What would you do?
“What would you do?” I looked forward to this trip as a teacher of history and government, anticipating a wealth of knowledge and personal stories of victims and survivors. I learned all this, made new friends, and discovered how much I don’t know about many things, especially about the Jewish faith and identity. More profound, […]
Shabbat
I’m not Jewish, but I’ve always been very fascinated by the faith. Last year on the Classrooms Without Borders study seminar to Poland, I had my first Shabbat dinner. We didn’t perform the typical Jewish service beforehand, but I still took a lot away from the experience. I was amazed by the closeness of the […]
Sweetness
If Ohio also had Hansel and Gretel houses and little villages with some variety of church-with-steeple in its center, the bus ride from Berlin to Dresden looks like a bus ride through Ohio. Flat, lush and green farmland. The occasional new growth pine forest which, no doubt, frames the construction that seems everywhere in Berlin. […]
History, Geography and Empathy
We departed Berlin yesterday morning after too brief a visit. Within three days, our study seminar participants saw various examples of Berlin’s historical and contemporary significance. The Topography of Terror Museum and remnants of the Berlin Wall activate the historical imagination, compelling us to reflect on the traces of erstwhile eras. However, Berlin also offers […]
Overdue, out of my head and onto the page
I just loaded 500 pictures onto Dani’s computer while she, and others with the energy and will, have been out for a late-night stroll through Dresden, which is lovely, more my speed than Berlin, less “brisk,” as today’s guide Stefan would say. More trees. More old buildings, or faux old buildings, but the effect is […]
Beauty of Dresden
After a nice and relaxing bus ride, accompanied by a film featured by Avi, we arrived in the magnificent city of Dresden. Our eyes were immediately attracted to the beauty of the city and the magnificence of the architecture. Everyone raced for their cameras and began to take as many pictures as possible. The city […]
You Knew.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (a Holocaust memorial) sits in the very heart of Berlin. It also happens to be overlooked by the American embassy. This was my primary thought after visiting: “You knew. Where were you?”
Ghosts
So, again, I begin with the train. As we trundled along from Mannheim to Berlin, very frequently trains passed us going the other direction in a rush of color and noise. In the middle of the night, these trains became flashes of light you could almost see through and the noise they made was […]
Wannsee
Yesterday, we traveled to the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, a beautiful neighborhood on a lake that is home to boat clubs, villas, and resorts. The vibe of the area is so relaxing that it is easy to forget–and inconceivable to picture–that one of these villas was home to the Wannsee Conference, a ninety minute meeting […]