Whoa. What a day. When planning this trip, I had no idea how much this day would impact me. There is so much to share, so many photos and more history than I can possibly write down in this blog. While I will share what I can, please know this does not even scratch the surface as to the details we learned. As one traveler Rick shared with me, “I learned more about German history in the last 2 hours than I did my entire life.” This statement rings true.
We boarded our bus bright and early for a full day of touring the history of Berlin and Germany. I always love to get a selfie with the sign on our bus that identifies our tour. Even though Germany is quite friendly to the Jewish community, out of extreme caution, especially after October 7, we chose not to say “Temple Adat Elohim” on our bus. While I appreciate and understand the concern, it makes me sad that in 2024 we cannot identify us as a Jewish group.
We met Tal, our local guide, who works hand in hand with Ron and, together, they give us a complete picture of what we are seeing and experiencing. They are both a wealth of knowledge.
Our first “bus selfie.” Do we look rested??? I am so proud of our 34 travelers for hanging in there for so many historic sites today. As we boarded our bus Ron handed out what he calls our “blah blah blah machine”, a system that allows for our guides to talk to us through headphones. We began our day with a visit to the Reichstag, where we learned of Germany’s traumatic political past and a little of her prosperous present. On our way we drove by this display of children’s art in honor of the 35 anniversary of the taking down of the Berlin Wall.
And then we arrived.
As a Jew standing in front of this building and all she represents, it was a powerful moment. Tal gave us some perspective about German history. The 1st Reich was the Holy Roman Empire which lasted about 1000 years. Otto von Bismarck, who was the first chancellor of Germany, played a key role in unifying Germany in 1871 which marks the beginning of the 2nd Reich, and, of course we all know Hitler brought about the 3rd Reich in 1933 when he was elected chancellor. He said his Reich would last longer than the 1000 years of the 1st Reich. I don’t think anyone is sad that he failed at meeting that goal, with his Reich lasting only 12 years. The road to his dictatorship was paved with democratic measures. That is crazy to consider.
The words here are translated to “for the German people.”
Our next stop was a short walk away from the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate. On our way we encountered a protest and learned that these are happening daily in Berlin.
The Brandenburg Gate is a neoclassical gate and is not only architecturally impressive (and massive), but it also reveals a lot about Berlin and the changes over time. Built in the 1790’s it started as a “gate of peace” and eventually became the “gate of freedom.” It was built when Berlin was rising to power and then locked behind the Communist side of the Berlin Wall, it is now Germany’s most famous symbol of reunification and freedom.
You can see the bullet holes from World War 2 that have been patched.
It is the BEST place for a group like ours to take a photo!
We also noticed the American Embassy right next to the gate.
We then made our way across the street to the Holocaust Memorial, a memorial to the murdered Jews in Europe.
Peter Eiserman designed this powerful memorial that spans an incredible 4.7 acres of land and is covered by 2,711 concrete slabs of all different sizes. There is remarkably very little information about the memorial given to us, as the designer wants us to reach our own conclusions as we wandered the grounds. It seemed like every person in our traveling group found their own path to the other side, it was both solitary and down every aisle you could see other people having their own private moment. It was unimaginably moving.
As we wandered Leasa noticed that there was water on the slabs, almost as if the slabs were crying along with us as we made our way through the memorial. We felt the tears with our hands as they were mixed with our own. It was as if the grounds here were screaming silently on behalf of all those who were silenced by the nazis.
It is important to note the real estate given to this memorial. It is right across the street from the Brandenburg Gate and the American Embassy, prime real estate in Berlin, and the government wanted to acknowledge the tragedy of the Holocaust rather than profit on the sale of that land. It feels like the German people accept their role in the disaster of World War 2 and the Holocaust.
Here you can see the memorial with the children’s artwork commemorating the 35 year anniversary of the taking down of the Berlin Wall posted on the street behind it.
And look what is in the background. From the memorial you can see the Reichstag, with the American Embassy in the foreground. Whoa.
Ron shared with us some of his family’s story, how he had countless relatives that he never knew, whose names he will never know who were murdered by the nazis. The story of Ron’s family is not unique, it is a story shared by countless other families who share similar fates. How lucky we are to have him with us on this journey, and how grateful we are that he trusted us enough to share this with us.
As we drove to our next stop we drove along this street.
Our next stop was a look at the Berlin Wall Memorial, and we got an in depth history lesson about its origins and history. It all started as Stalin’s 11 month blockade to starve out West Berlin in the hopes that it would one day become East Berlin, only thwarted by an historic airlift in May 1949 that brought supplies into the besieged people to West Berlin, followed by 12 years where there were no borders between the two sides. This enabled those in East Berlin to cross to West Berlin and leave the area for other parts of Europe until 1961, when literally overnight 100 miles of barbed wire was placed around all of West Berlin in the hopes of keeping the people of East Berlin from leaving. Think about that for a moment…. Most of the time, you build a wall to keep people out, but in this case, the Soviets built the wall in order to keep people IN. We are confined by the walls we build for ourselves.
