Haunting . . . the Jewish Memorial in Berlin

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John will write a blog about our experience in Berlin, but I wanted to add my thoughts about the Jewish Memorial there. The four of us spent an afternoon in Berlin to show the girls the main sights. We took a "bike cab" through the Tiergarten to the Jewish Memorial. As we approached, I was underwhelmed! What I saw was a city block, or more, of rows of large concrete blocks set at different heights. That's all. There were no signs that I could see, no plaques, no lists of names, no written explanation. The Memorial, as I understand it, is meant to be "felt." It seemed appropriate to me that there should be no names. Sure, the Nazi's expected their Reich to last 1000 years, so they were arrogant enough to keep meticulous lists of those they slaughtered, but the lack of names at this memorial only serves to enhance the feeling of loss. The only signs indicated that visitors should maintain quiet respect as they experience the Memorial--no standing on the blocks, no jumping from stone to stone, etc. Ironically, the stones are covered with a substance that prevents paint from sticking, so there is no graffiti here, unlike most of the rest of the city. But (and here lies the irony), the substance is produced by a company founded by one of the worst of those that persecuted Jews. Unlike many of the tourists there, I didn't feel like it was appropriate to have a "selfie" to prove I was there.

I walked among the stones. There are walkways of different widths and lengths, there are stones of different heights, and the walkways descend as they approach the center of the Memorial so the stones are taller than the people. As I walked it was very quiet and all around me people passed by openings in the walkways like ghosts, briefly passing in an out of sight. No names, no identification, no connection, anonymous, like ghosts passing each other without acknowledgment, briefly, from all directions. It was haunting and will always stay with me.