Shout out to Milos

I came across this article on Prague and it quotes our guide Milos and his love and knowledge of art, especially cubist art. I thought I'd put this up before the blog is printed and bound.

Milos Curik is a pre-Revolution dissident and former postal worker who now is a location-spotter for movies and one of the country’s finest tour guides, with his own company, Arts & Music Travel. Milos adores cubist art, fiercely proud that Prague is the only city in the world that has cubist buildings in addition to artwork. Chattering away, he takes me directly to Old Town’s Museum Ceskeho Kubismu (Museum of Czech Cubism), housed in an earth-toned building designed in 1912-1913 by Josef Gocar—“a supreme example of how a modern building can be incorporated in a historic core,” Milos says.

I had seen the building before, but never noted its portal and capitals in fabulous cubist style. Inside, Milos runs from one masterful work to the next, pointing out his favourite ceramics and furniture, paintings and sculptures, including Otto Gutfreund’s celebrated “Anxiety” the first cubist sculpture.

“And now I’m going to show you something truly special,” Milos says. We weave through ancient cobblestone streets, stopping in a small square, Jungmannovo namesti, off Wenceslas Square. In front of us stands a funky cubist lamp post, the only one in the world. “What’s fascinating about Prague,” Milos says, “is that it’s truly a city of history; you can find many different architectural styles right next to each other.” Sure enough, next to the cubist lamp post stands a Gothic church, a functionalist building, and a secession building – a theme that reverberates throughout all of Prague.

Now I have to back and figure out if we saw these things!

Last Minute Message to the Girls

I know I said we would be home tomorrow but we are in the cab now and will be home in 15 minutes. Sorry, not much of a warning, so if a party is going on you'd best move quickly...

The Foodies Have Landed

Uneventful so should be home before dinner (or a midnight snack in body time).

Made It!

We were the last ones on the last bus, and I need a third shirt which I don't have, but we made it onboard. We were a bit confused as there was an Air Canada plane in view (and not requiring a bus) which we didn't seem to be on, but hopefully we won't end up in Moscow. (Our AC flight appears to be operated by Lufthansa.)

Amazingly the bus took us all the way back to a plane in or very close to the terminal where we had just landed. I can see the plane we landed on. It seems to be an astoundingly inefficient connection that passengers requiring assistance would not have made. I'm noting it only to remember for any future trip that this is a difficult connection. Will the bags make it too?

We opted for adjacent aisle seats with me on the middle and Kim on the aisle next to a single window seat. I think it probably was an error and we should have taken the pair. Oh well.

Wow

Still walking. Very very and appallingly far. Now in line for passport control with an equivalent walk to come and departure scheduled for less than 30 minutes from now. I can't imagine that we will miss this flight but it is a tighter connection than I expected and I don't know how someone who can't move quickly would possibly make it.

Welcome to Frankfurt

Since we're here I'm wondering if we are supposed to buy a hot dog before our flight home? Mind you, while waiting to get off the plane they told passengers connecting to Toronto to go right to the departure gate so maybe there isn't time anyway. And we're landing at an "A" gate but departing from a "B" gate so I don't know what is involved in the transfer-hopefully not a bus to another terminal as in Paris on our way from Florence to Prague. Based on a quick review of the map in the Lufthansa magazine it seems to be within walking distance and we shouldn't have to exit and then again go through security.

The flight here was pretty easy in the end (we even landed at the scheduled time somehow) and the air conditioning very welcome. Having said that, I discovered that shirts washed in the hotel room sink don't really wear so well (...think stinky) so I had to do a quick switch to a fresh shirt before the stewardess pushed me out the emergency exit. I feel much better now (and I suspect Kim and other nearby passengers do as well.)

They offered wine (unusual for a domestic flight from a Canadian perspective) but we passed on it and settled for more caffeine and water. Maybe we will be more adventurous on the longer trans-Atlantic flight.

From the air Frankfurt looked quite North American with a fair number of largish buildings, certainly more than in Berlin. We also flew over a big stadium that must have been used for the 2006 World Cup. There also seemed to be an extensive forested area.

Once we get home I will in time add photos from Berlin and even going back to Rome and I may also beef up the text of some of the earlier Italy posts. I didn't want to put up posts on the Internet that related to others and their being away from their homes at that moment-not without their consent at least. I suspect Kim will put together her thoughts in a final post.

The trip has been wonderful and very special and came at the right time in our lives. But I really need to start devoting the major part of my energy to work. I think that endeavor in fact will complete my recovery.

So Much for German Efficiency

The airport isn't air conditioned. The flight is meant to leave in 15 minutes but we haven't even started boarding. The PA system is inaudible as well. A new airport will be good!

Dreary Day

It has been raining pretty steadily all morning and now is drizzling as we wait for the flight at our gate. We are very lucky we didn't have a walking tour on a day like today.

I just hit the duty free shop for discounted Famous Grouse blended Scotch and a special 1998 vintage Highland Park single malt. 18 year old Highland Park is my favourite so I hope this one is good too. Either it was a really good price or it isn't anywhere near as good as the 18 year old. We passed on the Leysieffer.

