A Hebrew Dairy from the Theresienstadt Ghetto: Dr. Berthold Jeiteles (1942-1944)

This lecture will deal with the diary of Dr. Berthold Jeiteles from the Theresienstadt camp (ghetto). The diary is unique in that it was written in the camp in Hebrew from 1942–1944. Dr. Berthold Jeiteles was an Orthodox Jew deported to Theresienstadt from Prague at age 70. As an older person, he survived there against all the odds, despite losing members of his close family. Jeiteles was a doctor of chemistry who devoted his life to compiling a concordance of the Talmud, and continued this work even in the camp, while lacking minimal conditions. In addition, he had a historical sense, collecting and preserving testimonies on daily life in the ghetto.

This diary was written by an educated older man, with life experience, observing German barbarity and Jewish suffering. Inter alia he reports hearing rumors of what was happening in Auschwitz and describes the possibility of religious observance in Theresienstadt, while most of those imprisoned were only loosely connected with religion.

In September 2021, A Hebrew Diary from the Theresienstadt Ghetto was published [Hebrew], edited by Prof. Benjamin Z. Kedar and Dr. Margalit Shlain