07 Juni 2012

Today we learned a good bit about the Holocaust, including which groups are considered to be a part of the mass genocides and how many of them were actually murdered. All of the memorials we visited were labeled for a specific group that was persecuted by the Nazis. They were done that way in order to deal with each group individually, instead of grouping the whole holocaust as one and putting it in the past quicker. By doing this, everyone was able to take the time to heal individually.

The Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism

Peter Eisenman’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

 That was the most interesting sight of the day. It is an undulating landscape of 2700 concrete blocks at different heights and different angles. A lot of this memorial is up to your own personal interpretation. Not one single block is exactly the same as another, and some say that Eisenman did that to represent each victim as a unique individual instead of grouping them all together. As you enter the memorial and get closer to the center, the solemnity of it increases and you find yourself lost amongst the blocks. I think this memorial accomplishes its purpose well; it makes you reflect on what happened and deal with it in a very personal way.

We also got to see the Victory Column that was built after Germany defeated Napoleon in the Franco Prussian War.  A few of us climbed all the way to the top and got an amazing view of the city. It was over 250 steps to the top, but it was well worth the climb.

Some of the students convinced Mr. Caldwell to take us to the AEG Turbine Factory once the day had ended, even though it was kind of far out of the way and it had been a long day. It was well worth the trek! I never knew how huge that building was. It was unbelievable!