This airport seems a bit depressed and we're told it is to be torn down (together with a second airport) and a new one built. We have to connect in Frankfurt but I heard a flight called for New York JFK.

All Checked In

We are early so are shopping/looking around and Kim is full but still eyeing the Leysieffer strudel. We did the tax refund already for the Falke purchase. An hour to kill so Leysieffer it is...but maybe coffee only.

All Our Bags are Packed...

We strolled to a breakfast spot with thunder in our ears (but no lightning or rain) and are sitting in a covered spot outside having croissants and coffee. Kim also spied a strudel for the airport but it seems destined to be eaten now. We have a 12:05 flight to Frankfurt and then a 1:55 flight back home. There isn't a ton of connection time so I'm hoping we don't have real storms that cause delays, but there isn't any point worrying about it.

Amazingly we did sleep last night despite the heat. Cold showers and fans actually do a lot, but I will be glad to return to air conditioning.

I was amazed at the very large number of restaurants we saw last night, and that was only in one area. It feels like there are many more of them per capita here than there are at home. If we were to come back in cooler weather we would miss that vibe.

Question of the Day

How does one separate the sweaty icky stuff in the suitcase from the few remaining clean and unworn items like sweaters that weren't needed in this heat wave? And will the ginger caramel dessert be as good as the rest of the meal?

Savignyplatz

We scrambled to make Falke before closing time and I made my first purchase of the vacation with some running stuff and socks. Kim threw in some leggings and they stayed open for us for a bit.

We then decided to make a more concerted effort to find Cafe Florian in Savignyplatz and succeeded. The street stops as you approach the square but continues later. This time we found it and lucked out with an outdoor table for our last dinner of the vacation. The area has tons of outdoor spots and is very lively. We were tempted by Indian and by a tapas place, but decided to go with the earlier recommendation of a typical German place. The table was reserved for 9 but we agreed we wouldn't over stay our welcome. The half bottle of Chablis Premier Cru Montmain 2007 has arrived and the food has been ordered. I went for chicken curry salad and salmon trout and Kim ordered herring and lamb. The bread and dips are here so I'm trying to remember the old saying that "my eyes are bigger than my stomach" which I heard many times at Miss Montreal and later at Pumpernick's. (I'm blanking on the place that later became Murray's. Macy's?)

One other thought regarding today. We overheard a discussion in a group tour. At one point a person in the tour complained that Germany is being held down and that reparations being paid to Israel are the main problem. Sigh.

But that is not my lasting impression at all of today's Germany.

Resting and then Heading out Again

I've now checked us in for our flights tomorrow but had a bit of excitement doing so, as Air Canada didn't have online check in for Germany and Lufthansa (which operates the flights) only seemed to have my seats and none for Kim. Eventually I sorted it out.

We're going to go check out Falke for running gear although I don't know how one tries anything on in this weather. Then we either will find a place outside for dinner or head back to the food halls at Ka De We (and note the photos in the link).

By the way when we said goodbye to Alex he gave us a new business card which indicates his website so I'm putting it here so it can be captured by Google. Once I've cleaned this blog up and added photos I will send him the address for this blog and he can comment and tell me what I got wrong! I told him about my journal, so he didn't think I was randomly texting as he was talking.

Potsdam Conference

After the tour we went to the site of the so called new palaces which now are part of the private Potsdam University. It had been an East German university and would have been closed but for the involvement of investors committed to keep it open who agreed to maintain the site if the university had access.

We then went to the site of the post-WWII conference which, together with the prior Yalta Conference, defined Europe after WWII. American conservatives blame Roosevelt and Churchill at Yalta and Truman and Attlee at Potsdam for appeasing Stalin and giving him Eastern Europe.

The conference took place in the Cecilienhof castle.

Potsdam is the capital of the Brandenburg state and has 200,000 residents. It is not mainly a university town.

We're about to start the tour...assuming Kim wakes up, as she fell asleep on the drive to the site...now awake.

The castle was built early in the 20th century so is quite new. The entrance is marked by a big red geranium star planted by Stalin. It has been maintained.

The overall atmosphere has a bit of a severe East German feel to it.

The upshot of the conference was the collapse of the alliance that had beaten the Nazis and the clear start of the Cold War. Churchill represented Britain at the start but lost an election during the conference such that Attllee took his place. Truman was there because FDR had died a couple of months beforehand. The French were not invited but ultimately were given a share of the administration of Berlin. (Why?!)

The furniture on display is what was here for the conference. The conference room looks how it was then with the three original flags on the table. There were separate entry doors so no single leader or delegation could enter first and be seen as dominant. If it was as hot then as it is no I'm amazed they were able to sit there all day and in more formal attire. No wonder the outcome wasn't great for the west.

The Palace

Very interesting and beautiful but I didn't take notes. The highlights: lots of art on display in a one floor palace, some in the rococo style. No Nazis and no Communists so an earlier era.

