Berlin - Day 2

I’m at the doctor’s office right now. I awoke this morning with a very sore throat and lots of… well, let’s just say that I have my suspicions that I might have strep/bronchitis. So, after trudging through this morning’s activities, I returned to the hotel and immediately headed to the local clinic. It’s just down the block, but Renee walked me over to keep me company (and, I suspect, to satisfy some of her motherly needs).

So as I sit in the waiting room with nothing to read (because everything is in German), it gives me a good opportunity to write my blog summery of today’s events:

We started the day at a park on the east side of Berlin whose main attraction is the war memorial built by the communists after WWII. Of course, it says nothing of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and instead focuses on the victory of the Soviets over the Nazis (the message is that the Soviets were forced into a war they would have preferred to avoid, and ultimately their victory was one of freedom over oppression). The park and its monument are very impressive and they make one feel insignificant (not sure if this was the point). I was really impressed with it and enjoyed it.

From there we hopped back on our tour bus and headed over to one of the Jewish cemeteries in Berlin. Ed showed us around the graves of German Jews who lived during the heyday of pre-WWI until the Holocaust (an era that was the focus of a book that we were assigned to read, “The Pity of it All” by Amos Elon). We congregated by a memorial to fallen Jewish soldiers in WWI and Ed handed out readings of how Jews felt about their German identities. I must say that he really impressed me with this activity, as he is usually more frontal in his educational style.

Next, Ed took us on a bust ride around Berlin, pointing out some of the major sites. It was a relaxing way to see the city, and very informative.

The bus dropped us off at the Ebert Foundation, which is a political activism group connected to the German Social Democrat party. They are one of the supporters of this trip, having committed to pay for our trip over here (I have yet to be reimbursed). We had lunch and listed to Pia tells us of her story. And what she said about Germans was very enlightening. She explained that in Germany - for the past 4 -5 generations - each generation has had to deal with a different Germany. We sometimes fail to realize this. Perhaps she was saying that Germany today is not the Germany of the past, and that is perfectly normal in Germany. Meaning, when we are surprised that anyone could live in Germany today and we view it as still tainted by Nazism, she was saying that this generation is not the last and is able to disconnect from its past (while still making amends).

We also had our first session to review some new Centropa material. We met Ullrike, who is the filmmaker for Centropa, and she showed us a new film on a couple from Vienna who grew up just a few blocks away from each other and met and got married after the war. It was very good and touched on many different aspects of Holocaust history.

We then went over our lesson plans for how we plan to use Centropa in our classrooms using an activity entitled “Critical Chavruta”. I worked with Neil and we had an enlightening conversation.

Today is July 1, which means that it is my anniversary as well as Canada Day. While Renee and I had a subdued “Happy Canada Day”, anniversary celebrations were lacking. I did, however, send Tikki some flowers (expensive) and left her a card in my night table drawer. I also spoke with her later in the day (for me). It’s hard being away from home but especially today.

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Medical update: The doctor (Trompke) prescribed an antibiotic for me. I will be taking it for the next six days. It was a less eventful visit than I initially feared.