IM GEDENKEN AN 6 MILLIONEN ERMORDETE JUDEN.

"Remember the 6 Million Murdered Jews"

Day 2 in Berlin:

We went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (the picture above). On the way we stopped at the Bradenburg Gate (actually, we went through it). You can kinda see how big the memorial is. You can't really tell from that picture, but the ground in between the blocks is uneven. This is how deep it gets toward the middle:

It represents the confusion and disorientation of the Jews during the Holocaust. Underneath the memorial is an exhibit. It starts with an account of the history, from approximately 1931 through the end of the war. At that point, you walk into a room that is completely dark except for large rectangular tiles on the floor that emit light. The tiles have letters from holocaust victims to their loved ones. They also have the German and English translations. Here's one:

Translated:

My Dear, don't seperate from Michael. Don't let yourself be taken to the children's home. Write to Papa, maybe he can help you, and write to Paulette. Ask the furrier across the way for his advice. Maybe God will pity you. We are leaving tomorrow, for who knows where. I'm hugging you, in tears. I would so much have loved to hold you in my arms again, my poor children, I will never see you again.

The next rooms contain stories of individual families. It is sad when most of the time it lists the survivors instead of those killed, because it is a shorter list.

We then went to the Reichstag. It was awesome. It's a giant building with a huge roof and a glass dome. We went up on the roof and then to the top of the dome. You can see a large amount of Berlin from the roof. It was amazing.

On the Roof (Notice the trees behind Mal and Me):
The Giant dome:

That evening we all went to a Photo Gallery where a friend of Greta's was displaying his photography. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately, we had Mexican for dinner, but it was what we all needed. One of the waitresses spoke only Spanish and the other only Spanish and German. So between Trevor's little bit of Spanish and Michael's German, we were good. We then went back to the bar and hung out. Exhausted, we crashed back at our beautiful hotel.