Movenpick was tasty (a (very) thin crust onion and mushroom pizza with beer for me and salmon with carbonated apple drink for Kim). I don't think we will plan anything fancy for tonight. Maybe a return visit to the KaDeWe food halls!

Potsdam

We crossed the river heading south out of Berlin and entered Potsdam which was part of the former East Germany (as only West Berlin was carved out of East Germany to form part of West Germany).

The town is beautiful with tree lined streets and gorgeous houses. It almost looks like the grand old towns of upstate New York, like Geneva, in their heyday.

One house is subject to three competing claims: 1. The original Jewish owner who had the property confiscated by the Nazis; 2. The subsequent owner during the Nazi era who then had it confiscated by the East German state; and 3. The current owner(s) who bought the land from the East German state. The courts have been dealing with it for 10 years and is very complicated. The Jewish family has to show that in 1938 they were forced to sell and the second owner has to show that it wasn't complicit in the original confiscation.

Some of the architecture is in the form of wooden Russian style houses. There are 20 such houses in the middle of a park in central Potsdam and were a gift from the Czar.

We're going to grab a light lunch at Movenpick and then head into the Sanssouci royal palace. (In German the word for palace is the same as the word for castle with fortress being a separate word.)

It looks like we're now switching to a mindset removed from both the Nazi period and the Cold War.

Wannsee

We then left the residential area and went through the forest of Grunewald. This area was a popular recreational destination for West Berliners during the period of the wall. It was a protected area (from development) and goes about 10K all the way to Wannsee.

To get there we got on one of the first highways anywhere. It was built in the 1920's. The highway cuts through the forest.

The Wannsee Conference took place on January 20, 1942 for the purpose mentioned previously. I believe we saw a film about it many years ago. Note that the conference doesn't mark the beginning of the Holocaust but after it already was underway. The attendees reviewed the experience to date and discussed how to make it work better. Attendees included many civil servants and not just political Nazis. Full cooperation and participation by all agencies was necessary. Nut it was a small conference over breakfast. We only know about it because its agenda wasn't destroyed as the war wound down. In other cases the Nazis did destroy records and other evidence.

On the way in we passed the Wannsee lake with lots of boats. It is the junction of two rivers. It is one of the most expensive areas of Berlin due to the lake, the available highway and commuter train options. There were many yacht clubs but not all remain open.

Signs mark the location of Max Liebermann's villa. (The architect is the same as of the conference site.) There is a small museum which displays his art. There are extensive gardens which go down to the lake.

We passed many other opulent villas including Villa Herz where the lady of the house was really the first to host intellectual salons. We then arrived at the House of the Wannsee Conference which is a memorial and educational site.

Once again, an incredible contrast-on the one hand the site is beautiful with well maintained and planned gardens and a lake, yet on the other hand the site is of a conference that is the main preserved evidence of an overall master plan of extermination.

Alex explained that many industrialist families supported the Nazis including some that remain prominent today without having explained their support. Some of this support pre-dated Hitler's ascent to power.

While we know about Wannsee we don't know anything equivalent regarding the decision as a matter of policy to effect the Final Solution altogether. Was it an order of Hitler? Was there a like conference? The protocol from Wannsee was discovered in 1946:

"...emigration has now been replaced by evacuation to the East...in view of the imminent final solution of the Jewish question...around eleven million Jews will be taken into consideration in the course of the final solution of the Jewish question in Europe..."

It also says that those who survive "will have to be treated accordingly because they unquestionably represent the most resistant segments and therefore constitute a natural elite that, if allowed to let go free, would turn into germ cells of renewed Jewish revival (witness the experience of history)."

I wonder what the Holocaust deniers and "revisionists" make of this protocol.

We could spend the day here as there is an extensive exhibition but it is time to go to the castle of Potsdam.

A Sobering Fact

Unlike South Africa which had its Truth and Reconciliation Commission after apartheid, West Germany did not go through any like process. Nazi paraphernalia became illegal and the general attitude was effectively to erase the past.

Because of the Cold War and the fear of Communists, and because former Nazis weren't ostracized by their host society, many who could show that they weren't on the "Left" and therefore were somehow trustworthy actually had Nazi pasts.

Continuing On to An Amazing Hotel Along the Route

We stopped at the villa of a lawyer/industrialist in the same area. The family name was von Pannwitz and the house became a hotel in the 1960's. It is Schlosshotel I'm Grunewald (AlmaBerlin).

(Alex just told us that he was asked to take Sarah Jessica Parker to the Jewish Museum today but he can't because he is with us! Instead of Sex and the City he has Food Obsessed in the Country.)

The villa is now a gorgeous boutique hotel but many of the original decorations have been preserved. Wilhelm II, the last emperor, once visited and the main entry hall is named for him. The dining area is beautiful and what was for a family is now for a hotel. (I'm looking for a stray croissant but none so far.)

There is a nice back staircase a la 645 Grosvenor and it hasn't yet been replaced by a laundry chute.

While the hotel is magnificent it is a ways out of the city so it works best for something like a wedding and other like events. It isn't far from lakes out of the city.

