A Cold Day, A Cold War...

Berlin, Germany

January 3, 2008
N52°30.834
E013°22.769

I mentioned yesterday I have always been intrigued by Berlin. I never understood how a city could function, split in two by a wall. The West, basking in freedom, while the communist controlled East struggled to survive. I poured through books about the Stasi, the secret police organization modeled after the KGB, who encouraged citizens in the east to spy on neighbors, friends, and in some cases, family. No one could be trusted.

Today the merged city, and united country, is looking forward, trying to leave the past behind. However, Germany’s history isn’t something easy to forget. Berlin is filled with historical reminders such as the Jewish Holocaust Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie Museum, Book Burning Memorial and a small piece of the wall near the SS and Gestapo headquarters where numerous "dissidents" of the Nazi regime were horrifically tortured. It is a shame a country needs so many memorials to help alleviate pain, or apologize, for the atrocities of their government.

It is for these reasons I was intrigued to explore Berlin. Today I finally got my chance. We ignored the freezing temperatures and snow on the ground and bundled up and set out to explore the city. Our plan for the day was to make our way to East Berlin and visit several of the sites along avenue Der Linden, the Jewish Holocaust Memorial and Checkpoint Charlie.

As we walked along Der Linden, we checked out the government buildings, the Berlin Cathedral and the Book Burning Memorial. The book burning memorial is located underground in a large public square; looking down through a thick sheet of Plexiglas is a large white room of empty bookshelves. It is the location of the first book burning rally organized by the Nazi regime. Any text deemed inappropriate met its fate with the fire, thus, the large room of empty bookshelves.

Next we popped into a bookstore, The Berlin Story, where they not only sell books, but educate tourists like us about the history of Berlin. At the end of WWII Germany was divided; the East controlled by the Soviet Union and the West controlled by Great Brittan, France and the United States. The Iron Curtain, or separation between the East and West Germany, helped control the outflow of citizens from East to West. However, Germany’s capital city was also split down the middle where it was significantly more difficult to control the exodus.

In fact, the United States, in an on going battle against communism, told all East Germans if they wanted a better life, they simply had to walk up to an American soldier, place one hand over their heart and say "I denounce communism." The soldier would then transport the "dissident" to the nearest US airport and they would then be flown to US territory in West Germany. The US government would give them a house, money, and a job until they could get on their feet. What more could you ask for in the name of democracy?

At one point Stalin cut the roads that served as supply arteries from West Germany into West Berlin. It was an attempt to demoralize and force the West to move towards the communist regime. However, the Allied Forces promised West Berliners they would be taken care of and began flying supply planes into West Berlin every minute of every day; yet another massive investment by the West to defeat communism. After several months, Stalin realized it was a waste of money and resources to compete with the Allies airlift strategy and reopened the roads to West Berlin.

In 1961, after more than 1.69 million people fled the East, Stalin ordered a wall to be constructed, surrounding the city of West Berlin. The Wall was more than a simple 12 foot concrete divider; it was a death trap for those trying to escape. There were several layers of security; electric fences, barbed wire, guard dogs, and hundreds of watch towers with guards instructed to shoot to kill.

As we were leaving the bookstore, we overheard one of the ladies in the tour group explain her history to the guide. She explained she grew up in Czechoslovakia (when it was still a communist country) and in school she learned that America was an imperialistic and fascist regime intent on world domination. It was interesting hearing a different perspective since during our time in Eastern Europe we found it a faux pas to talk to anyone about their life during communism.

On November 9th, 1989 the Berlin Wall was opened. After over 30 years of Cold War the communist government succumbed and announced anyone could apply to travel between East and West. Within hours thousands of people stormed The Wall and flooded to the West. The demands of unlimited freedom helped bring down the wall almost as quickly as it went up—overnight. When The Wall fell, it had a ripple effect on other communist countries, like Czechoslovakia, ultimately resulting in the collapse of communism across the majority of Eastern Europe.

We learned more about the history of the Wall at Checkpoint Charlie later in the afternoon.

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After our history lesson we headed to Berlin’s relatively new and controversial Jewish Holocaust Memorial exhibit. The memorial is dedicated to the six million Jews who lost their lives at the hands of the German Government during the holocaust. Part of the controversy surrounding the memorial is because it isn’t all inclusive of everyone who was murdered by the Nazi regime during WWII. Additionally, the memorial is a very untraditional; there are literally hundreds of polished dark gray stone obelisks, varying in height (3’ to 12’) and arrange in what seems to almost be a maze.

As we walked through the field of stone slabs we paid our respects. It was a strange juxtaposition, as I looked across the Jewish Memorial, I thought back to our time a few weeks ago at the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach in Normandy. The thousands of crosses in the cemetery and hundreds of stone obelisks; all a reminder of millions of lives lost and destroyed and what can happen if no one has the courage to stand-up to a fascist regime.