The day started with a nice seven mile run, an out and back on Prenzlauer Alle. I do love running in new cities. I only wish it weren’t so dark so late into the morning; right now, there is only daylight from 8am until roughly 4pm.
I’m embarrassed to say it, but I was underwhelmed by my visit to Sachenhausen, the former concentration camp. I theorized that it was because I had visited the US Holocaust Museum in DC and Jerusalem and seen the Memorial in Boston that it was my expectation that I’d just feel numb. However, that was not the case. After a presentation on the history of the camp by our guide, Stefan, we toured the grounds. It was a cold, dreary day that seemed to get colder as the day worn on. The camp is surrounded by houses and it feels like it is a park in the middle of the neighborhood. Maybe I was numb because this was a work camp and not an extermination camp, and most of the inmates were political prisoners and not very many Jews. I’m not sure about the implications of that statement or how I feel.
At the start of the tour, we were standing by a building that used to be used by the SS but now was being used by police for training. It was just outside the confines of the camp, and as we were standing there, German policed started yelling and ran to these two men. It was just a drill, a sting operation, but it unnerved many in the group to hear and see this.
As we were departing, Doug reported to the front desk he saw a swastika on the men’s bathroom stall. Police were alerted, his information recorded, and our tour leader contacted. It was disgusting that it happened, yet reassuring that the Germans took this very seriously.
When we returned to the hotel, we had a discussion. Each person offered a thought, going around the room, and then the floor was open for comment. Here are some of the comments:
- It was interesting how people lived so close yet really didn’t do much. It took two months before a lady living in the town wrote a letter to the head of the camp complaining about the smell of burning flesh.
- Interesting how bad economy leads to depression
- Notion of today’s freedom in contrast with our ancestors
- “Smaller things” make Shoah worse
- Shocking how close to the town the camp was and really not far from Berlin
- “Who could possibly want to live next to a camp? A former camp?”
- How cold it was and we had proper clothes – the prisoners did not.
- Impressed with response of sensitivity of current Germans and impressed that it is funded by German government and that this program is staffed mostly by non-Jews.
- Former SS barracks shouldn’t be used as police training
- Discussed singing of anthem at sporting events and nationalism
After, we went to dinner nearby. The food was pretty good, but we took so long (three hours) that we didn’t have time to go out after for Elana (pronounced like Iguana)’s birthday for karaoke. Instead, we found an Irish pub nearby. And then, bed.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Day Two - Touring Berlin
I woke up early enough to go for a run. With a steady snow, I was content to alter my pace to just under nine minute miles, as I ran on the streets of Berlin. Few cars were out, and those that were did not pose a problem. I’m not terribly sure where I went, but I went under the Brandbenberg Gate, passed the Reichstag – where a German policeman tried to tell me (first in German, then in broken English) that I had to run around, and not through the Reichstag, which apparently, is frowned upon in this establishment, and passed a memorial that was in Russian. I was taken aback to see a street named for Yitzhak Rabin in Germany. I did a seven mile out and back in around an hour (1:01). Then breakfast!
In the morning we toured Berlin on a bus. I was most fascinated with the history of East and West Berlin and how the two played a large role in the Cold War. Our first stop took us to a section of the Berlin Wall that is still standing, but covered by art. I remember the significance of the wall as I was in middle school when it fell, watching scenes on TV and discussing them in social studies. I snapped a few pictures of the wall and of some of the art. The one of the two guys kissing is called “The Fraternal Kiss” and is one of the more famous paintings on the East Side Gallery which depicts former Soviet leader, Brezhnev, locking lips with the former head of East Germany, Honecker. I also liked the caricature of Checkpoint Charlie, which we saw right before lunch. I almost got my passport stamped, but that cost about $4, and I tried to haggle unsuccessfully so I walked.
After lunch, we went on a walking tour with the founder of the program, Dr. Dagmir Pruin. She is not Jewish, but is a professor of the Hebrew Bible and very learned in these matters. The tour, “Don’t Trust the Green Grass,” – or in this case, white snow – was meant to get us to see the things that weren’t there: the former thriving Jewish community. At its height, Berlin had 170,000 Jews. 55,000 were murdered in the Shoah. That number is relatively low, but bear in mind that some were able to flee before and some did survive. Those that stayed behind did so because they believed that as bad as things were, they couldn’t get worse.
