Berlin, Germany
Today we went to the Holocaust Memorial and the National Jewish Museum.
Both were great, but I was more partial to the memorial. It was constructed four years ago with over 2700 giant concrete blocks placed in a grid formation over uneven ground. Much like Berlin itself, it doesn't tower above the land. It is huge, but at the same time it is discrete and doesn't actually have any visible markings to tell what it is or why it is there. you have to actually go underneath it to an information center to find out. The holocaust isn't flaunted around the city for obvious reasons, the German's know what happened and they don't need a huge sign to remind them. The memorial is perfect for exactly that reason. Everyone knows what it is, why it is there, and what it is meant to symbolize, but it isn't shoved in their faces.
Before visiting the memorial we went to see the Reichstag. It was the building that housed Hitler's government up until it was burnt to the ground in 1933. We didn't go in, but we hung out outside of it and listened to Zac give us a sweet history lesson, which I imagine was just as good as any tour they could have given us haha.
I am loving the WWII history more than i could have imagined.
-Pat
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