First Evening:
Our group met our fearless mission leaders on Friday afternoon. We started by having everyone introduce themselves to the group. The highlight of the meeting was the birthday cake that the mission leaders presented to our fellow participant, Larry, who turned 21 once again. The whole group got in the spirit and sang “Happy Birthday.” The tour guides handed out very nice, moleskin journals that included maps of the area. Dagmar, the founder of Germany Close-Up and a practicing protestant, shared the story of how the program began as well as its goals and objectives. Funded as an extension of the Marshall Plan, the program was initiated to bring Jewish young professionals and graduate students (aged 25 to 35) together in Germany to learn about how the country is dealing with the holocaust and the tragic memories that remain.
After that, we attended Shabbat services at the Neue Synagogue – the first reform shul in Germany as well as the first female rabbi ordained in this country. The service was spoken in Hebrew while the sermon was in German – no English for us to follow. At the conclusion, there was a Shabbat dinner hosted by the synagogue.
In the evening, most of us visited a local wine bar to start the night. Our next stop was supposed to be Rodeo, a popular local night club. However, we were denied access. It is apparently not appropriate to be drunk and loud with twenty of your closest friends at Rodeo. Oy vey! Since that did not work out, we moved on to Lola’s for more drinks. As the evening progressed, people split up into small groups – many of us ended up at Rodeo later in the night anyways. A smaller group of us went to a different bar and met Willy Wonka and his Oompa Lumpas. Who knew they were from Scotland?
First Full Day:
Breakfast is offered every morning by the hotel from 6:30AM to 10AM, which many of us slept through. At noon we ate a buffet lunch at Alexander Plaza Hotel. Dagmar led us on the “Don’t Trust the Green Grass” empty spaces walking tour. The most interesting facts from the tour were the following:
· Only a third of Jews in Berlin and in Germany overall were murdered in the Holocaust compared to the 90% in neighboring Poland.
· The first reference to Jews in Berlin was in a 1295 edict prohibiting local weavers to purchase cotton from Jews.
· In the 1600’s, after the Jews had been expelled, a new ruler allowed French hugenots and 50 Jewish families to settle in Berlin.
· The Jews had to pay for the right to live in Berlin and were limited to having only 1 child per family.
· There are 30,000 Jews that currently belong to the Jewish community.
· Dagmar pointed out “stumbling stones” – small square brass like tiles in the ground – each one has an individual’s name on it – memorializing someone who was killed in the holocaust.
After the walking tour, we went to the Holocaust memorial. First, we walked around the art monument that surrounds the outside of the memorial. We received a thorough explanation on how this monument was chosen. The opinion of the art was very different. Some people appreciated it, while others found it less than impactful. In addition, there were kids that were jumping on top of the art from one section to the next, which was deemed very disrespectful to some participants. Inside the memorial, the story of the holocaust was told. While it is a story that many of us already know very well, it is always emotional and thought-provoking to hear about.
Saturday evening, we went to the symphony. It was an interesting experience for all. Some people really appreciated it, especially the extremely skilled pianist. Other people were less enthusiastic about the performance due to either jetlag or just a general lack of interest.
