Day 2 Berlin

We began the day at the hotel with a lecture by Shalmi that began with the questions: "What is a nation?" and "What is a tribe?" We discussed how a shared language and common values contribute to the idea of nationalism, a new concept in the 18th century that developed as a reaction to the conquest of Napoleon. As Napoleon conquered all of Europe, shedding blood in the name of democracy and such universal values as equality, he aroused local and regional feelings of nationalism history is important because it gives us heritage and identify. Shalmi then raised the essential question: "Is democracy contradictory to nationalism?" and answered, not necessarily, but possibly. In the 1800's, with the Industrial Revolution, cities began to grow and new groups tried to assimilate into the local population. With the growth of cities comes the need for a new way to govern the people.

Part of the reason we begin in Berlin is to try to somehow make sense of and contextualize the history. In order to understand the complexity of the history of the Holocaust, we need to learn about what led up to the combination of nationalism with socialism, which became the National Socialist German Workers' Party--otherwise known as the Nazi party.

Shalmi continued to teach us the history as we began our day at the German Historical Museum. Today we were joined by German friends, Sarah Lautenbach who was a German exchange student at New Milford High School last year. As we went through the museum, Shalmi pointed out the importance of Versailles for the Germans. Following their victory in the Franco Prussian War of 1871 the emperor of Prussia (Germany) was crowned. However, after the fall of the empire, immediately after World War I, Versailles has a new meaning for the German people. This became the place where they received the official recognition of their defeat, and were punished by the Versailles Treaty. Before World War I, the military consisted of officers who were from the upper classes. After the trench warfare of World War I, the soldiers who emerged from the trenches entered a new society in which all were equal, war equalized them under the flag and for the first time you have a combination of socialism and nationalism.

From the museum, we continued to the Otto Weidt Workshop for the Blind. In this factory, students heard about the blind and deaf employees who made brooms and brushes from horse hair and pig hair. Otto Weidt also employed Jews, and used the Berlin Work Act to legally keep employing his Jewish workers during the war. Otto protected his Jewish employees by a Jewish family in a secret room built behind a secret wardrobe closet. Inside the false back wall of the wardrobe, behind clothing was an opening into the room where the Jews would sleep at night and hide during Gestapo inspections.

After eight months of hiding, the family was betrayed and deported to Auschwitz, where they were all murdered. Our guide explained to us how Otto Weidt helped hide Inge Deutchkorn, who is the survivor who preserved and documented the rescue efforts as a tribute to the memory of this heroic man. Inge still lives in Berlin, and at 90 years old, still teaches about this important history at the museum that she single-handedly established, memorializing the rescue efforts of Otto Weidt.

After a time out for a lovely lunch in the square, we continued learning as we walked to the Jewish Cemetery. On the way, Olaf pointed out the Stumbling Stones memorials scattered throughout Berlin, which are brass squares placed in the sidewalk near buildings in which Berlin Jews lived prior to being deported and killed during the Holocaust. Each stone has engraved information about with the name, birthday and fate of the individual.

At the Jewish Cemetery, we saw a tombstone that marks the grave of Moses Mendelssohn, who lived from 1729 until 1786. He firmly believed that Jews needed to come into the modern world in order to be part of society instead of outsiders. One way to become part of the nation of Germany was to translate the Bible into German instead of Hebrew. Mendelssohn's grandson, Felix Mendelssohn, the famous composer, was baptised a Lutheran Christian, and was one of the greatest German composers of all time. Despite this, another German composer, Richard Wagner, said that Mendelssohn could never be German, only a Jew. To be German came from the soul, Jews can only imitate. At the cemetery, there were approximately 3000 Jews buried. At the end of World War II, about the same number of Germans who died during World War II were also buried in mass graves at this same spot, illustrating again the complex history of this place.

