Depression to Revelry

I visited Terezín today, which was the site of a Jewish ghetto established by the Nazis. It served as a gateway to the concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Treblinka to the east. Thousands of Jews died there, and the memorial is filled with descriptions of the deplorable conditions that the Jews endured as well as poetry and drawings of those that experienced life there. You can read more about it at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terezin
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/terezin.html

Arriving back in Praha, I walked toward Staré Město and it was teeming with people. Yesterday, the ice hockey final match between the Czechs and Canadians was being broadcast on huge screens in Staré Město. Hundreds of screaming youth had their faces painted with the Czech flag. Today, the celebrations from Czech victory continue with a concert and jubilation. Young folks marching through the streets of Praha breaking out into chants 'Český! Český!', cars honking horns, general euphoria and madness.

What a city, this Praha.