July 13 - Berlin

Our first full day in Berlin began with a group visit to The Topography of Terror.  This documentation centre sits on the land where the Headquarters for the Secret State Police and the Reich Security Main Office were located during the time of the Third Reich.  Today, the installation presents information on perpetrator’s perspective, allowing us to struggle with how the Nazis rose to power, and what made them so intriguing to so many people.  The Museum also asks visitors to take a look at our own assumptions, and challenges us to see how easily hate can creep into our own lives.  Students also visited the outdoor installation, against the backdrop of the Berlin Wall.  Beyond the wall is Germany’s current Ministry of Finance, which housed the Ministry of Aviation while the Nazis were in power.

Students began to make connections in their learning, documenting their witness through photography, journalling, and conversation.  They began to tackle difficult realities such as the fact that most high ranking Nazi officials were highly educated (some with two doctorate degrees).  Others commented on how what we learn at home influences our worldview, as many Nazis heard stories from returning fathers who had fought in WW1, and were disgruntled with the idea that Germany was blamed for the entire war.  Still other students tied their experience moving through Topography of Terror to the fiction and non-fiction texts they have been reading in their English courses, picking up on conceptual representations found throughout the exhibition.

Our afternoon directly connected to the morning, but looked at how we remember victim groups.  We visited three memorials that have been set up within Berlin.  First, students walked through the varied concrete blocks that form the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  In our debrief, students were asked to decipher meaning in their experience; their connections were profound:  It was a dizzying experience; It was lonely, and I found myself unable to spot my friends in the maze, connecting to family members who were separated from each other; the blocks are similar just as the Jews were made to look the same (Jews having to wear yellow stars to identify themselves as per the Nuremberg Laws, and having to shave their heads in concentration camps). 

Across the street in the Tiergarten, students encountered the Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted Under the National Socialist Regime.  After viewing the memorial we met in community to address our own reactions and compare representations of memoriam.  Thus began a rich and important dialogue of understanding our own bias and prejudices, figuring out our Church teachings around homosexuality, and acknowledging that our identity is multifaceted (i.e. we are not solely defined by our sexuality, our religion, our race, etc.).  Our final memorial, in the pouring rain, was our first visit to the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe Murdered Under the National Socialist Regime. This powerful installation will be further discussed in community again.

 

          Today I witnessed The Memorial To The Murdered Jews of Europe, followed by another memorial, known as The Memorial To The Homosexuals Persecuted Under The National Socialist Regime. At the memorial for the homosexual victims, I was asked to peer into a small hole.  When I looked through, I saw a short clip of two men kissing. At first, I was confused about why the artist decided to display such an intimate moment between two people, but what I learned about each memorial is that it calls us to avoid judging something upon first sight. For example, if you just came to Berlin and walked past the first memorial, you would think those cement blocks were just a maze or something fun, but I actually learned that it represents way more than that. One main thing that stood out to me was the how each of the blocks could represent how all Jews were different, and how because of anti-Semitism, Jews were seen as one race to be treated differently. Visiting the second memorial reminds us that people are slowly accepting the gay community, but that we have a far way to go. Even though we are taking small steps towards equality, homosexuals are still being discriminated against. 
          A message I'd like to share about my learning is to not judge someone based on assumptions. The assumptions you make at first can be completely different than the ones you have as you get to know that someone. 
                                          -Paolo A.