We started the tour at the site of the former oldest synagogue in Berlin. It is now a small park surrounded by apartment buildings. On the site is a memorial sculpture telling the story of the non-Jewish wives married to Jewish men. The men were taken away and the wives protested, and apparently, the men were returned. As we walked in the dreary cold, we stepped passed plaques indicating where Jews had once lived. One that stuck out was of Uri Aron, who was born in 1942 and murdered in 1943. After, we went to a Jewish cemetery where Moses Mendelssohn is buried. He was a German Jewish philosopher to whose ideas were the basis for the renaissance of European Jews, Haskalah (the Jewish Enlightenment). He has been referred to as the father of Reform Judaism.
Next to the cemetery is a former Jewish old age home – ironic. There is now a Jewish high school; its population is 400, half of which are Jewish.
Back at the hotel, Frank Reichherzer, who is studying for his advanced degree at Humboldt University, gave us a brief history of Germany. I was most interested in the Weimar Republic, having written a paper on it for political science class at GWU. Article 48, the Enabling Act, allowed the Nazis to rise to power. What I did not know that was valuable to learn was just how it was that it came about that Germany reunified.
At night, we went to the New Synagogue to dine with Berlin Jews. Many of those are not German, having come from Russia, but it was an educational experience. Food was scarce by the time we arrived, but I managed a donut which is appropriate for Hanukkah. After, we went to Christmas markets and walked around the mall, splitting in small groups to hit the city. We wandered a market and then walked down Prenzlauer Allee to the Brandenberg Gate. Along the way, we drank some of the “hot wine” and stopped at a store where I bought a shirt of the “walking man” on the traffic lights. Not quite sure how to explain that inside joke. Along our walk, we stopped and looked down at the site of where the Nazis burned books. The memorial is a glass window that peers down into empty bookcases – very powerful image. At Brandenberg Gate, a snowball fight broke out, which was fun. Eventually I negotiated a peace, and we made our way to a bar near the hotel to finish the night.
In the morning we toured Berlin on a bus. I was most fascinated with the history of East and West Berlin and how the two played a large role in the Cold War. Our first stop took us to a section of the Berlin Wall that is still standing, but covered by art. I remember the significance of the wall as I was in middle school when it fell, watching scenes on TV and discussing them in social studies. I snapped a few pictures of the wall and of some of the art. The one of the two guys kissing is called “The Fraternal Kiss” and is one of the more famous paintings on the East Side Gallery which depicts former Soviet leader, Brezhnev, locking lips with the former head of East Germany, Honecker. I also liked the caricature of Checkpoint Charlie, which we saw right before lunch. I almost got my passport stamped, but that cost about $4, and I tried to haggle unsuccessfully so I walked.
After lunch, we went on a walking tour with the founder of the program, Dr. Dagmir Pruin. She is not Jewish, but is a professor of the Hebrew Bible and very learned in these matters. The tour, “Don’t Trust the Green Grass,” – or in this case, white snow – was meant to get us to see the things that weren’t there: the former thriving Jewish community. At its height, Berlin had 170,000 Jews. 55,000 were murdered in the Shoah. That number is relatively low, but bear in mind that some were able to flee before and some did survive. Those that stayed behind did so because they believed that as bad as things were, they couldn’t get worse.
We started the tour at the site of the former oldest synagogue in Berlin. It is now a small park surrounded by apartment buildings. On the site is a memorial sculpture telling the story of the non-Jewish wives married to Jewish men. The men were taken away and the wives protested, and apparently, the men were returned. As we walked in the dreary cold, we stepped passed plaques indicating where Jews had once lived. One that stuck out was of Uri Aron, who was born in 1942 and murdered in 1943. After, we went to a Jewish cemetery where Moses Mendelssohn is buried. He was a German Jewish philosopher to whose ideas were the basis for the renaissance of European Jews, Haskalah (the Jewish Enlightenment). He has been referred to as the father of Reform Judaism.
Next to the cemetery is a former Jewish old age home – ironic. There is now a Jewish high school; its population is 400, half of which are Jewish.