On the other side of this memorial is a recreation of the “death strip,” or no-man’s land, in between the two borders of East and West Berlin. We climbed a tower on the other side of the street in order to get a look at this in more detail.
You can imagine how you were taking your life into your own hands if you tried to escape from East Berlin to West Berlin and were caught in between. It feels like this is ancient history, and it happened during our lifetime.
Tal shared stories of such bravery as people tried any means to cross the wall, many by going under as we experienced the day before.
We had time for one more stop before lunch to capture the important group photo in front of Checkpoint Charlie.
I took the opportunity to take a selfie with my dear friend, Ron!
There are certain places we are visiting that are total bucket list places for me. Our next stop was not on our original itinerary, but I asked that we add this, if possible, because we had some extra time. I am so grateful that Tal and Ron obliged, and our group was willing to add one more stop to the day. I wanted to see, first hand, the site where Hitler breathed his last breath.
Most people drive right by this without even knowing the significance of this place. There is one sign in the corner that most people wouldn’t stop to read. This parking lot is the location where Hitler’s bunker was, the place where he took his own life on April 30, 1945. On January 16, 1945, Hitler moved into his bunker to hide from the approaching Allied forces. The Soviets were closing in. Hitler only came out of his bunker twice after this, as he tried to remain hidden. On April 30, 1945, he and his mistress, Eva Braun (he actually married her a day before he killed himself) took cyanide pills to end their lives after feeding cyanide to their dog Blondi. After their death German soldiers burned the bodies and crushed all of the bones in order to conceal their identity. When the Soviets came upon the bunker a few days later on May 2, they destroyed it. It remains an unpaved parking lot today.
How appropriate it is that Hitler’s grave is an unpaved parking lot? There is no monument, no statue, not even pavement. His resting place is totally meaningless. And this is a stone’s throw from the enormous Holocaust Memorial we visited earlier sitting on acres of prime land. Here we were, a Jewish group from Temple Adat Elohim, standing on top of where Hitler cowardly ended his own life. We, a part of the race he was going to eliminate from earth, were there while his name lives in infamy only as a memory.
I shared with the group how in just one week we would be visiting Rakovnik, the town where our Holocaust Torah is from. The tears start flowing down my cheeks. I shared how with each bar and bat mitzvah student, as they hold this Holocaust scroll, we acknowledge that they are declaring in a strong and loud voice that Hitler lost and we are still here, thriving and working to make the world a better place. How meaningful to join our voices together and exclaim that we are a part of the people he hated the most, and we are alive. It was a powerful moment for me.
I think the best part of this visit is what happened next. As we were walking back to the bus, I was in the back of the group as I always want to be sure no one is left behind. And as I walked I noticed this precious little dog, walking on top of what used to be the bunker. This sweet dog did what dogs tend to do on walks, lowered her backside and did her business. I took this photo to always remember the little pooch who pooped on Hitler’s grave.
Our next stop was to see Humboldt University, a key example of Berlin’s role as a center of learning and knowledge. It has been associated with 41 Nobel Prize winners, a third of which are Jewish, and is still considered one of the great universities in Europe.
We then went to Babel Square, in front of the university library where on May 10, 1933 nazi-supporting university students began a massive bonfire that led to the burning of 30,000 books that were considered “un-German.”
The memorial is built into the ground and is empty shelves, where these books should have been stored. At night the light from the memorial glows up into the darkness, almost trying to call out that darkness will never extinguish light. This simple, yet-powerful memorial, stands as another reminder that those who participated in the nazi plans were often educated. Our light eventually overcame their darkness. I felt a connection to Israel as she deals with these tough times. And I hope and pray that her light will overcome the darkness brought on by Hamas and the attack of October 7. May her hostages come home, now.
This memorial also reminds my of the Yad Vashem Hall of Names, where we see the binders that hold the names of victims of the Holocaust. But what is even more notable than the binders is the empty space on the shelves that will never be filled, because there are no families left to remember them and input them into the database. These names will never be remembered. These shelves will always be empty.
Following this meaningful stop we headed to Museum Island where we had a choice of different museums to go and visit. Leasa and I chose to go to “The Museum” that housed a beautiful Impressionist Art exhibit, including the works of Monet, Manet and Degas to name only a few.
With the extra time we had we went into a neighboring church to see its beauty and we climbed the 260 steps to the top of the dome to get a panoramic view of Berlin. It was hard work, but worth the effort.
Our group shared a wonderful opening dinner together where we toasted to our trip and shared the birthday celebrations for Cindy and Amy.
Check out how this restaurant helped us to celebrate the birthdays!
We were thankful no one caught on fire! What a way to end this epic first day of travel together. We are exhausted, yet invigorated and ready for another full and emotional day tomorrow. Thank you for coming along with us on our journey!
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