Tough Day: Part 2

Today we walked down to the Brandenburg Gate - the quintessential marker dividing east and west.  It's where Kennedy gave his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. 

By the way, when he gave that speech, the East hung huge black curtains from the top of the gate to the bottom so that Easterners couldn't see into the free West.  You can see the curtains in this stock photo:

It's a lovely plaza...surrounded by embassies on both sides (the American Embassy is right next door). And it's connected to a lovely boulevard full of shops and restaurants. 

And just as we began our walk around, it started raining, so we ducked in to a nice little cafe on the Unter der Linden - the giant shopping street/district lined with lime trees (der linden).

After a yummy lunch, we headed to the Memorial for Murdered Jews - a horrible name, but a heart-wrenching memorial.

It's a huge space filled with granite blocks - 2711 of them, representative of the more than 6 million murdered Jews during WWII.  

The blocks have no markings.  There are no reason for their size or shape.  Some are low to the ground while others swallow you.

At some point, you are alone.  Lost, with no way out.  I think it speaks to the mindset of the Jews during the Holocaust.  There was no way out for them.

This kid...

My first tears.

The letters and notes written to loved ones seemed to have hope that the missive would reach someone.  But by this point there was no hope of me not sobbing for the losses.

I have no words.

As I said yesterday, the level of hate is unfathomable.  And yet, as I read the stories of those sent to the death camps, those gassed in airtight buses and vans, those made to lie face down and naked before they were shot, I felt a hatred.  There's my irony.  

Hate is hard.  Hard to work up to.  Hard to sustain.  Hard to disarm.  Hard to set aside.  

And yet, as we walk around this beautiful city, full of vibrant diverse neighborhoods and joyful resilient people proud of their city... Ich bin ein Berliner.