Berlin: much more than just a wall!

Hey guys!

It's Haley this time and we just got home from a trip into Berlin. Stefan, Lindsay and I all drove in on Monday and the first stop was a concentration camp near Berlin called Sachsenhausen (say that 10 times fast...I dare you)!! I had always wanted to go to a concentration camp but never really knew what to expect. This particular camp is one that still has a lot of buildings still intact so we really got the feeling of how it looked back when it held prisoners. Walking in through the iron gate which reads, 'work makes you free,' sets the tone for the feeling of sympathy and grief for the hundreds of thousands of people who had to endure such a place.

The entire camp is surrounded by barbed wire fence that once was electric. About 200,000 people passed through Sachsenhausen between 1936 and 1945 and about 30,000 inmates died there. We did an audio tour of the camp which gave us stories from the prisoners who were held there. It also gave us the history of the camp and explained what the conditions were for the prisoners, which were inhumane, to say the least.

The hardest point in the day for me was when we saw the cremation room and gas chamber. To think of how many people died there was overwhelming. This sculpture was placed near the building where a lot of the prisoners were put to death. It is in memory of every victim.

So many people that were put in the camp and treated like garbage, were put there because of what they believed in. It really makes me thankful for the fact that I can believe in my God in the way that I feel is true and right and I will not be punished for it. But, it did make me think..."what am willing to give up and sacrifice for my beliefs?" The time we spent there was emotionally draining and none of us really felt like talking much after learning about what happened there...

The next day we headed into Berlin and learned a lot about the important German city. A lot has happened in Berlin. And, as we have quickly found out since getting to Europe...we know hardly anything about European history compared to how much Europeans know about American history!

If you don't quite know what took place in Berlin...like me, then here is a little history lesson about the Country's capital city. In 1933 Hitler and the Nazi party came into power and quickly sought to destroyed the Jewish community, anyone who was against the Nazi party, and pretty much anyone who believed or seemed different than them. The estimated number of deaths from the Nazis are about 11 million...although this number is difficult for them to estimate. During the Second World War, huge parts of Berlin were destroyed during the 1943-45 air raids. Half of all houses were damaged and around a third uninhabitable. They estimate the total number of dead in Berlin from air raids to be about 30,000. Many of which were civilians. It took the city a long time to rebuild and you can still see some buildings which show signs of the raids.

This church was almost demolished until they decided to preserve the part that is shown in this picture. After the second world war; defeated Germany was divided up into 4 parts. Long story short, East side Berliners kept leaving the East side for the West because it was more prosperous. They didn't want to lose anymore of their residents so, just like any fair government...East German authorities decided to create a temporary barbed wire fence around West Berlin so that their people could not get in. Construction began at about 1 a.m. on Aug. 12 1961, streetlights were turned off so that no one could see what was happening and the residents had no idea until morning. Families were split apart and people who had spent the night in East Berlin, perhaps visiting friends, couldn't return to their homes in the West. They were stranded. Eventually a 96 mile wall was built up and East Berlin continued to be a communist city with a depressed economy until the wall was torn down in 1989. Now the wall is hard to find in the large city, a large piece of it is used for professional murals. In fact, it is the longest connected piece of art in the world!

Being in Berlin was amazing and we learned so much about a very important time in world history. I think the thing that I most took away from our trip to Berlin is just the examination of my feelings towards people who are different than me. Do I judge them or show them respect? Yes, the Nazi party did horrendous things...but we also live with Racism every day. It is up to us to change our hearts.

Anyway...I will stop ranting and I will continue on to talk about the wonderful Otte family who made our stay so amazing. I unfortunately can't upload my pictures on this computer so I don't have a picture yet but I will soon. They were so welcoming and Stefan's mom made amazing German food. We enjoyed getting to know his whole family. In fact, on the last night Irenne said "I wish we could have you here longer!" They were very sweet and we loved every minute of being in their village. Thank you's from the both of us! Tausend dank!!

So, we arrived in Cologne today and are visiting our exchange student Julian. Lindsay and I rushed to the airport to meet up with our final travel buddy Kirsten!!!! She was so excited to be here that we saw no evidence of jet lag! She ran around saying "O...M...G...I'm in Europe!!! I just couldn't be happier!" That was just at the airport...now imagine her excitement when we arrived at the apartment that Julian's sister is graciously letting us stay in while we are here in downtown Cologne! This is going to be quite an adventure! -Haley