The morning seems like a century ago. These days are
insanely jam-packed, but the ebb and flow of activity causes many eyes to droop
during certain sessions, as evidenced by the four people snoozing during our
morning 90-minute history session. The lecture, given by our tour guide’s
brother, followed a national past through a Prezi. I strongly dislike all
prezis because they make me dizzy and nauseous, as do silly string and pudding
fights. My mind constantly wandered and drifted because I couldn’t look at the
screen without wanting to scream but I did enjoy recalling so many fun facts
and figures from middle school history: Franz Josef, the King of Bavaria, pre-war
borders and more!
After this struggle to listen to 800 years of struggle, we
walked next door to an incredible 1800s reform synagogue built to seat 3500
people. While the Moorish façade was protected during Kristallnacht by a random
police brigade who didn’t follow orders, the entire sanctuary was bombed out
during the war. Only the entrance halls remain, and the remnants of stone,
marble and stained glass are fragmented but impressive. I was confused by a displayed
Torah that had notes in pencil in the margins, highly unusual for a scroll that
was actually used. The guide, like every guide we’ve had so far, is not Jewish
but just got interested and then went into the professional Jewish world.
During lunch next door (yes, all of these things are in a
row – very convenient), I ran off to the hotel to grab a jacket – Berlin is
freezing then sunny then raining then windy, so you can’t have a total wardrobe
win. Good thing it was just around the corner, and I made it back to the
restaurant when my pizza the size of the moon arrived. I talked with Shira, a
Queens observant 25-year-old who had never really known Jews outside of her
community – I worked hard to be a diplomat for pluralism and I think I got the
message of acceptance and potential through. We really have great conversations
all the time here that would be uncomfortable and taboo elsewhere – then again,
everything is in relation to the Holocaust, so most stuff is less uncomfortable
than that prevalent theme.
The group boarded the U-Bahn for Brandenburg Tor, which is
the stop for Berlin’s Times Square. It’s got a huge arch gateway, people in bad
Mickey Mouse costumes, the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby, and
pickpockets. None of these things got in the way of my enjoyment of the plaza –
except then we crossed it and went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of
Europe. This square block area is covered in stelae, mock blank gravestones of
varying heights that you walk through in an anxiety-filled maze. You can always
see out, but you can’t see who is around you and it makes you kind of crazy.
Yet, children were laughing and jumping around, I was harassed by some guys to
sign a petition (aka attempt to publicly mug me), and then saw a guy palm his
lady’s behind. So, not the ideal memorial atmosphere. The underground Holocaust
exhibit presents the most comprehensive timeline and testimony set I have
visited in the most effective way. Quotes from letters and family histories
frame the factual timeline at the entrance really well – I walked around
wondering if people knew that those families are my families. I keep wondering
about everyone else’s experience here while trying to formulate my own.
The formal schedule ended with a long panel featuring two
speakers: an Israeli sociology PhD and a German former Parliamentarian. There
was no introduction, no set of guiding questions, no framework – just two very
different and qualified people there to answer ANY questions. At first, I was
supertired and then decided I needed to get something out of this and make a
push to engage myself. So, I went to the bathroom, splashed water on my face,
got my head in the game, and asked questions about the gaps and
illusions created in Germany’s collective historical narrative, and what makes for the best shared national memory. And I wasn’t
just spewing BS – something really had me curious to take advantage of the
really interesting people I had open book in front of me. Particularly, I
wanted to hear what the man who had spent 20 years in Parliament had to say,
but the Israeli doctor of memory shared an interesting (paraphrased) quote from a past
philosopher: “To look away from the past is to commit moral arson.”
Deep.
After that intellectual exercise, I went to a pharmacy where
a lady rolled a full shopping cart over my toe. It hurts a lot. I also got my
first friends photo by Museum Island and walked around Hackescher Markt before
eating sushi for dinner at Wiedenstrasse. I would like to think I am getting good
at pronounciations but lezbihonest – no way am I even close. Then, I came home
and wrote this blog entry and got ready to hit the town.
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