The Lifeline to Solace, Strength,  and Hope

Olga Klepáčková, Jana Gabrielová, Martina Černá, Milan Tomka

The Lifeline to Solace, Strength, and Hope

Číslo: 4/2024
Periodikum: Sociální práce

Klíčová slova: holocaust, Terezín ghetto, care system, social work, children, music

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Anotace: OBJECTIVES: This paper reviews music as a significant part of the children’s care and social

work in the Terezín ghetto during the Holocaust. THEORETICAL BASE: In the Terezín
ghetto, concentration camp, and model ghetto with a specific role in Nazi propaganda, the
Jewish self-government was able to create a sophisticated and efficient system providing care
and support by the prisoners for the prisoners amid the most adverse conditions. While rich
cultural life in this inhomogeneous, international community was thoroughly explored, the social
work and care practice remained understudied. METHODS: Our historical research particularly
aimed to investigate the use of musical activities within the children’s care system and social work
practice in the ghetto and their benefits for the children. OUTCOMES: Findings demonstrate
how engagement in various musical activities helped to fulfil the goals adults caring for the
children strived to reach. They purposefully and creatively used them to help several thousand
children, often severely traumatised, better cope and support their emotional and social wellbeing in this place with extreme conditions. SOCIAL WORK IMPLICATIONS: These
experiences of Terezín’s prisoners affirmed some of the best benefits of engagement in musical
activities in meeting the psychosocial needs of children facing adversities relevant even today and
for contemporary social work practice.