Jeff Adams

This morning we headed back toward the former East Berlin part of the city that is now known as the City Center. Only a very small portion of the wall remains as a memorial. We saw some portions of the wall and also how a line of bricks running down the street in places mark where it used to be.

Potsdamer Platz was ground zero for Allied bombs during WWII and it was all but totally flattened. Today, it is astounding to see the heart of a modern city in the same spot. Right off the square is a huge and impressive Sony shopping complex. It is very hard to imagine what happened here not that many years ago.

Nearby is the site of Hitler’s bunker where he and his mistress Eva Braun were said to have been burned to death, or committed suicide, or escaped or whatever, depending on which theory you hold. On that spot today is a children’s playground and the government has purposely not marked the spot to keep it from becoming a magnet for Neo-Nazis.

Also nearby is a massive and moving monument to the murdered European Jews. It is a series of 2,700 pillars of varying heights. You would have to see it to feel the impact, but it is truly interesting.

The most sobering sight we saw today was on the ground of what was the former “house prison” of the SS. The building, the horror and the ghosts it held has long been demolished. In fact, many locals had simply overlooked what had been here. Now, there is a compelling, free exhibition in open air until a new exhibition hall can be constructed. Just in sight of a remaining portion of the wall is a fence lined with a large number of pictures with captions and explanations. The exhibit, called Topography of Terror, traces the history of this facility from just before the war until the bitter end. I was fascinated to see the pictures and read the stories of German members of the resistance who had been “guests” here. Most of them were executed during the way, including the protagonists in the assassination plot recently popularized by Hollywood and Tom Cruise in Valkyerie.

More fun exploring before grabbing some dinner and heading back for some rest. Tomorrow is our last full day before heading home.

Great reports from Sunday! Nice to know that KCBT does not depend on a single individual. Thank God for a good team! Thanks to all of you.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 2:52 pm and is filed under Jeff's Journeys, Purely Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.