Saturday, April 5, 2014

Day 1: Berlin

After an all night flight from the states, we began our day by meeting our German guide Olaf at the airport and immediately began learning about the wonderful city of Berlin. As we drove to the hotel, Olaf explained some of the history of the city of Berlin, including the East-West division post World War II until the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of the city. Once at our hotel, we met up with the group from Bishop O'Dowd in Oakland, California and boarded our tour bus to see more of the city.  Our first stopping point was Checkpoint Charlie (crossing point between the Soviet and American sectors) where Olaf described how foreigners, diplomats and Allied soldiers were allowed to go into East Berlin.   
                                                             After stopping to view the Brandenberg Gate, we walked to the nearby Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. While there, Olaf discussed the meaning of this modern memorial in the "center of the center of Berlin." In contrast to traditional memorials this modern memorial is purposefully ambiguous; we are not told what it is. We are free to judge and walk inside and experience it. 

Following our interaction with this outdoor exhibit, we discussed the various ways that we reacted to what we saw as disrespect in the space: jumping on the stiles, playing hide and go seek, and smoking while sitting on the stelae.  Ironically, as our bus drove away, we were shocked to see a bride and groom sitting on a white cloth on top of a stelae as their wedding photographer snapped photos.  We stopped to investigate. Olaf talked to them and told us they were locals who stopped there to take photographs on their wedding day. The spring blossoms of the tree in the memorial space directly behind the kissing bride and groom reflected the colors of her long ivory gown and the flower in her hair, here sitting on the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in the city of Berlin on a brisk April day.

After experiencing the central memorial, we went to the nearby memorial to the Roma/Sinti.  The fountain in the center of the memorial incorporates a triangle with a live flower that is replaced daily.  The water's ripples echo in the lovely woods of the park, and the surrounding rocks are inscribed with the names of the camps where the Nazis killed Roma and Sinti victims.
We stopped to view a new exhibition of murals painted on the Berlin Wall.  Olaf pointed out the significance of the date of the fall of the Berlin Wall: November 9, 1989.  For our students who have studied the Holocaust in our classrooms, the connection was immediate: Kristallnacht occured on that date in 1939.

  
Mural image combining German and Israeli flags.
We ate our favorite ham sandwich lunch at Potsdamer Platz and then went to The Topography of Terror - the site of the bureaucratic machinery that carried out Nazi policy including the SS and the Gestapo. Tomorrow Olaf will lead us in a morning discussion that will address the essential questions surrounding Berlin and the "Final Solution" which will frame Day 2. Stay tuned for tomorrow´s blog which will feature comments from the students.

18 comments:

  1. It is so great to see everyone has landed safely in Germany! Embrace the atmosphere in Berlin for it is a prelude to the trip to come. Listen carefully to Olaf, as he is a true Berliner and will relay only the most informative and unbiased information. Enjoy !

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  2. I can't believe that people were actually taking wedding photos on the memorial! I'm glad you had Olaf with you so you could investigate that. That just shows the lack of knowledge and overall disregard some berliners have toward the memorials.

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  4. Glad you all landed safely! The Memorial of The Murdered Jews, I remember distinctly. The feeling of the unknown while walking through the memorial was present. The fact that people disrespected the memorial, by taking their wedding photos is unfathomable. It shows their lack of knowledge and I'm so glad Olaf investigated that!

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  5. Great start to an amazing experience

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  6. Looks like you have already learned so much!!! Enjoy your time spent there. Looking forward to following your travels! Mrs. Groff

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  7. Great photos! I especially like the mural of the German and Israeli flags combined. So weird about the wedding photos. Love the group photo by the big bear! :)

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  8. So cool to see everyone there!! I hope the trip continues well and you return with a lot of great experiences. Shout out from MP :)

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  9. The wedding photo incident is truly...interesting. One of my favorite pictures is the mural of combination of the Israeli and German flag. To me, that symbolizes peace and unity. I'm glad you all landed safely. I can't wait to see more.

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  11. I hope you all have a most interesting and memorable trip. If you go to the train station from which the Jews of Berlin were deported to Riga and other ghettos, please take a moment to look at the plaques and really take note of how many deportations from this one station were necessary to liquidate Berlin of its Jewish population. Mind-boggling.
    Felicia Alexander

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  12. I remember when the Berlin Wall was destroyed... it was significant to me as my dad served in the US Air Force and was stationed there during the late 60s/early 70s (he knew Russian). The unification was of great importance to many of us and the hope of a new beginning...

    The purposefully ambiguous memorial - your posts caused me to wonder if memorials were more obvious, would there be as much disrespect shown? May the people not know and thus the disrespect is in ignorance? And does this make it "okay"?

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  13. Great to see everyone has landed safe and sound - and the trip is well on its way... Enjoy and learn!

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  14. Berlin is amazing city.. you will get fine and attractive places..

    Get the cheap international travel and cheap domestic travel.

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  15. I hope that within the homesickness that you may be feeling that you stay focused and are able to truly experience this trip to the fullest.

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  16. I still don't really understand why people would take their wedding pictures at the memorial (especially when they are locals). Do they not understand the magnitude and seriousness of what happened?

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  17. I remember how meaningful the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe was; as we went further and further into the heart of the memorial, it seemed almost suffocating. It really put everything into perspective, and is a harrowingly beautiful way to begin the trip, just as it was last year. It's very grounding, and pulls everything into focus. It makes you think, and you all had a unique thought-provoking experience with the individuals who believed the memorial to be an apt location for their wedding photos.

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  18. This is great post. i like it. thanks for sharing like nice information. visit here more about me.europe tour package

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