This country is full of indescribable contrasts, as these back to back posts show very well. On the one hand you have opulence and other forms of advanced civilization. On the other hand, around the corner in both physical space and the soul you have base depravity5

On the Way to Potsdam

Our first stop was the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church near our hotel. The interior walls of the newer memorial church are all stained glass. The old church was damaged in the war and isn't being repaired so as to preserve it as a ruin. Some of the stained glass from the old church was used in the new church. We had walked by several times but to that point had not gone in. Together they are called the "lipstick (the old church) and the powder puff (the new church)" or even the "rotten tooth."

We also learned that our nearest big street is called "Ku'Damm" by locals rather than the full Kurfurstendamm.

We saw a sculpture of a car crashed through concrete. On the way out of the city we went through the tree lined villa area. The main street is Koenigsallee. There was tombstone type monument for someone who was followed while driving in his convertible and shot three times by young Nazis during the period of the Weimar Republic. This was one of several political murders during that time. A lot of the murders were committed by secret Nazi organizations but blamed on Communists and the purpose was to create instability and discredit the Left.

As an aside, paper used to be made of old clothing and resulted in heavy paper used for special occasions. We passed Isadore Duncan's house. She died while driving when strangled by her elaborate long scarf.

We passed a villa on Erdener Strasse with a memorial to S. Fischer who had a publishing house. He died in 1934 and his family moved to California before the war. The plaque was put up by the family and they got the house back after the war but the building is now a multi-unit condominium. Many of the streets in the area now are named for former residents. The area is Grunewald (green forest) and is considered part of Berlin although it really is a suburb. During Communism it was surrounded by the wall as it is in the west. The area is close to a commuter train station. Just up the ramp was the embarkation point for trains going to the camps. There is a memorial to Mahnmal Gleis 17 (as most trains left from track 17). The Holocaust involved a lot of logistics-Eastern European Jews had to be killed first to make room in the ghettos and camps for the Western European Jews to come later. Plaques show how many were deported, on what date to what place (e.g., Riga, Lodz, Warsaw, Minsk, Theresienstadt). People lived within site of the station so one wonders what they thought. Alex says this was so because it wasn't a secret at all and was official policy that Jews were being evacuated as enemies of the state.

It's interesting that we were at Terezin and now see the embarkation point to that place for many Jewish Berliners. In some cases a place like Terezin (Theresienstadt) was just a connecting point or hub and people were transferred immediately to another location such as Auschwitz. As we progressed chronologically through the dates the numbers increased from 100 to 1,000+ people and also Auschwitz appeared as a direct non-stop destination. The last plaque shows only 18 Jews being deported to Theresienstadt on March 27, 1945. There are three more blank ones installed in case other transports come to light that also should be commemorated.



Clearly today will be about more than palaces and gardens. We also will be stopping at Wannsee where a conference was held in 1941 to plan the logistics regarding precisely how to exterminate the 11 million Jews of Europe. Alex said that as Hitler realized that the war was lost he still took great satisfaction that he nonetheless successfully had struck such an enormous blow against what he called "international Jewry."

Potsdam

Today's itinerary is Potsdam which I understand is the site of gorgeous palaces. I don't think the posts today will be as long as the ones from yesterday but I expect to take some gorgeous photos (with the one in this post a copy and paste from the Internet). It is supposed to be another hot day.

From the tourism site:

Without a doubt, Potsdam is one of the most beautiful cities in Germany. Adding to the cultural ambience, the capital city of the State of Brandenburg is a natural destination to satisfy varied interests and demands.

Potsdam's most popular site is the Schloß Sanssouci palace, located in the park to which it gives its name. However, there is far more than the former summer residency of Frederick the Great and the Sanssouci park to make your visit worthwhile. The Alexandrowka, the Holländisches Viertel (the Dutch Quarter) and the Weavers' Quarter - the historic sections of the city - provide the flair of a city steeped in European tradition.

The Babelsberg Filmpark, the Biosphäre nature experience exhibit, the National Horticulture Show park, known as the BUGA park and built for the National Horticulture Show in 2001, the tourist cruise ships, and the Krongut Bornstedt (the crown estate) are all special attractions which will make your visit to Potsdam a very pleasurable experience.

My Thoughts about Today (by Kim)

I can say with certainty that I had one of the most interesting days of my life exploring the Jewish quarter with Mark, my husband of 25 years and Alex, our guide.

On the way to the former Jewish quarter, Alex pointed out a memorial in front of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra House, which was erected to commemorate Hitler's plan to rid the Aryans of mentally and physically challenged people, called the T 4 plan. It is two S shaped granite columns. The memorial is perfect and symmetrical in design and is a nice way to pay homage to people who are imperfect.

In the former Jewish section, there are small gold (or perhaps brass?) plaques, placed discreetly in the sidewalk in front of individual homes. I thought this was such a meaningful way to remember the Jewish people, whose name, date of birth and where and when they were murdered, is inscribed on each plaque. Alex waited for one of us, and it happened to be Mark, to stumble on the first plaque. I thought the significance of this was that people carried on their lives in Berlin hardly noticing that their Jewish neighbours were disappearing from around them. Of course once we saw the first plaque, then we started to see the others.

