The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
I returned to the Holocaust Memorial (officially The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) today for the third time since I have been in Berlin. I orginally went when I went on my walking tour, I went again last night to see the memorial lit up, and I went again today to go to the information centre located below the memorial. It is an incredibly emotional place. Of the places I have been to, it is comparable only to Ground Zero while parts f the trade center where still standing and the American Cementary at the beaches of Normandy.
They have several rooms -
One room has the story of 15 different families, along with family photos, histories etc, and the story of how and when they were exterminated by the Nazi's. Just normal families living everyday lives when suddenly the world changed.
Another room has letters, post cards, and excerpts from diaries that were written by people in death camps or on their way to death camps. The letters and excerpts are incredible as people, knowing that their death is just a matter of time, and seeing people around them dying everyday, write about their thoughts and their wishes for them and their families. Their descriptions of 72 hour train rides in the stifiling heat, with no food or water, packed into cattle cars so tightly that everyone stood up because they were wedged together, while babies were crying, and everyone knowing that they were going to their death, brought tears to my eyes and a complete emptiness to my soul. Several letters are from children to their parents asking why they have to die while at the same time saying sweet goodbyes. One excerpt was from a man who had already lost all of his family and he was questioning why he was still alive and what he was living for. Even if he survived what would he have to live for. It was written on toliet paper as that was the only thing he could find to write on. One story was told by a man who witnessed a mother being shot and thrown into a mass grave while her baby continued to cling to her and even continued to nurse after it's mother was dead. Such horror afflicted upon people is almost unimaginable.
Except their are pictures. Pictures of mass graves, bodies stacked on top of each other, people packed into cattle cars, and paople starved to death yet still alive. One picture was from 1934 right after the Nazi's had come to power and the trouble was just beginning. It had just become against the law for a German to date a Jew. The photo was of a Jewish boy and a German girl who had been dating being paraded around the streets with signs across their chest and shoulders. The one on the boy said "I defied Germany and the one on the girl said I was defied by a Jew.
I guess there is a lot of truth to the saying that "Those who do not study and learn from history are doomed to repeat it." And I guess that is the good that these memorials do for us.
Tomorrow on to Warsaw to meet Becky and I promise that my next posting will be a little more upbeat. Take care.
They have several rooms -
One room has the story of 15 different families, along with family photos, histories etc, and the story of how and when they were exterminated by the Nazi's. Just normal families living everyday lives when suddenly the world changed.
Another room has letters, post cards, and excerpts from diaries that were written by people in death camps or on their way to death camps. The letters and excerpts are incredible as people, knowing that their death is just a matter of time, and seeing people around them dying everyday, write about their thoughts and their wishes for them and their families. Their descriptions of 72 hour train rides in the stifiling heat, with no food or water, packed into cattle cars so tightly that everyone stood up because they were wedged together, while babies were crying, and everyone knowing that they were going to their death, brought tears to my eyes and a complete emptiness to my soul. Several letters are from children to their parents asking why they have to die while at the same time saying sweet goodbyes. One excerpt was from a man who had already lost all of his family and he was questioning why he was still alive and what he was living for. Even if he survived what would he have to live for. It was written on toliet paper as that was the only thing he could find to write on. One story was told by a man who witnessed a mother being shot and thrown into a mass grave while her baby continued to cling to her and even continued to nurse after it's mother was dead. Such horror afflicted upon people is almost unimaginable.
Except their are pictures. Pictures of mass graves, bodies stacked on top of each other, people packed into cattle cars, and paople starved to death yet still alive. One picture was from 1934 right after the Nazi's had come to power and the trouble was just beginning. It had just become against the law for a German to date a Jew. The photo was of a Jewish boy and a German girl who had been dating being paraded around the streets with signs across their chest and shoulders. The one on the boy said "I defied Germany and the one on the girl said I was defied by a Jew.
I guess there is a lot of truth to the saying that "Those who do not study and learn from history are doomed to repeat it." And I guess that is the good that these memorials do for us.
Tomorrow on to Warsaw to meet Becky and I promise that my next posting will be a little more upbeat. Take care.
posted by Bryan at 8:53 AM
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