A Berlin Experience

Of all the major cities in Europe, Berlin looms large in significance,

especially for us Jews. From the 7th to the 10th of December 2006 Ros and
I participated in a tour to the city of Berlin organised by The Movement
for Reform Judaism. Our guides were two Israeli forty somethings.
Jeremy Leigh, British born, whose background is as an historian and
educator. Julian Resnick, South African born, educator and administrator.
They had thoroughly researched the Berlin Jewish story and the result
was a complete experience. Our party of 32 included two rabbis of which
one was our own Stephen Katz accompanied by his wife Sandra. The
other Shoshanna, was accompanied by her unborn twins travelling in
comfort.

Day One found us arriving at the hotel during the late afternoon. We
boarded our very comfortable coach warmly dressed ready for the
challenge. That evening by way of introduction we stood on
Kurfurstendam ,the main shopping street of Berlin, in the middle of a
Xmas market, opposite the ruined spire of the Kaiser Wilhelms Kirche
with the new glass tower by its side.
We then saw a number of icons that represent Berlin. The preserved
section of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the old crossing point
from West to East, and the Brandenburg Gate. Each stop connected to
important changes in history and the changing face of modern Europe.
Finally, most moving of all, we stood under the night sky, among the
hundreds of stone monoliths, the Memorial to the Jews of Europe
murdered by the Germans (Holocaust). This memorial, recently finished
was designed by Peter Eisenman. I found it most significant that the
literature provided states “Germans” and does not hide behind the word
“Nazis”. The site is that of the old Gestapo headquarters and is within
yards of both the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag.

Our opening dinner that night was at a large restaurant in the Art Deco
Hackescher Hof complex. This was in the cosmopolitan heart of one of
the Jewish centres of pre war Berlin. Naturally the discussions continued
over our excellent meal.

The next day saw us examining the site of the medieval community
around the Rotes (Red) Rathouse (Town Hall). We were reminded how
we alternately prospered as traders and money lenders and subsequently
suffered massacre, executions and expulsion. The road beside the Town
Hall is the Judenstrasse.
By the eighteenth Century the Jews of Berlin prospered and lived in the
area known as Gross Hamburger (Big Mac). We walked into what seemed
a secluded park with mature trees. This was an 200 year old cemetery
which the Nazis had ploughed over. One solitary grave has been replaced,
and was piled with stones. It is dedicated to the great Jewish philosopher
Moses Mendelsohn. In his time he was called “The Jewish Socrates”.
However like so many others at that tim his children were baptised.

Thence to the Synagogue in Oranienburgstrasse. This beautiful Baroque

style domed building was erected mid 19th century, and could seat
thousands of Reform Worshippers. Sadly it was partially destroyed on
Kristallnacht 1938, although partly saved by the Berlin Fire Brigade. Part
of it has now been restored and serves as a Schul, Museum and Mikve. I
was puzzled when I saw a poster from the 1880s advertising Havdala on a
Sunday night. For a period Shabbat was moved to Sunday so that Jews
could be seen to conform as good Germans. We returned to this Schul
later for Shabbas evening service. We were treated to a young female
cantor with a sweet voice. The congregation was swelled by our group as
well as a group from Venice so the room was pretty full. School German
came in handy as the sermon on Jacob wrestling with the angel was all
“auf Deutsch.” We ate together in the Kadima , Jewish style restaurant
next door. In case you are wondering, they did serve Matzo Ball Soup.

Saturday morning service, with our new draft Siddurs, was held at the
hotel and led by Rabbi Stephen. There was also some lively discussion.

The Berlin Jewish museum is an iconic piece of modern architecture

designed by Daniel Liebskind. It is one of the most exciting Jewish
museums I have ever visited. It specifically tackles the issue of
Jewish/German identity through the ages. Some Jews lived in Koln
(colonia) in Roman times. There were Jews living in the area of
Germany 1000 years ago, especially in Worms, Speyer and Spandau.. An
atmosphere of their life is achieved through films, exhibits, sounds and
there is a particularly poignant commemoration of the Holocaust. One
enters a metal walled, dimly lit irregular shaped space where the sound of
the city is excluded . The space tapers upwards into nothingness.

Some of us then revisited the Holocaust memorial to see the exhibits

situated underground. Here we were reminded of actual families who
perished during that horrific period. They have researched as much detail
as they could find to keep their memory alive.
Timed tickets for Sir Norman Fosters Reichstag/Bundestag restoration
meant that we did not have to queue for entry with the masses. Foster
retained the graffiti drawn by Russian soldiers in 1945 as a poignant
reminder of those days. The magnificent glass dome contains walkways
up and down, from which the public can see the debating chamber below.
The view from the top takes in the panorama of Berlin old and new. The
scene is dotted with tower cranes, where new construction is taking place
on a grand scale. We toured most of the building with a helpful guide
provided by the Bundestag. It was interesting to see how close the public
galleries were to the debating chamber.

Finally that day, we walked into the square between the Opera House and
the library of Humbolt University, Bebelplatz. This should have been a
place always associated with Deutche Kultur, but here was the site where
the Nazis “burnt the Books”. Not only Jewish books were burned but
also those considered to have been influenced by Jewish thoughts and
ideas. Madness. The memorial to this event is a glass window let into the
centre of the cobblestones. It contains pale white empty bookcases on all
four sides.

The theme for our final day was “Jews confronting German Memories”.
The Wansee Villa is where “The Final Solution” for the destruction of
European Jewry was finalised. Himmler, Eichman and their cronies
relaxed over canapés and cigars whilst deciding the fate of millions.
Among the papers was a list of European Jewry country by country
totalling 11 million. It sent a shiver down ones spine to read “England
33.000”.They decided to use hundreds of trains to ship Jews from all over
Europe to the death camps in Poland .These were given priority over even
the war effort. We discussed the questions of human behaviour, good and
evil, our attitudes to modern Germany.

Grunevald Station/Gleis 17 Memorial followed. Everybody present was

visibly moved standing on the platform, some distance away from the
main station. Here , e so many had boarded the railcars bound for
Sachsenhausen, Bergen Belsen, Theresienstadt, and Auschwitz. The
Nazis even found a few remaining Jews to move out in early 1945, when
the war was almost over. The train numbers, dates, destination and
numbers of Jews transported are cast in rusting iron on the edge of the
platform.

Finally in the town hall square of Steglitz, in the middle of a bustling flea
market we came to the Spiegelwand (Mirror Wall). This is a memorial
in the form of a mirrored wall. You look at the lists of names but at the
same time see yourselves.

We spent some time reflecting on the past and looking to the future.

Melvyn Goodman
Finchley 14th December 2006