I particularly liked hearing about how the women of Rosenstrazse protested when their husbands were imprisoned. The memorial is on the sight of the Old Synagogue, which was destroyed on Kristallnacht. The stones show the women pleading for their husbands' lives. Four weeks later the men were released.

We also visited Otto Weitz's workshop where he sheltered Jews in his workshop for the blind. They made brushes, which were in demand during the war. Otto Weitz personally went to rescue his Jewish secretary from Auschwitz. He successfully arranged for her escape.

I thought it was so neat the way the whole area has become a hip artist's area, full of boutiques and cheap former East Bloc housing for hippies. Berlin is a thriving living memorial to the dead. It is also a good tourist trap as I saw some interesting fashion by avant garde designers.

I am now consumed by wanting to read Holocaust literature. I took several pamphlets from Otto Weitz's shop. As well, Mark bought an excellent book at Terezienstadt by a survivor.

We stopped for a pastry. Mark to provide details. Alex told us that the owner made bread for the deportation camps as well as challah on Friday nights. The bakery also survived during communism. The bakery is still owned by the daughter, now in her eighties, of the original owner.

Alex also showed us the New Synagogue. Miraculously it was not destroyed on Kristallnacht. A policeman, Krutzfeld, warned the caretaker of the impending pogrom. The son of the caretaker, who survived the war, revealed this later. The Nazis used the synagogue to store their records of who was Jewish, half Jewish etc. They remain because the Nazis filled in the ceiling of the shul with rubble so that if it was bombed the rubble would stop the total destruction. They also threw some artifacts into the ceiling, like the Aron Kodesh which we saw.

We ended our day at the wonderful Jewish Museum. Libeskind's architecture is so thoughtful and I particularly liked his depiction of emigration from Berlin by having the visitor walk through the pathways of columns, which are built on a slope. Thus creating the feeling of losing one's footing in a new country. The museum is not a Holocaust museum. It focuses on German Jewish life from medieval times to the present day collapse of the wall and the current social political life of German Jewry. It is more about education and understanding. I think non-Jews would find it particularly enlightening.

There is a tower depicting the Holocaust. The visitor stands in the enclosed space in near darkness.

In our tours in general of Berlin, Alex keeps pointing out evidence of the wall. We saw today a huge area of grass which was a no man's land. Yesterday we saw how this no man's land was turned into a beach along the Spree river. Because the wall only came down in 1988, Berlin is full of exciting new buildings and the architecture is very futuristic. Potsdam Square (Potsdamer Platz) and the fabulous Mis van Der Roe National Art Gallery are examples of this. In contrast some of the former Eastern Bloc housing still stands.

At the end of a tiring and interesting day, we found a delightful local restaurant where we ate an Italian meal with people who obviously live in the neighbourhood and were stopping by after work with their wives or friends for a simple meal. I was reading one of the pamphlets I had taken today, but found myself hiding the title about Jewish Resistance during the war.

Dinner Report

Fagiano really was good and comes with the satisfaction of having found it oursleves. And, no, tonight we did not have dessert.

My favourite information from all that we learned today is the fact that the Nazi closure of the clothing trade meant there was a shortage of lederhausen.

Today there were some labour disruptions at many German airports resulting in the cancellation of many domestic flights. While no international flights were cancelled, we have to connect in Frankfurt to get home so I'm hoping there isn't anything to worry about for Saturday. Not much we can do about it anyway...

An Observation

We are again in a residential west end area apart from the tourists. There are lots of restaurants and this time of year, as at home, the locals relish the opportunity to sit outside. Also, as at home, Italian is very popular. What is very different though is the relatively large number of smokers. There is almost one per table. On that note my salad with fresh mushrooms just arrived. Kim ordered the special pasta with the same mushrooms (but switched the sauce from cream to tomato) and I ordered fegato a la veneziano. The special dessert is profiteroles.

Photo is of our hotel at night.

What's for Dinner?

We didn't have a plan so strolled locally and have settled on Italian at Fagiano. Starving so hope it's good!

Jewish Museum

The new museum opened in 2001. Daniel Libeskind built it to add to the existing museum. The new part is a zigzag form. Perhaps it is a broken Star of David? It is open to interpretation. There also are various empty spaces with an obvious interpretation.

We went through the "Axis of Exile" showing the various places where those who were able to flee went to. The area I built on an incline which shows the difficulty getting out.

There were outdoor columns built in an incline do it is unstable to walk there. The area is the Garden of Exile.

The Axis of the Holocaust leads to a tower. As you walk along there is no warning as to what is coming.

The museum covers 2,000 years of history and can't be absorbed in one visit. Our plan was to focus mainly on the modern era including the Holocaust period but my highlights that follow show that we took in quite a bit more.