Back at the hotel, Frank Reichherzer, who is studying for his advanced degree at Humboldt University, gave us a brief history of Germany. I was most interested in the Weimar Republic, having written a paper on it for political science class at GWU. Article 48, the Enabling Act, allowed the Nazis to rise to power. What I did not know that was valuable to learn was just how it was that it came about that Germany reunified.
At night, we went to the New Synagogue to dine with Berlin Jews. Many of those are not German, having come from Russia, but it was an educational experience. Food was scarce by the time we arrived, but I managed a donut which is appropriate for Hanukkah. After, we went to Christmas markets and walked around the mall, splitting in small groups to hit the city. We wandered a market and then walked down Prenzlauer Allee to the Brandenberg Gate. Along the way, we drank some of the “hot wine” and stopped at a store where I bought a shirt of the “walking man” on the traffic lights. Not quite sure how to explain that inside joke. Along our walk, we stopped and looked down at the site of where the Nazis burned books. The memorial is a glass window that peers down into empty bookcases – very powerful image. At Brandenberg Gate, a snowball fight broke out, which was fun. Eventually I negotiated a peace, and we made our way to a bar near the hotel to finish the night.
Day One – In Berlin and meeting the group
I made it to Germany just after noon, and, despite the odds, my bag appeared on the carousel. I was surprised, however, that upon exiting the plane, the bag pick up was right outside the gate and right outside the gate was the terminal. I was confused at first because there was no one from customs to stamp my passport. I asked the attendant by security, and he said I was fine. Later, I figured out that since I had already had my passport stamped in Paris, I must be good to go for Europe.
I followed the signs – well, the pictures – and found my way to the bus, stopping only to exchange $200 for about 130 Euros. I was rather impressed with myself for finding the right bus to take and then having the patience to wait for the proper stop instead of asking. I quickly found the transfer to the subway, took it two stops, and exited. That’s when I ran into my first problem: where was the hotel? It wasn’t clear on the map, and I couldn’t find anyone friendly enough to help, until one nice lady gave me directions.
Oh, did I mention the ground is covered in a snow-ice-slush mix? Snish? I’m not sure the technical term. And, my body hadn’t quite eased into the DC cold weather to be ready for the real winter of Germany, which means only eight hours of daylight. I trudged on in the cold dragging my suitcase since the wheels weren’t helping much, and carrying my backpack.
At the hotel, I was advised my room was ready and my roommate had already checked in. Rob is a lawyer from Cincinnati and living in Columbus, Ohio. We started a conversation, unpacked, and then joined up with his friend Ben from Cleveland now living in Columbus as a city planner, and Ben’s roommate Doug, who lives in the Upper East Side of New York City. We strolled around the snish-covered sidewalks of Berlin, stopping at a bakery for coffee and a pretzel. It was next to a Dunkin Donuts, so I snapped a picture and emailed my Dad that this was the proof that DD really is trying to take over the world (inside joke).
We continued our trek and made our way to the Brandenberg Gate where I snapped pictures of a Christmas tree and a menorah. There was Darth Vader having lightsaber battles, a man dressed in a Soviet uniform offering to stamp your passport, a panda bear (confused), and a guy who was painted to look like a statue.
We then made our way to the Reichstag, snapped a few photos, and looked at each other and said, “Yup, time to go back and get warm.” After a brief stop in a clothing store for gloves and at a CVS-like store for 2-in-1 shampoo (Smurf was an option, but none of us bought it), it was back to the hotel to shower before dinner.
At dinner, we were introduced to the program, the program leader, Dr. Dagmir Pruin, her staff, Itay, Anna, and Uly, and introduced ourselves. Then the organized chaos of a buffet dinner began, followed by me lighting the Hanukkah candles. After, we all went out, searching for a bar. Somehow, we settled on an outdoor bonfire bar, where a Turkish man speaking German offered to sell me marijuana. No thanks. I did buy the only beer that didn't seem terrible, and I am quite surprised at the lack of good beer options. We finished at a bar near the hotel and then, jeglagged, called it a night.
I followed the signs – well, the pictures – and found my way to the bus, stopping only to exchange $200 for about 130 Euros. I was rather impressed with myself for finding the right bus to take and then having the patience to wait for the proper stop instead of asking. I quickly found the transfer to the subway, took it two stops, and exited. That’s when I ran into my first problem: where was the hotel? It wasn’t clear on the map, and I couldn’t find anyone friendly enough to help, until one nice lady gave me directions.
