1. Editing and/or altering this presentation is prohibited. Any use of the material from the presentation is prohibited, unless written permission is obtained from the copyrights holder – Guy Shachar Warning This presentation is protected by copyright laws
72. Editing and/or altering this presentation is prohibited. Any use of the material from the presentation is prohibited, unless written permission is obtained from the copyrights holder – Guy Shachar Warning This presentation is protected by copyright laws
74. Prior to my visit to Berlin I heard about it’s vibrant past and vivid present. But nobody prepared me to its Jewish experience.
75. The Jewish Museum in Kreuzberg. Nowadays a dominant attraction, hard to be ignored, yet… there’s something more appealing in experiencing the outdoor Jewish Berlin.
77. The Holocaust Memorial is located at the heart of Berlin, not far from the Brandenburg Gate and Tiergarten Park. Walking among its 2,711 gray stone slabs creates an uneasy feeling, not necessarily due to the events they commemorate…
79. … or the fact that the structure might not convey the message that the designers envisioned.
80. It seems that on a sunny Berlin day, the memorial turns into the coolest playground in town, emphasizing the controversy that surrounded its construction
83. Perhaps the Jewish sites in Berlin should be seen “On Locationâ€, and they are not necessarily monumental structures. The artist Gunter Demnig chose to commemorate Jews and other minorities pursued by the Nazis. Based on official records, he placed bronze colored paving stones (“Stumbling blocks†- “Stolpersteineâ€) bearing names of people who had lived in that particular place, prior to being deported to extermination camps. The almost random stumbling upon these stones is eerie, and their presence in the actual place where the deportees lived, makes the commemoration very meaningful.
85. The “Topography of Terror†exhibit is located in West Kreuzberg, near a preserved part of the Berlin Wall. Without architectural sophistication, huge photographs from Nazi Germany are presented outdoors, including photos documenting the persecution of Jews . True to the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand wordsâ€, these disturbing photos speak for themselves.
87. The “New Synagogue†at Oranienburger Straße cannot be ignored, as its golden dome can be seen from afar. It was built between 1859 and 1866, and contained over 3000 seats – the largest in Germany at that time. The main sanctuary was located behind the impressive façade, built in a Moorish style, with elements resembling Muslim Architecture.
88. The synagogue was set ablaze on “Kristallnacht†in November 1938, but was saved thanks to the local chief of police who dispersed the Nazi mob. Unfortunately, the building was heavily damaged by allied bombing in 1943. The structure was declared dangerous, and the main sanctuary was demolished in 1958. The remaining front sections were reconstructed in the late 20th century, and were opened for visitors . Visiting the interior provides a glimpse to its unique artistic quality, but the missing sanctuary is a painful void.
89. The old Jewish cemetery is located nearby. Thousands of Jews were buried here during the 17 th – 19 th centuries. Today the place is empty except for a single gravestone of the Philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. … and even this one is a reconstruction. The Nazis demolished the cemetery in 1943.
90. Still, remnants of the Jewish community grandeur can be seen in the “second†Jewish cemetery. Old gravestones nestled in thick greenery create a sacred and mysterious feeling.
91. Located in Schönhauser Allee 35 in Prenzlauer Berg, it was opened in the mid 19 th Century. Over 20,000 personal and family gravestones are located here. Strolling among them is like a journey back to this long-gone community.
92. One of the most interesting synagogues in Berlin is located in the same neighborhood, at Rykestrasse 53. The building in the front served as an elementary school, which was especially important when the Nazis expelled Jewish children from German schools.
93. The façade does not do justice to the beauty of the synagogue, which is located behind a large courtyard. The synagogue was opened in 1904, and its location inside the courtyard saved it from serious damage on “Kristallnachtâ€.
94. The synagogue survived the Nazi regime and WWII. Following the division of the city, it served the small Jewish community of East Berlin. Nowadays it’s an active synagogue and cultural center.
96. Going by train to Wannsee is disturbing. It is in Wannsee where a crucial conference took place, regarding the “Final Solution†of exterminating the European Jews.
97. The luxurious “Villa Wannsee†was built for a German businessman and eventually used by the German Reich. Statues of children located above its façade cannot be ignored.
98. The villa is located on the shores of a large lake (“Wannseeâ€), in one of Berlin’s wealthy suburbs. Today it serves as a holocaust documentation and educational center. A comprehensive exhibition is displayed in the rooms, featuring the roots of the Nazi theory of the “Master Raceâ€.
100. One cannot enter the dining room, where the actual conference took place, without a shiver. On January 20 th , 1942, the conference was conducted by Reinhard Heydrich, Chief of the Reich Main Security Office, together with 14 representatives from various government organizations. Extermination of Jews in Europe already begun before the conference. Still, the conference’s importance lies in the necessary coordination achieved for executing the “Final Solution†process of deporting the Jews of Europe to eastern territories and killing them. The Wannsee conference will forever remain a symbol of the inconceivable actions of the Nazi machine.
101. One of the most shocking exhibits in the room is a data sheet prepared by Adolf Eichmann, containing the number of Jews in various European countries. Note that Estonia is “judenfreiâ€, following the extermination of its Jews in late 1941. Even the 200 Albanian Jews are not missing from the list. In total, the number of Jews was “Over 11 millionâ€.
