Day 2

Berlin is a large, hard-working European metropolis not unlike London or Paris. More tourists visited Berlin in 2009 than Rome. However, it is a city marked by the scourges of war and defeat at the hands of other nation while spending years of oppression and following the two World wars. As we walked through the Jewish neighborhoods this morning we observe things that are not part of cities like Chicago or New York. There are ongoing reminders of the conflicts and cruelties that have been a part of Germany's history for the past 100 years. Everywhere we walked we saw 6"X 6" brass plates embedded in the sidewalks with the names and dates of Jews who had lived at these addresses and the date of their extermination and the name of the concentration camp where they died. We visited the oldest Jewish cemetery in a neighborhood where Jewish residents worked and worshiped together in relative peace with their non-Jewish German neighbors. Below are pictures from the cemetery and a sculpture outside the cemetery gates depicting the Jewish women who lost their lives on what is called the avenue of death. For this was a street where there were nursing homes and child care facilities that were invaded by Nazi SS troops and kidnapped away to freight trains bound for death camps. There are buildings everywhere that continue to show the bullet holes from the Russian tanks that rolled into this city at the end of WWII. There are stories of anguish from German women and children who were raped or killed by Soviet troops in 1945 as they advanced on the city while the Allies bombed churches and homes in the heart of Berlin.






With all of this cruelty and hatred toward Jews and Germans as a part of recent (1939-1945) history we were taken aback by the real threats that exist TODAY as we passed a Jewish elementary school that exists behind large steel gates intended to protect the children from German skinheads or Arab terrorists.



Our group had just gathered on the street in this neighborhood outside of the school to listen to our Guide when he was approached by an Israeli undercover agent inquiring about our business there. Due to the increased security alert of the past two days there were German federal police stationed around the school.


Walls near school with bullet holes

So here we are, a group of American travelers, seeking to learn from the cruel history lessons on the past and, at the same time, witnesses to the cruelty and potential terror from extremists who might inflict harm on children attending school in a Berlin neighborhood in October, 2010.
It is sometimes hard to reconcile the atrocities perpetrated on the Jews while visiting Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall where East German citizens were shot trying to escape to their friends and family in west Berlin. We walked in neighborhoods where German workers lost their lives at the hands of Communists seeking to stop these workers from taking job action against their Iron Curtain oppressors. We saw the site where an 18 year old boy from East Berlin lie dying in the Death Strip between the East Berlin Wall and West Berlin Wall while American troops and the world media watched helplessly before Communist police finally went out after several hours and took him back to their side. He died later that night from his gunshot wounds.

While one might find fault in taking a European vacation to a city marked by so much violent history and so much pain it is a grim reminder to see precautions exerted TODAY to shield innocent citizens from violence because of their religion, race or culture. The lessons being taught today to those high school school groups who visit the Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe as part of their regular school curriculum are lessons that must not be forgotten.



This is a picture of the independent tour guide employed by the Rick Steves Tour Group to help us learn about the city of Berlin and it's history. This picture reflects but one example of why we like the tours organized by Rick Steves. We see, on a regular basis, large tour buses filled with travelers who drive by and pause outside of sites such as this to hear the lesson to be taught as the sit in their very comfortable tour bus at some distance from the site. We, on the other hand, were given city bus passes and a map to follow as we made our way through the city as we did yesterday morning rubbing shoulders with workers and school children going about their daily business. Here we have stopped for Nikolia, our Berlin tour guide, to share a mini-lecture about a German "silent hero" as they call them who assisted Jews during the Holocaust to hide from the Nazis and SS troops. Nikolia is about 35 years old and is an articulate history expert who was born in Bulgaria behind the Iron Curtain. His father was a mathematician that was permitted to travel to Paris to deliver a lecture. Nikolia's mother bribed a Communist Immigration officer to obtain a travel visa for herself and her son. Once they arrived in Paris they were assisted in obtaining travel arrangements to the United States. Nikolia was raised in New York and Chicago before returning to Europe as a tour guide and part-time actor/bus driver in Berlin. His passion for history and his desire to show us everything our legs would allow us to walk to and cast our eyes upon bordered on cruel and unusual punishment. We began each day very early as we set out for our destination and listened as intently as we could while yearning for a bathroom break or nutrition stop. By the end of two days with Nikolia we were convinced that this 48 hour visit to Berlin may have been better spread over three days instead of two. Nonetheless we were treated to time on our own in the afternoon to visit any of Berlin's 153 museums :-) following lunch on our own in a local cafe. I have included a picture of one of the many museums on Berlin's Museum Island and a photo of Debbie and me in front of the Berlin Basilica.







At 5:00 pm we were provided with tickets to take a one-hour guided cruise down the city's Spree River to see the city from a very different vantage point. The weather was most accommodating and I took photos from the boat of the crosses that mark the sites of Berlin citizens who are remembered for where they perished seeking to escape beyond the grasp of Communism.



On a more positive note, there are two pictures from the boat that show Debbie along with Frank and Joyce Pierczynski and another shot of Bill and Kay Dodge with our Rick Steves 12-day guide/tour manager, Saso Golub.





Saso is from Slovenia and talked to us about the "good old days" under Communism where there was no unemployment because the Communists created unnecessary jobs so everyone was "employed". Of course the quality of their products were poor in quality because no one had any commitment to doing a good job. The Communists invested in people (labor) instead of technology. Where a machine could do the job, they preferred to hire several men.
Today's German economy is similar to other "socialist" countries in Europe. Citizens who earn more than $17,000 pay 42% tax. Of course, they get free medical care, free college education for them and their children. Social welfare for the unemployed and the retired is more than adequate for living in modern day Germany. Differences still exist between the East Germans and West Germans due to the differences in the education systems. East Germans learned Russian as a second language while East Germans learned English and oftentimes a 3rd language. Additionally, because of the Communist investment in people rather than technology, their work force is far behind when it comes to the job skills required.