From there, we walked to the Old-New Synagogue, which was inaugurated in 1867. In 1938, during Kristallnacht, the synagogue was burned and vandalized by the SA. However, the chief of police of the neighborhood,Wilhelm Krutzfeld, prevented more destruction by chasing away the arsonists and calling the fire department. The synagogue was ready for use again by April of 1939, but in 1940 it was confiscated by the Wehrmacht and used as a warehouse for the remainder of the war. The last service was held in March of 1940.

Students also learned at the Old-New Synagogue that the first female rabbi, Regina Jonas, was associated with this synagogue. During the war she was deported to Theresienstadt and died at the age of 42 in Auschwitz.

Alyssa L. says:

Today, our Berlin tour guide, Olaf, casually said something that really stood out to me: "We just walked by another memorial." This happened really simply as if it was a normal thing. The memorial Olaf was talking about was "The lost house" - a building that once was a home but no longer stands today. The names and professions of eight families were on the wall of a neighboring building. The names were just there - just put on the wall to be remembered by anyone willing to look. This is also similar to a memorial that was cemented into the street - the names of individuals who used to live there. But our group would never have noticed it if it wasn't for Olaf; in fact someone from our group was actually standing on the memorial before Olaf pointed it out. These memorials are everywhere and seem to come up out of nowhere. They're hidden - and that really symbolizes who the victims of the Holocaust were.

Tyler says:

What stood out the most to me was the Jewish cemetery. This intrigued me because I've never seen a cemetery without tombstones before. As we were walking through it I kept waiting for us to get to the tombstones, but we never did, and that's when I found out the cemetery had been destroyed and their graves remain unmarked.

Allison says:

What really surprised me today was how Germany's downfall after World War I led to the rise of Nazi power. The important statement to understand is that Germany was looking for a solution and Hitler was their way out. He was their only solution because nothing else was proposed. Hitler used people's fears to win over the German civilization because they were so desperate and humiliated. Mr. Barmore phrased this clearly by stating "The positive can also bring out the negative."

Gabrielle V. says:

Berlin in its entirety is like many European cities, but the history of Berlin is in the details. Throughout the city people involved in the Holocaust are recognized, but not always in obvious ways. Small gold plaques placed at the end of the street in the sidewalk, can so easily be missed. The Nazis dehumanized the Jews, but these memorials rehumanized them by giving them back their identities. If noticed, these memorials make the person pay respect by bowing down as they read them. Although there are many memorials throughout Berlin, dedicated to these people, the smallest ones make you the most involved in the remembering the Holocaust.

Kristina says:

As we stood in the restored Jewish synagogue, our tour guide, Olaf, shared a story with us that was significant to this synagogue. Some people believe that this synagogue was destroyed on Kristallnacht, however, as the S.S were tearing apart and burning down the synagogue, Wilheim Krutzfeld, approached them and put a gun to their heads, telling them to leave the area immediately. By doing this, he managed to save a small part of the Jewish synagogue. The act that he pulled was an incredible act of personal courage. This man was well aware of the consequences that came along with challenging the S. S., but he did it anyway.

Amanda says:

What really stood out to me today was hearing about the first female Rabbi. She converted to Judiasm and studied to be what she wanted to be. Later on, after hundreds of rabbis fled as the Nazis came to power, she stayed and was sent to Auschwitz. Her determination and bravery really got to me as we stood in the same synagogue with which she was associated. It's amazing the way she was able to become the first female rabbi.

Megan says:

Being able to learn about Kristallnacht in one of the places where it actually happened was incredible. After learning about it, we went out into the street which has so much history. Unless you take time to stop and think about it, you will never truly begin to realize not only the impact the Holocaust had on the city of Berlin, its Jews, but ultimately, the rest of Europe.

Samantha says:

Today we visited Otto Weidt's workshop for the blind. These blind workers made brushes in the workshop and this fascinated me. Over the years Otto gave jobs to one hundred people and he also supplied people with food. Otto's workshop had a secret room in the back of the workshop that was hidden behind an armoire. Here a Jewish family hid for eight months. During these difficult times in Germany, Mr. Weidt chose to be an upstander instead of a bystander. He was an extremely courageous person.

Saying HELLO to all from dinner!