The Axis of Continuity cuts through the space and leads up to the exhibition. The early portion discusses medieval times and various religious and secular restrictions which regulated how Jews could live. They weren't citizens, had to pay "body taxes" and basically were kept out of things like agriculture and the trades and forced into things like banking.
We can't summarize the exhibition, but one thing of note was the story of Levi's Jeans. Levi Strauss was the youngest son of Rebecca Strauss who emigrated to the US in 1847 with her three youngest children. She left rural Germany where Jews were heavily regulated in terms of what they could do to survive.

Moses Mendelssohn embraced the European Enlightenment and, as mentioned in a post earlier today, introduced secular and modern education into Jewish education. He became a leading figure of the Enlightenment. He also translated the Torah into German. The flip side was to spread German culture among Jews. He wanted Jews to be fully integrated into German life with language as an essential first step. As such he was both an important progressive Jew and an important figure in the German Enlightenment.

(The risks of blogging while walking-I just smashed my toes against a step I wasn't expecting, and I'm wearing sandals.)

Home movies of family life from the '30's by one family looked like home movies I've seen of my own family. The family shown in what I'm viewing moved to Palestine (as it then was) and then to California.

Other parts of the exhibition illustrated the increasing assimilation and secularization of the community such as table ware showing non-observance with dietary laws.


By the mid-19th century certain things remained closed to Jews but some professions became open. Still, popular stereotypes notwithstanding, most lived at or below subsistence despite new opportunities.

Albert Rosenhain founded a leather goods company. "A Rosenhain wallet fits in every pants pocket.". The Nazis liquidated the company in 1938.

One exhibit showed some extensive family trees.

There is an extensive section on 19th century life including racially based (as opposed to religiously based) anti-Semitism and illustrations of the suffering of Jewish Germans who learned that they rather were German Jews, if perceived as German at all. Some converted to open doors and achieve equality, as it seemed impossible to be both German and Jewish. Very few German Jews became Zionists.

Modern Judaism is described in the exhibition as analogous to Protestantism in relation to Catholocism.

The exhibition covers Berlin from 1890-1933 and shows the role of Jewish Germans in modernization of the new German state (founded only in 1871). The KaDeWe department store was depicted. The role played in theatre and other arts also was featured. The works of many Jewish artists working in the area of modern art was criticized as un-German.
For those who wanted a return to pre-modernity, the Jews were blamed for the ills of modernity.

Interestingly Zionists took the view that Jews should go to Palestine to become farmers and leave the roles they'd taken on in Europe. They thought eastern European Jews were more authentic and were critical of German and other western European Jews.

The Jewish role in the liberal movement for social justice in the face of accelerating change was also featured.

Jews fought enthusiastically for Germany in WWI. The post-war Weimar Republic granted Jews full equality. Yet anti-Semitism began to grow as well, with Jews blamed for more and more ills that affected people's lives such as dire economic conditions and the defeat in WWI. The greater the expansion of rights the greater the hostility grew.

When Hitler assumed power in 1933 anti-Semitism became official state policy. There are posters of boycotts against Jewish owned shops. Question: are boycotts of Israeli goods the same or are they more designed to pressure changes in state policy? In any event this marked the end of the movement for equality and the exhibition then explores what came next. Those who were able to leave did so until emigration was prohibited in October 1941.

While the Holocaust is covered the museum really does cover two thousand years of Jewish life in Germany. The last portion of the exhibition covers the post-war period.

We've had another full and exhausting day and will need time and discussion to absorb what we've seen.

Continuation of our Tour of Jewish Berlin-More Raw Notes

Ironically when Jews were forced to sell or abandon their property the clothing business was affected and there was a shortage of traditional German clothing like lederhausen. It just shows how much a part of the fabric of German life the Jewish community really was and how the Nazis didn't just exterminate a "foreign" community but part of the organic Germany.

Correction: the number of 200,000 represents the number of Jews in all of Germany. Only 11,000 are in Berlin but that is the biggest concentration of Jews.

We stopped for a quick lunch at a bagel place (Bagels & Bialy's)where I had a berry smoothie and Kim had a savoury tart with salad and humous. Carpe Diem is a company that makes organic lemonade type drinks but that isn't what I ordered. A bialy is a Russian flat pastry with various fillings.

After our brief lunch we went to the nearby Hackescher area which developed outside of the city walls. There are lots of beautiful courtyards. They served as a form or protection. There also is a lively market area in the area.

At this point the clouds lifted and it became quite hot in the mid-afternoon sun, but there was still somewhat of a breeze. We kept on, approaching Alexanderplatz which is located in the former medieval Berlin.

We saw the site of the first synagogue that was set up by the Jews that came to Berlin after 1671, following their earlier expulsion. They needed permission to build it and were subject to restrictions including as to height relevant to other structures. Before 1671 there were private synagogue like prayer rooms and some were big enough to accommodate large numbers. But it was significant that a public synagogue was allowed. The site was bombed during the last stages of the war and the rubble removed by the East German government. It wasn't affected by the earlier Kristallnacht.

