WWII

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Obviously the history in Germany is dominated recently by WWII and the Holocaust. I have been fortunate enough to see the real effects of what war and a lack of humanity can do to a nation.

First, we visited Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. All of the books you read, stories you hear, and films you may see will not prepare you for the realization that these places were real. This one was a working camp, one of the first created. We visited only 5% of its 1000 sq. acres. It was a cold, dreary, rainy day, and we were rushed during lunch so I hadn't eaten much. I made sure I kept my mouth shut, as I was covered in layers, a rainjacket and would eat dinner. I felt a sense of macabre tourism being led by a tourguide, but it was all done quite tastefully, and his stories were limited so as we could experience it for ourselves. After seeing the barracks, Z-station (killing station) and other remnants, I caught a pic of a fleeting rainbow. I wonder if prisoners back then ever saw something so beautiful in this place of misery and death. Much of the rest of that day, we were all pretty quiet, (yes, even me).

Additionally we visited the Holocaust Memorial, a huge plot of land in the middle of Berlin that has thousands of large concrete rectangles. One walks through them and loses all sense of direction, friends or family. The artist designed it so that we can think of it how we want, and what it means to each of us. I like that there were no names on anything, because one cannot begin to name the dead of the Holocaust.

Sunday we visited Dresden, the most bombed city in Germany. It had had beautiful Baroque buildings and churches, including the Frauenkirche, which was built by a Protestant King to rival those in Italy. We saw so many unbelievable before and after pictures, of a city that looked like the face of the moon, and now the beauty of it being reconstructed. There is no wonder that America came out ahead after WWII, because we had no rebuilding to do, compared to the absolute destruction in Europe. The Zwinger Palace was a nice courtyard garden on a beautiful day to cap off our trip to Dresden.

Fortunately, it is not all sad WWII sites, and we were able to visit the Olympic Stadium where Jesse Owens outjumped the Aryan Race at the 1936 Olympics. We saw a Hertha BSC (Berlin's fußball (soccer) team) and partied hard with all of the fans. That is one sport that you have to be there to enjoy I guess, at least for Americans. It was really loud and fun to be there with all of the locals.

Classes are interesting and I am really learning alot about how to defend against authoritarian governments, should one be elected November 4th. Off to Leipzig and Prague in the next weekends, then Paris and home!

Ta,
Ian

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