I spent the first few days in Berlin, and stayed with my friend Mette (Torsten's cousin). Germany is a difficult place for me to be, as a very large portion of my family was murdered in the Holocaust. My Dad was born in Munster before WWII. Luckily he, his parents and sister fled Germany just in time to take refuge in Scotland, where my Dad grew up. So, keep in mind that this colours how I relate to the place (though not it's people, as they are the next generation, and very knowledgeable and open to talking about the Holocaust).
Berlin:
Me and Mette!
The Berlin Wall. The remaining sections of the wall are covered in art.
The Wall
The famous mural of East German leader, Erich Honecker, and the Soviet leader of the time, Leonid Brezhnev.
Inside the Jewish museum, looking down a long staircase. The building's architecture is amazing, and the contents are also excellent. Naturally, this museum has a section on the Holocaust, but it is a very very small part of the museum. Most of it is dedicated to chronicling Jewish life in Germany, from the 5th century to the present.
Checkpoint Charlie. There is also a museum, but I was museumed-out by the time I got here!
The Holocaust memorial in Berlin. It is huge, and very impressive.
Inside the memorial the ground undulates and the large concrete pillars are all different heights. Walking through the monument, one has a sense of loneliness and of being lost.
Underneath the memorial is a small, but very effective exhibit. This photo shows a Jewish family from Berlin, and talks a bit about their lives, and on the right hand side are head shots of each member of this family, and beside each photo is written what happened to them during the Holocaust (if it is known).
The Brandenburger Tor.
Part of my biking chronology of Europe! There does not appear to be a bike share in Berlin :(
The Berliner Dom. A humongous and gorgeous cathedral. Unfortunately I didn't go in because I didn't have enough cash to get in! I bet it has an amazing organ!
Sachsenhausen concentration camp, now museum. This is just North of Berlin. I went here because my Dad provided them with a video clip of his family's home movies in Munster. The video plays continuously in an exhibit about a man named Julius Voos, a friend of my grandparents who is also in the video.
It is quite a big camp. It was a foggy afternoon.
The Nazis destroyed the camp at the end of the war. Two barracks were reconstructed and now house exhibits and also show what the barracks were like.
This tells about Julius Voos.
I took some photos of the video. This is my grandmother.
This is my Dad at about age 5, riding quite a cool little car around their yard!
Still to come: trip to Annweiler, and my visit with Rachelle and Mark.
