Really, all Nuremberg is known for are trials and rallys.

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5/18/08

We arrived in Nuremberg today. While it was sad to say goodbye to Munich, it is nice to see a new city. We stopped at the documentation center where there was an interesting museum. A few things really stuck out. First was the art that the children did that was anti Jew. It is so incredible that this idea of Jewish inferiority reached every corner of society! Children will believe anything, and with this bombardment of messages that the Jews are a race to hate and they are the reason for your problems, it was inevitable that the children would pick up on that. Plus, the Hitler youth was comparable in many peoples’ eyes to the Boy Scouts of America: everyone was a part of it. It was seen as something that would make your child a better German citizen. Now after seeing how Hitler interacted with them it was obvious that he did love children and wanted to instill his values into them.

The other interesting thing was the architecture by Albert Speer. Everything had to be huge and magnificent. I remember when we were in Munich they said there were no sky scrapers there because they did not want that huge architecture any more. Its interesting how that fear of bringing back anything from the Hitler era is still a big part of people’s lives.

Being at the rally site today really was humbling. First, when we got to the top I realized that I was standing where Hitler would stand to address the masses, I was walking Hitler’s path, and I was at the door Hitler went through. It was really mind boggling to thing that! Then I realized that all these millions of tons of rocks that made up this monument were carved out of the ground by workers in the concentration camps that, at least at Mauthausen, had a life span of two to three days once they started working. It made me really want to get off the stones for some reason. You could tell that the stones came from all different camps as well because they were different kinds of rock.

Something I have been thinking about lately is that Hitler or someone in his cabinet must have known about the Jewish faith when persecuting them. The bodies were cremated, at Auschwitz the inmates were tattooed, and they were not allowed to wash regularly: these are all things not allowed in the Jewish faith. Cremation and tattoos are not allowed and being clean was also important. It’s incredible how every aspect of every day life was made a living hell for these poor people.

I just finished Primo Levi’s book and it struck me how bitter he really is. I do not blame him at all, but he really holds all Germans responsible for what happened to him. He was talking about letters he received once his book was published in Germany, many of them were apologies. He dismissed them as lies. He said that yes, not all Germans are meant to blame, but he would write these people back telling them that their words were basically worthless. At least, this is how I interpreted them. There was a lot in his book I personally did not agree with, but then again I never had endure such suffering before. I hope that somewhere along the way he was able to find some peace.

Things to remember: Graffiti can be inspiring, Nuremberg is basically closed for business on Sunday, never eat at the hotel café, bring a jacket, clean laundry is a beautiful thing I desperately miss, Freddie the monkey really can brighten your day, and elevators are also a beautiful thing I desperately miss, especially when lugging luggage up two flights of stairs.

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