Oh, did I mention the ground is covered in a snow-ice-slush mix? Snish? I’m not sure the technical term. And, my body hadn’t quite eased into the DC cold weather to be ready for the real winter of Germany, which means only eight hours of daylight. I trudged on in the cold dragging my suitcase since the wheels weren’t helping much, and carrying my backpack.
At the hotel, I was advised my room was ready and my roommate had already checked in. Rob is a lawyer from Cincinnati and living in Columbus, Ohio. We started a conversation, unpacked, and then joined up with his friend Ben from Cleveland now living in Columbus as a city planner, and Ben’s roommate Doug, who lives in the Upper East Side of New York City. We strolled around the snish-covered sidewalks of Berlin, stopping at a bakery for coffee and a pretzel. It was next to a Dunkin Donuts, so I snapped a picture and emailed my Dad that this was the proof that DD really is trying to take over the world (inside joke).
We continued our trek and made our way to the Brandenberg Gate where I snapped pictures of a Christmas tree and a menorah. There was Darth Vader having lightsaber battles, a man dressed in a Soviet uniform offering to stamp your passport, a panda bear (confused), and a guy who was painted to look like a statue.
We then made our way to the Reichstag, snapped a few photos, and looked at each other and said, “Yup, time to go back and get warm.” After a brief stop in a clothing store for gloves and at a CVS-like store for 2-in-1 shampoo (Smurf was an option, but none of us bought it), it was back to the hotel to shower before dinner.
At dinner, we were introduced to the program, the program leader, Dr. Dagmir Pruin, her staff, Itay, Anna, and Uly, and introduced ourselves. Then the organized chaos of a buffet dinner began, followed by me lighting the Hanukkah candles. After, we all went out, searching for a bar. Somehow, we settled on an outdoor bonfire bar, where a Turkish man speaking German offered to sell me marijuana. No thanks. I did buy the only beer that didn't seem terrible, and I am quite surprised at the lack of good beer options. We finished at a bar near the hotel and then, jeglagged, called it a night.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Berlin-bound!
With a short stay in the Air France lounge first to type this. It is my goal to blog daily while on my trip to Germany. The theme of this trip is to bring young American Jews to Berlin to witness modern Germany. It's sort of a, "We've come a long way since that thing 70 or so year ago." Sponsored by the German government, I will get to see Potsdam, Sachsenhausen (the former concentration camp), meet with a German MP, Wittenberg, the Holocaust Museum, and take part in discussions on German relations with Israel, the US, and on policy such as immigration. I look forward to drinking real German beer in Germany, going for a run on the streets, and seeing the city and the parts of the country we visit.
Of course, I have to get there first.
Nothing is so disconcerting as getting an email while on the bus to the airport telling you that your connecting flight from Paris to Berlin has been canceled. I was relatively calm as I figured they would put me on a later flight, which is what they did, but the counter folks did not find out about the change before I did. That was interesting as they checked my bag, sent it on its way, then would have to locate it to put a new tag on it. I give my bag a 50/50 chance of meeting me when I land. If that's the case, all I have are my jacket, backpack, clothes, and Red Sox hat (you can't travel internationally with your Sox hat, right?).
The flight is boarding soon - I stayed up most of last night in hopes I will sleep on the flight and be well rested when I land. Next post from Europe - and hopefully pictures.
The journey begins...
Of course, I have to get there first.
Nothing is so disconcerting as getting an email while on the bus to the airport telling you that your connecting flight from Paris to Berlin has been canceled. I was relatively calm as I figured they would put me on a later flight, which is what they did, but the counter folks did not find out about the change before I did. That was interesting as they checked my bag, sent it on its way, then would have to locate it to put a new tag on it. I give my bag a 50/50 chance of meeting me when I land. If that's the case, all I have are my jacket, backpack, clothes, and Red Sox hat (you can't travel internationally with your Sox hat, right?).
The flight is boarding soon - I stayed up most of last night in hopes I will sleep on the flight and be well rested when I land. Next post from Europe - and hopefully pictures.
The journey begins...
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