Today I woke up extra early to take another look at some of the famous buildings and monuments in the city center. Thankfully, our hotel is very central and it is only a 10 minute walk. I once again took a look at the Brandenburg Gate located west of the city center. 
When it was created in 1788-1791 it was the only way into Berlin. During the Cold War this great entry way was located on East Germany’s side and became run down. But after the fall, in 2000 they began to refurbish it and bring it back to its historical glory. John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan gave very famous speeches in front of the wall and the gate. It was the wall in front of this gate that Reagan said his famous line “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Then I went to the Jewish Holocaust memorial. Building for this site began in 2003. This large site, 19,000 square meters, houses this dramatic memorial. It’s very large and moving. The site uses varying sizes of concrete arranged in an uneven grid like pattern. The concrete represents graves. You can walk through the grid, at some point you can see over the entire pattern and other times you are completely surrounded by dark concrete. 
Our group today left by train to Wannsee
which is outside Berlin. This villa was built in 1915 and used from 1941-1945 by the SS as a conference centre and guest house. On January 20th, 1942, 15 high ranking representatives of the SS, the NSDAP and various ministries met to discuss their cooperation in the planned deportation away from Germany and the murder of the European Jews. Since August of 1941, killing of the Jews was already happening in the Soviet Union. This museum did a great job of explaining the slow process of anti-semitism and racism against Jews prior to Hitler and throughout his reign as leader. The museum provided many accounts of the Holocaust survivors, government officials and government documents. The museum opened in 1992 and is dedicated to those fellow human beings who lost their life as a result of the National Socialist regime of terror. After experiencing this museum, we left very somber and depressed. This topic is always difficult because it is especially hard to see pictures and read first hand accounts and imagine the terrible things these innocent people had to endure. It makes me feel very fortunate and blessed that I have rights and haven’t experienced persecution because of my beliefs or thoughts. We ate lunch, and then traveled to the Jewish Museum back in Berlin. We had a guided tour of the museum and the theme here was change and continuity over time. How Jews had been set apart and discriminated against from early days, through the middle ages and then were accepted during the Industrial Revolution, but then discriminated against again. However, the elements from the religion experienced changes also, but stayed mostly stayed the same. Our topics were very interesting and provided an even deeper understanding about how anti-semitism had been around since early times. I bought a great book that uses many relevant examples to describe these changes and history of the Jews.
When it was created in 1788-1791 it was the only way into Berlin. During the Cold War this great entry way was located on East Germany’s side and became run down. But after the fall, in 2000 they began to refurbish it and bring it back to its historical glory. John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan gave very famous speeches in front of the wall and the gate. It was the wall in front of this gate that Reagan said his famous line “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Then I went to the Jewish Holocaust memorial. Building for this site began in 2003. This large site, 19,000 square meters, houses this dramatic memorial. It’s very large and moving. The site uses varying sizes of concrete arranged in an uneven grid like pattern. The concrete represents graves. You can walk through the grid, at some point you can see over the entire pattern and other times you are completely surrounded by dark concrete. 
Our group today left by train to Wannsee
which is outside Berlin. This villa was built in 1915 and used from 1941-1945 by the SS as a conference centre and guest house. On January 20th, 1942, 15 high ranking representatives of the SS, the NSDAP and various ministries met to discuss their cooperation in the planned deportation away from Germany and the murder of the European Jews. Since August of 1941, killing of the Jews was already happening in the Soviet Union. This museum did a great job of explaining the slow process of anti-semitism and racism against Jews prior to Hitler and throughout his reign as leader. The museum provided many accounts of the Holocaust survivors, government officials and government documents. The museum opened in 1992 and is dedicated to those fellow human beings who lost their life as a result of the National Socialist regime of terror. After experiencing this museum, we left very somber and depressed. This topic is always difficult because it is especially hard to see pictures and read first hand accounts and imagine the terrible things these innocent people had to endure. It makes me feel very fortunate and blessed that I have rights and haven’t experienced persecution because of my beliefs or thoughts. We ate lunch, and then traveled to the Jewish Museum back in Berlin. We had a guided tour of the museum and the theme here was change and continuity over time. How Jews had been set apart and discriminated against from early days, through the middle ages and then were accepted during the Industrial Revolution, but then discriminated against again. However, the elements from the religion experienced changes also, but stayed mostly stayed the same. Our topics were very interesting and provided an even deeper understanding about how anti-semitism had been around since early times. I bought a great book that uses many relevant examples to describe these changes and history of the Jews.
After we left the Jewish Museum, we passed Checkpoint Charlie. This Cold War site was controlled by the Western Allies. It was the crossing point between West and East Germany and was viewed by some East Germans as a way to freedom.
Did many East Germans passed through Checkpoint Charlie just to escape the Russian regime?
ReplyDeleteWas the Iron curtain beyond that Checkpoint?
sorry for too many questions but its too interesting.
Kevin D. Period 2
The Iron Curtain really is just an idea that explains the eastern country’s who were allied with the Soviet Union's borders make up an imaginary border. They call it this because people who lived in eastern countries who wanted to escape or leave could not. Their country’s government could not afford to let their people leave, so they use strict military control to keep them in. Also, if the individual country needed help, they looked to the Soviet Union to help them control the borders. All communist countries could not leave. The Berlin Wall was to keep the eastern Germans from leaving, but of course they could ask for help from the Soviet Union too. Many wanted to be in West Germany because standard of living was better in addition to capitalism and democracy was used in West Germany.
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