The collections department concentrates mainly on three-dimensional objects and works of art. Such items relate to the persecution of prisoners (torture implements, weapons), compulsory labour by prisoners (products from the prison workshops), personal effects (prison clothing, crockery) and items made outside working hours (souvenirs, drawings, poetry, music). The collections contain material from all aspects of culture – art, music, crafts, theatre, literature including addresses by the self-taught etc.). They include paintings, drawings, musical scores, poems and illustrations. An important component comprises evidence for culture in the Terezín Ghetto, in particular a series of posters reflecting the cultural events of the years 1941-45. The Austro-Hungarian period as well as the First and Second World Wars are further represented by militaria, uniforms, medals and emblems. The post-war period is mainly represented by paintings, drawings, sculptures, anti-war and anti-fascist artworks and artworks on the theme of the Holocaust.
The collections administered by the collections department comprised some 12,316 inventory entries by the end of 2010. The majority of the curated items are kept in the Lesser Fortress in the Lesser Fortress Museum building, only the artworks and sheet music by artists from the Terezín Ghetto being lodged in the former Magdeburg Barracks in Terezín.
The collections of the Terezín Memorial were built up primarily from items obtained as gifts or purchased from former prisoners (or their relatives), and to a lesser extent articles transferred from other institutions.
In recent years the growth in terms of new acquisitions has not been great. In addition to gifts, the collections have absorbed items (mainly artworks) offered for sale to the Terezín Memorial, and purchased at auction. Every item, whether a photograph, a drawing, a poem, a transport permit, a clandestine message or a memoir, enriches the collection immeasurably; they allow scientific staff and other researchers to reveal the fates, recollections or names of individuals associated with the history of Terezín and the Second World War, thereby allowing a more coherent picture of the given period. We would like to take this opportunity to ask all those who have the opportunity and desire to offer items linked to the history of Terezín and the Second World War for the collections to advise us of their availability by letter, telephone or e-mail: every offer is welcome.