Food was another disastrous situation. There simply wasn’t enough, and what was available was watered-down, unnutritious, and tasteless. Typical meals of “soups” were mainly lukewarm water flavored with the occasional chunk of unwashed potato or other vegetable, and sometimes accompanied by a crust of bread. Meager amounts of margarine and sugar were strictly rationed, and fresh fruit and vegetables were practically non-existent. Camp-wide weight loss and illness resulted, particularly among the elderly. At its peak in 1943, maladies and diseases like typhoid fever, tuberculosis, scurvy and diarrhea affected 31% of the entire population.

"Line-up for food"
Drawing by Norbert Troller

Those who were employed in some form, be it labor or administration, received slightly larger rations than the old and the sick, who could not work. This only compounded their woes, and they relied on spoiled garbage scraps or the kindness of friends and relatives to supplement their meager fare. Many were already too weak to pursue these channels and died not long after their arrival or the onset of their afflictions. In September of 1942, nearly 130 prisoners died a day, many of whom were elderly. When the Nazis initially began redirecting the older prominent Reich Jews to live out their days in Theresienstadt, the fortress was anticipated to be an “old persons’ camp.” However, the Nazis soon tired of dealing with these high death rates. At a camp ill-equipped for dealing with the bodies, the decision was made to ship the oldest prisoners to the East in 9 transports of 1000 people. So much for living out their days—the retraction on their word was a typical Nazi cruelty. Theresienstadt was now operating in full swing in its function as a detour and way station on the road to the gas chambers of the East.

"Elderly person climbing to attic quarters"
Drawing by Norbert Troller

Imprisoned doctors and nurses provided prisoners’ medical care, though the conditions of the camp were so wretched that ample coverage for the entire population was impossible. The health care centers initially lacked in everything a proper hospital would require—water, sterilized bandages, disinfectants, quality surgical instruments. After a time a state-of-the-art operating room was outfitted for most serious surgeries, although it’s not clear why the Nazis would provide the Jews with access to such tools when they were lacking in so much else. Worst of all was the absence of medicines to distribute among the sick. The best that could be offered was a multipurpose powdery purple substance used for disinfection, and even this was rarely available to the ghetto population. Those with infectious diseases were often kept in isolation wards, and one of the most dilapidated and squalid barracks was devoted to the mentally ill. Yet even in the best accommodations, death lurked on every doorstep.