpen experienced in the last days of her life. A small note to her can be found here. We cannot return our little apartment to Charlotte, but it will always be hers.

The following footnote cannot adequately describe the horror of Charlotte's 88th birthday…

The Theresienstadt "camp-ghetto" existed for three and a half years, between November 24, 1941 and May 9, 1945. It was used to hold German, Austrian, and Czech Jews of a particular age, or with disability, and those with a domestic celebrity in the arts or other cultural life.

It was expected that that poor conditions there would hasten the deaths of many deportees, until the SS and police could deport the survivors to killing centers in the East

Of the approximately 140,000 Jews transferred to Theresienstadt, nearly 90,000 were deported to points further east and almost certain death. Roughly 33,000 died in Theresienstadt itself.

Fifteen thousand children passed through Theresienstadt. Although forbidden to do so, they attended school. They painted pictures, wrote poetry, and otherwise tried to maintain a vestige of normalcy. Approximately 90 percent of these children perished in death camps.

hello from the bike

This will only be of interest to those who dress in lycra at 5am in the cold (The sound quality is not so great).