Lessons in Germany

Our travels in Germany have been fast paced and very educational. My favorite stop in the city of Berlin was the museum called the Topography of Terror. It was an extremely informative museum with amazing pictures and details of how the SA & SS were formed and who they victimized. This museum provided me with the opportunity to look at the face of evil. For days, Mrs. Wilson and I have seen photos of the victims of the holocaust, but in Berlin this museum allowed us to see the instigators and inventors of torture. Another valuable lesson this museum gave me were the pictures and stories of those Germans who refused to fall in line with Hitler’s views for Germany. One such picture that both Mrs. Wilson and I spent a good deal of time admiring, was of a man surrounded by Germans doing their enthusiastic salute and shouting “Heil, Hitler.” This man, though, is not doing the routine salute of respect. Not only is this one man refusing to conform and participate, but he is crossing his arms expressing his clear disinterest and even disgust of this activity. Seeing this photo made me think about the millions of Germans who didn’t like Hitler’s politics and about those who were brave enough to stand up against him. It might not seem like much, but not saluting Hitler could have had serious repercussions for this man. If he was found out, his name could go on a list and he could be sent to a concentration camp to be “reeducated.” This photo and this man were inspirational to see and I am thankful for the reminder that Germans were victims of the Nazis as well.




Munich served to teach me similar lessons. Mrs. Wilson and I took a walking tour of Munich to see the sites of the Third Reich. It was a very interesting tour led by a very engaging man who really knew his history. His passion for the stories he told us and the sites he showed was contagious for us. I very much enjoyed learning about the White Rose resistance movement. White Rose Movement was young people writing leaflets trying to educate the German people about the extermination and torture of the prisoners in concentration camps (death camps). Our guide also pointed out a bronze walkway down a small side street. This was the path that Germans took to avoid walking by a wall at which they were required to “Heil, Hitler.” The SS men eventually caught on that people were avoiding the wall and they waited on that side street to viscously beat the resistors. After all this many resistors continued to walk down this side street and just as many were probably sent to concentration camps to be “reeducated.” These were brave people and I think it is sometimes hard to look at the Germans and think that they too were victims of Hitler and the Nazis. So many of them joined Hitler and there are numerous factual and emotional reasons why, but so many other Germans refused to follow him, refused to believe that he had Germany’s best interest at heart, and refused to allow him to take control of their lives, even if it meant their imminent death.




I enjoyed our trip to Germany very much and I feel that I have learned more of the truth behind who the German people really are and who they have become because of Hitler and the Nazis.