The on site memorial on Rosenstrasse was done by an East German showing how non-Jewish women protested what the Nazis were done. Some of the women weren't considered Jewish under the Nazi racial laws which didn't recognize converts as Jews and many protesters wanted their Jewish husbands released. Amazingly many men indeed were released at a point in 1943 when 1,000 people were protesting. Most who were released survived the war.



This incident is another example of people standing up to the Nazi government who were not arrested or worse. You either can view this as a good thing or use it to ask why others didn't engage in the same sort of civil disobedience.
The story also is interesting because it took place at the time of the siege of Stalingrad when many German soldiers died for lack of supplies. The Holocaust was an important war aim and not incidental. Otherwise trains needed to supply soldiers who were freezing to death wouldn't have been used instead to transport Jewish civilians to the eastern death camps. So intense was Hitler's hatred of Jews that he compromised the lives of his own soldiers.

By the way the medieval Jewish community was expelled due to the blood libel that Jews killed Christian children to harvest their blood for use in making Passover matzo.

We then toured a museum in honour of Otto Weidt's Workshop for the blind. He employed many deaf and blind Jews during the war and tried to protect them, moving many into hiding. Some of the hiding spots are still visible. The exhibit has explanation is braille as well as in German and English.

Because Wiedt's business was for profit and arguably related to the war effort, he had some clout, and in one instance he traveled to Auschwitz and secured the release of a Jewish employee who had survived the selection process. In doing so he offered his brushes for sale to the camp administrators. Alice Licht survived the war and emigrated to the US afterwards. Another person he saved went to England and later to the US. She has since returned to Germany in her 90's.

He did have a circle of helpers in his effort. For example, some procured food and others provided shelter. Others warned him of pending roundups of Jews and still others provided false identity papers.


Of course others in hiding were denounced by their fellow citizens, arrested by the Gestapo and then deported and murdered.

Some of the museum comprises the original workshops and other portions have been added on.

Before leaving the area we explored a number of the courtyards that were full of shops and restaurants. Some were decorated in an art deco style and each one seemed to lead to another. Alex left us there for a bit to explore while he went to get the car.

At that point and with only a couple of minutes to spare I found the Kruck chocolate store. It all looked amazing but I was afraid it would melt if we walked around with it. So we would bought a bar of dark chocolate with chili to eat right now. Excellent with an after zing!

I'm now quite tired, but Alex is now dropping us off at the Jewish Museum where we will do a self-guided audio tour after he first orients us and explains the architecture. There will be some sites along the way and we also welcome some air conditioned time sitting in the car. (The museum also is air conditioned.) Apparently the guided tour is so good that it won an award so it's best to be refreshed to be able to absorb it.

We will make our way back to our hotel by subway from there. If we don't do it the museum now we will miss it altogether as tomorrow is our last full day and we are going to the Potsdam area where the various monarchs had their palaces.

Notes from Our Morning

I will clean this up later, and add photos too, but don't want to forget anything.

We started at Potsdam Square. It was all rebuilt as it was destroyed in WWII and was no man's land in Cold War. All rebuilt in last 10+ years. Wall went through it as per cobblestones. (We were there on our own yesterday on our way to the Tiergarden.)

There are many memorials to people who died trying to escape East Berlin, some with crosses.

The rebuilt Jewish community is imported mainly from Eastern Europe including Russia.

We stopped at Palais Ephraim. There were "Court Jews" loyal to the monarch, often bankers. The community depended on the goodwill of the king as Jews were not citizens until after the French Revolution. The building was totally destroyed but it was rebuilt and is now a museum.

Lapidarium is a museum of tombstones. That is where we were yesterday.

We saw a library focusing on victims of Stalinism in a neighbourhood reconstructed to look how it was in 1700's with cobblestone streets. We went to Lessing house. The name of the area is Nikolaiviertel.

Berlin is a Slavic word meaning in between the swaps of wet areas. The bear connotation actually is a mistake but there are lots of bears including a statue here. We saw the old seal of city of the united city and St. Nicholas Church. It is Lutheran and was tolerated by rulers to get rid of Rome.

The old Jewish area was outside the medieval city walls as it was cheaper than within city walls. Jews were allowed to live within the walls as of 1671 but you paid extra taxes if Jewish.

There is lots of construction in the old East Berlin where there was a ton (or more) of wartime rubble that was neglected in Communism. Now even the precast housing put up by the Communists also is coming down.

We saw the kosher grocery and Orthodox area.

The place we saw the first night near our hotel was a JCC and is run by Chabad.

There are armed guards outside the Orthodox centre. There are 200,000 Jews now instead of only 20,000.

The big synagogue became reform in 1869 and we saw Adath Israel as a breakaway synagogue. This is now a functioning synagogue. In 1969 a law was passed after an attempted attack by a far left terrorist group re: the liberation of Palestine-i t was an attempted bombing of a community centre-federal law requires police to guard all Jewish institutions.

German Zionists didn't so much want to build Israel as get Eastern European Jews in Berlin to go there. Kids-many left here as easier to get a single visa than a family one. But Ahawah home for children got many kids out before the war.

