By Elise Wilson
Upon arriving in Berlin one is immediately struck when stepping off the train. The main station, Hauptbahnhof, is a huge complex made of glass. They boast that they are the premiere station in Europe, and so far I agree. This is a very modern looking city and our hotel is situated in the city’s busy shopping district, Kurfurstendamm. It sounds, smells, and looks much like New York City. After we arrived and settled into our hotel room, we meandered through Tiergarten which to me looks very much like Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. We stopped at the Soviet Memorial for WWII, the illuminated and almost magical Brandenburg Gate, the Memorial for European Jews who died in WWII, and the Reichstag. The Memorial for European Jews is large and stark, and as you weave your way through you cannot help but get an ominous feeling. It was annoying however to have adolescents playing hide and seek disrespectful of the people who are there to memorialize, and to the victims for whom the memorial was created.
Pictured: Soviet Memorial
Pictured: Brandenburg Gate with Ms. Wilson
Pictured: Memorial to European Jews
Among other things we went to the Topography of Terror, a museum on the grounds of the former Reich Security Main Office. In Poland and the Czech Republic we spent much time looking at the victims of the Nazis, but this was a look at the Nazis’ security force, and the tools and justifications they used to terrorize people and ultimately murder them. No excuses were ever made at this museum like people were “brainwashed” as many of my students come to my class thinking. Nevertheless, people who chose to commit acts knew what they were doing and their methods were meticulous, calculated, and frighteningly clever. For example, the Nazis required a company to produce a radio that was cheaper than anything else on the market so that Germans, or members of the Volk Community, could afford to purchase one inexpensively. This action increased the number of households with radios. The Nazis then put forth a tremendous effort to broadcast their propaganda via radio. I would highly recommend this museum to anyone traveling to Berlin, and it is free.
Pictured: Advertisement for cheap radio
Pictured: Topography of Terror Museum
Pictured: Covers of American periodicals exhibited.
Sounds like you two are learning a lot more. Oh and Hauptbagnhof was actually made for the world Cup of 2006 to accompony the massive amounts of people that would be coming into Berlin by train.
ReplyDeleteBerlin's train station must have been breathtaking i never realized how clever the Nazis were it,s scary how smart they actually were but at the same time they used their brains to torture. The question is Why?
ReplyDeleteWell it looks all some of what u did on vacation. the talk you had with use open my eyes to what happened in the time of Hitler. Just to see you guys go out there and look at every thing, and to take the time to show us it and tells us about it is good. thank you Ethan Crespo (who is pretty alsome)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that "Time Magizine" would have Hilter on the cover as the the "man of the year." I would never think in a million years that a magizine like that would put a horrible man on their cover period. I think that it shows a little disrespect to the Jews that lived during his time and the Jews that live today. I think that hollocust was a horrific event that should have never happend and I hope nothing close to that will happen ever again.
ReplyDeleteHow does the European Jew memorial remember what happened with the large blocks?
ReplyDeleteSean Brown
Those are some beautiful pictures. the large blocks are interesting, what are their use? these pictures are all unique and different from what we see in the modern world.
ReplyDeleteEddie Merrigan