Petr Ginz

Petr Ginz

Petr Ginz was born on February 1, 1928 in Prague, Czechoslovakia (Present-Day: Prague, the Czech Republic.)

His Father was Otto Ginz, was Jewish and the Manager of the Export Department of a Prague Textile Company and a notable Esperantist, and his Mother was Marie Ginzová (née Dolanská) and wasn’t Jewish.

An Esperantist (Esperanto: esperantisto) is a Person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto.

Esperanto is a Constructed Language created in 1887 that is meant to be a Universal Second Language so that everyone can speak to each other regardless of their Native Language.

There are 1,000 Native Esperanto Speakers and 2 Million People who speak Esperanto as a Second or Third Language as of 2026.

Petr’s Parents met at an Esperanto Conference in 1921.

Petr’s Sister, Eva Ginzová, was born in 1930.

Petr was very Intelligent.

Between the ages of 8 and 14 he wrote four Novels: “From Prague to China”, “The Wizard from Altay Mountains”, “Around the World in One Second” and “A Visit from Prehistory.”

His Novels were stylized after Jules Vern and Petr illustrated them himself.

In March 1938 Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia.

According to Nazi Racial Laws Petr was a Mischling (English: Half-Breed) a Person with 1 Aryan Parent and 1 Non-Aryan (Jewish, Roma, Sinti or Black) Parent.

(Petr’s drawing “Lunar Landscape”)

As a Mischling he was to be deported to a Concentration Camp when he turned 14 years old.

On October 22, 1942, when he was 14, he was deported from Prague to the Theresienstadt (or Terezín) Concentration Camp.

In 1944, when she turned 14, Eva was also deported from Prague to the Theresienstadt (or Terezín) Concentration Camp.

Theresienstadt was in German-Occupied Czechoslovakia, 43 miles from Prague, and was used as a Propaganda Show Camp where Jews from Western Europe (especially Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Czechoslovakia) especially Famous People (Artists, Scientists, Performers, Conductors, Singers, etc.) were held Prisoner to show off to International Delegations as to how the Germans were treating the Jews.

144,000 Men, Women and Children were held in Theresienstadt.

33,000 Men, Women and Children died inside Theresienstadt (from starvation and shootings.)

90,000 Men, Women and Children were deported from Theresienstadt to the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland where the vast majority were gassed to death.

Only 4,000 of the 90,000 deported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz survived the War.

 Petr continued to study and write even while in Theresienstadt.

He wrote and published a Literary Magazine called “Vedem: (English: “We Are Leading”) in Czech.

It was published illegally and in secret by Petr f and other Boys every Friday from 1942 until 1944.

“Vedem” included Poems, Essays, Jokes, Dialogues, Literary Reviews, Stories, and Drawings.

800 Pages of “Vedem” survived the War.

Of the 92 Boys who worked on “Vedem” only 15 survived the War,

Petr also wrote a Short Story called "Rambles through Theresienstadt" in which he interviews People and Comments on People, Buildings, and even the Crematorium.

Petr also kept a Diary while in Theresienstadt.

Petr was sent on one of the last Cattle Trains from Theresienstadt to the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland where he arrived on September 29, 1944 and was immediately murdered in the Gas Chamber.

He was 16 years old.

Petr’s Father was deported to Theresienstadt in the last few months of the War and survived.

Petr’s Sister also survived Theresienstadt.

Petr’s Mother stayed in Prague until it was liberated by the Soviet Army in 1945.

Petr’ Sister published his Diary (which Petr gave her before he was deported) after the War.

The English Version of his Diary was published in 2007.

(Stone of the Disappeared dedicated to Petr Ginza – Stárkova Street, Prague)

Petr’s Father died in Israel in 1976.

Petr’s Mother died in Israel in 1990.

Petr’s Sister died in Israel in 2022.

One of his drawings, depicting a lunar landscape, became famous in January 2003 when Israeli Astronaut Ilan Ramon took it as a copy on board the Space Shuttle Columbia.

On that Space Flight, Columbia was destroyed on February 1, 2003 during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all Astronauts.

On January 18, 2005, a Czech Postage Stamp with the painting Moonscape and a portrait of Petr Ginz was issued.