There are small brass plates on sidewalks outside homes where deported people lived. 10,000 plaques. 55,000 Berlin Jews were deported starting October 1941.

We saw an old dance hall that still is open.

We came upon a bakery from pre-Nazi period and now owned by a daughter. Baker ordered to bake bread for those being collected but made more than paid to bake so people had more. Also made Shabbat challah. Survived Communist period even when no private property.

We had a snack-Kim had an apple rhubarb thing and I had a raisin danish type thing. Alex had a cheesecake and poppy seed square. All were excellent. It is one of the few independent bakeries not part of a franchise.

30% of the population in the area was Jewish pre-war but now it isn't at all.

The Catholic hospital showed solidarity, gave out food and hid people. It still is a Catholic hospital. They didn't save a ton of people but the act of solidarity was important and also shows that not all Germans supported the Nazis.

There are still visible bullet holes in some houses from WWII from when the Red Army was fighting the Nazis-at the end of the war many kids were sacrificed by being armed as civilians.

We looked at the outside of today's Jewish high school. Re-opened in 1994 and now co-ed and not just for boys. Quiet today as summer vacation. Living community among the memorials. 450 kids most of whom are Jewish and they do accept others. Private from E120 per month only. German curriculum but have Hebrew too.

Mendelsohn founded the Jewish school in 1774 as first Jewish school to be more than religious education but secular/modern like math. Actually the first of its kind in Prussia altogether.

We saw the site of former home for aged but it has been turned into a memorial site (see photo of the sculpture of many people) as it became a collection site for deportation. "Never Forget, Be Aware of the War, Keep the Peace" plaque put up by East Germans. One of first plaques put up by East Germans-only in 1988, 50 years after Kristallnacht. First time Jews singled out and not just part of persecuted non-fascists. Perhaps just an attempt to use Jews to look reformist so as to attract foreign investment and save the state.

The building was destroyed by shell with middle missing. Plaques on side to mark names of those killed.

We visited the spot of the old cemetery. The Nazis leveled it but bodies are still buried without tombstones. Was already closed for new burials as it was full.

Regina Jonas was the first female rabbi and was ordained in 1935 in the nearby synagogue. She was deported to Theresienstadt (Terezin in Czech) and then to Auschwitz where she was murdered. She was a rabbi in Theresienstadt. She didn't leave because she lived with her sick mother.

New synagogue: front is a museum and memorial but no prayer hall in it anymore. It wasn't destroyed on Kristallnacht. There was a memorial plaque affixed during the centennial year of 1966 so the Communists put it up. They don't mention that it was the Communists who removed the prayer hall in 1958. Was a reform shul. There was a security check to enter and an admission fee. It had space for 3,000 people to serve the entire community and its various subsets even though no one congregation was that big. It was a symbol that Jews were part of the country.

They started renovating in 1989 as on the 50th anniversary of Kristallnacht there was an effort to remember. They found artifacts when they removed concrete from the war, including the eternal light.

The renovation isn't a complete rebuild as they wanted some of the destruction to be visible.

The synagogue wasn't destroyed on Kristallnacht. Krutzfeld was a police officer who received a warning a day beforehand that there would be a pogrom and Himmler told police not to intervene. The SS did most of the damage and didn't wear uniforms to make it look like a spontaneous people's uprising. Krutzfeld made sure nothing would take place in the synagogue that day. He saw the SS break in and start a fire and was able to find other police and he kicked out the SS. He wasn't arrested but had to resign his post in the area. He still received a letter signed by Hitler thanking him for his service to the German people and his pension. As Alex says, he really did provide a service to the German people which included Jews.

Question: who is responsible for the atrocities in WWII-the Nazis of Germans generally? This is a very difficult question. But in Krutzfeld's case there is an example where defying the Nazis didn't lead to imprisonment or worse, which both shows that not all Germans followed the Nazis but also that defying the Nazis may not have been as risky as some say. Krutzfeld didn't talk about his role at all.

A tour group from Israel is now visiting and the noise is deafening so it is hard to hear Alex. I thought we weren't allowed to take photos but they are so maybe I should?

As the war broke out the dome had to be painted black for air raid camouflage reasons but the request was made on Rosh Hashanah for political reasons.
The back of the synagogue shows columns outside that supported the original prayer hall, now destroyed. This area is now a memorial. There is a sports hall behind the site now used by the Jewish high school that we saw earlier.

There are street signs on the floor relating the objects displayed to their original location in the quarter.

Paradoxically after the Nazis came to power there was a revival of the community as it was what was available and could be trusted. Many assimilated Jews became Jewish in terms of identity, if not religion, at this time. The Nazis didn't mind this development as they wanted full segregation.

The Jewish museum was opened only four days before Hitler came to power and then was closed after Kristallnacht.

There is a photo of the outdoor 1939 Purim parade and there are visible police guards. We can't tell why police were there-to guard against attacks against children or to monitor and police the parade?

That's it for now.