102. Can someone explain how such a monstrous discussion was held in a room with this view ?
104. On the way back from Wannsee the train stops at Grunewald. The lively platforms serve the luxurious green neighborhood of Grunewald
105. But even the tunnel connecting the platforms hints of a dark past. This time tunnel takes us more than 60 years back in time, to “Platform 17â€.
106. Platform 17 is no longer operational. It is now made of cold iron plates. The plates are dedicated to deportations that started from this very station to concentration and extermination camps from October 1941 until February 1945.
107. “ Gleis 17†is so close to the bustling Grunewlad platforms, yet the silence here is a silence of death. Almost one third of the German Jewish community, around 170,000 people, lived in Berlin prior to the Holocaust. After the war, only about 8,000 survived. Over 50,000 Jewish people were deported from Grunewald Station to the extermination camps.
108. … naturally life goes on in Berlin, as locals spend the evening in the local pub, just near one of the Gleis 17 memorial plaques .
109. Behind the pub, another commemorative work of art. Negative imprints of bodies in the cold concrete, symbolize the events that took place on the platform.
111. Another surreal contrast between the normalcy of the present and the unimaginable past, can be seen in Anhalter Bahnhof. What used to be one of the largest train stations in Europe is now “Just another station†from and to the hostel. Maybe even this couple in the picture, departing with a kiss, did not notice the memorial located by the entrance…
113. This commemorative plate includes a list of all deportations from this station, including dates and numbers of people. Systematic extermination was turned into a systematic commemoration.
114. The journey on Berlin’s efficient train system continues. This time, a long ride north on the S1 line. This same line was used by the Nazis to transfer people …
115. … to Oranienburg Station. From this station they were walked to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
117. Camp Entrance via “Tower Aâ€. (Watch towers and surrounding structures were labeled alphabetically).
118. “ Work Brings Freedomâ€. The ironic welcome greeting, originally portrayed by a nationalist German author, was adopted by the Nazis.
119. Sachsenhausen was built in 1936 as a “model campâ€. Its design reflects the total control ideology of the SS. Tower A serves also as a strategic point from which the camp could be controlled with observation and fire.
121. The winding path in the front was used by the Nazis to test shoe soles. Camp prisoners were marched on the bumpy path back and forth, day and night.
122. Entrance to one of the prison cells. The camp prison was used for punishing those who “broke camp rules†and for the imprisonment of others by the Gestapo .
123. White of death in the pathology building. Autopsies on those who had died or been murdered were performed here to find out, and carefully document, the causes of death.
124. Barracks 38-39 were designated for Jews, prior to their deportation to Auschwitz.
126. In 1992, following a visit of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to the camp, these Barracks were set on fire. The anti-Semitic event was in the headlines at that time. Several years later, a similar anti-Semitic incident was hardly covered by t he media.
127. The execution trench. In the background: the main commemoration site for the victims of the camp, on the remains of “Station Zâ€.
128. View of the place in 1945 – “Station Z†- the extermination and crematorium complex – is seen behind the trench
129. Remains of “Station Zâ€. German cynicism is reflected even in its name – prisoners entered the camp via “Tower A†and ended their lives in “Station Zâ€. I t was first used in 1942 to shoot and kill 250 Jewish prisoners . The station was blown up in 1953. The execution room floor is seen in the front.
131. 200,000 prisoners were held in Sachsenhausen . Tens of thousands of them died in the camp of hunger, exhaustion, illness, the cold, abuse, medical experiments, mass murders and public executions.
133. On May 1st, 2009, the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD, the extreme right and successor to the German Reich party) held a demonstration in the suburb of Köpenick. The left parties organized a counter – demonstration under the slogans “May 1 st free of ±·²¹³ú¾±²õ†and “Berlin against ±·²¹³ú¾±²õâ€.
134. Massive police forces were present at the scene to separate the handful of Neo-Nazi demonstrators from the thousands of leftist demonstrators. Among the crowds, a certain flag was proudly waved…
136. Neither by an Israeli, nor by a Jew, the flag was carried by a young German. A true supporter of Israel, that stood up bravely even among the astonished leftist crowd.
137. Further Reading http://www. stolpersteine .com/ Stumbling blocks - “Stolpersteine†Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp http://www. npd .de/ NPD http://www. stiftung - bg .de/gums Trains http://www.s- bahn - berlin .de/ http://www. berlin - juedisch .de/ Jewish Berlin http://www. jg - berlin .org/ http://www. juedisches -museum- berlin .de/ The Jewish Museum http://www. stiftung - denkmal .de/ The Holocaust Memorial http://www. topographie .de/ Topography of Terror http://www. cjudaicum .de/ http://www. synagoge - rykestrasse .de/ http://www. ghwk .de/ House of the Wannsee Conference http://www. gleis -17.de/ Platform 17 (Gleis 17) http://www. deutschebahn .com/ http://www. diefaelscher .at/
139. Editing and/or altering this presentation is prohibited. Any use of the material from the presentation is prohibited, unless written permission is obtained from the copyrights holder – Guy Shachar Warning This presentation is protected by copyright laws