Oldest Jewish Cemetery in Berlin

While there is sunshine in Berlin, I decided to just wander the streets and take pictures of interesting buildings.  I came across this Jewish cemetery in Große Hamburger Straße.  This is the oldest of Berlin's Jewish cemeteries, in use between 1672 and 1827.   It was destroyed in WW2.

The first thing you see is a sculpture of a group of figures depicting hollow-eyed, emaciated adults and children.  Obviously a reference to suffering. 

Apparently the first Jewish home for the aged and a Jewish school for boys were erected right across and next to the cemetery.  While the Nazi's were in power, these building were converted into internment centres from where Jews were transported to extermination camps.  Apparently about 55000 Jews were deported from this site.  

The cemetery is now a peaceful open garden

In I943 the cemetery was destroyed on orders of the Gestapo.  The demolished gravestones were used to reinforce the walls of air raid shelters built on top of the cemetery.  

In the 1980s, the GDR removed the remaining Jewish gravestones and the wooden crosses that marked the mass graves for soldiers and civilians killed during Allied air raids.  Apparently about 3000 war victims were buried here.  

A symbolic grave of Moses Mendelssohn (a Jewish German philosopher that lived in the 1700s.    I think the concrete part behind the gravestone is a sarcophagus filled with destroyed gravestones

Note the stones on top of the grave stones.  It's apparently a Jewish custom similar to leaving flowers.  You place the stones with your left hand.  This custom might have had its origins in the millennia before gravestones existed.  Then a heap of rocks indicated that a person was buried there. 

I think this might be pieces of gravestones used to reinforce the shelter walls?  

These gravestones were not removed by the Nazi's as they couldn't pry them from the walls.  

It looks like fire damage...maybe during bombing?

View from one end of the cemetery

A little memorial hidden between trees.  The candle was burning.

Jewish Museum in Berlin

Berlin has so many museums and some of them look really interesting.  The first one I decided to go to was the Jewish Museum.  Not only do I love learning historical things about the Jewish religion, which is after all the olive tree into which Christianity was grafted but with Germany's history I thought this would be a very interesting place to visit.

From the front it doesn't look like much.  But once you go in (past airport-like security), paid your entrance fee (with a student card you only pay E2.50 instead of E10) you enter the most amazing structure.

Not that impressive from the front

The whole museum from a picture I lifted from Wikipidea.  The angly thing on the left is the actual museum.  It's on 3 or 4 levels and is supposed to resemble a star of David or something.  

The whole museum is full of symbolic spaces and places.  Little dark enclosed spaces where you stand and reflect on the holocaust and so on.  Like most museums it follows the history of Jewish people in Berlin and to a lesser amount, in East Germany.  The first part of the museum is focussed on the holocaust and then it goes according to historical periods.  Unfortunately I couldn't use a flash so the writing is a bit blurry.

I've seen pictures of the yellow star that Jews had to wear on their clothes and here is one dating from that time

I've seen pictures of the Torah scrolls, but never appreciated how big these things are.  Probably  about 60cm high.   In the New Testament it talks about how Jesus read from the Isaiah scroll and I can actually picture that scene now a bit better. 

Interesting - the Jews called the Torah their gift.  

Lots of technology.  As you blow on the screen, it pages to the next virtual page of the Torah. 

This model of a ritual bath is explained below.  At the door you can rent an iPod for 3E.  Each exibit has a number (here 17/18) and then you go to that audio track to listen to the information.  So, you have your own audio tour that you can do it in your own time.  So kewl. 

Now this I didn't know.  This museum traces prejudicial practices against Jews back by showing things like this.  

On the right is the blindfolded Synagoga.  

This museum finds such creative ways to help you interact with the information.  I've taken pictures of some of the ways. 

You sit on these amazing whirly seats and watch a presentations on something.  There were a few of these that was nearly similar.  Very attractive. 

This one looks like a pillar until your realise the pillar consists of drawers.  when you pull out one, it gives you  the information. 

A whole circular wall with pictures of Jewish families around the turn of the previous century.  Frank loves posing.  This might be the only museum he sees while in Berlin but he was quite cooperative and came with me.  

A hanging visual display.

A whole display about Jewish authors but done in a very unique manner.  On the one side is the author bio, on the other side the cover of one of their books. Below is the same authors, but I flipped each page.  

With this one you sit down on a couch that has speakers behind you.  You then press the button of the audio reading of a letter of a WW1 soldier you want to listen to.  You can choose between German and English.  

 There were other audio displays as well but it was in German so I didn't really interact too much.  There was one where you could sit on a chair with a circular speaker behind your head.  Then you could listen to two Jewish horse traders from before WW1 converse so you could hear typical Jewish German.  Certain places in the museum you could get yourself a headset and stand in front of a specific wall...depending on where you stand you would pick up certain recorded conversations.  It was in German, so I actually have no idea what it was supposed to be about, but it was unique.

An now a few random things.

A Prussian army helmet issued in 1897.  Look how ornate. 

A whole wall was dedicated to front pages of this newspaper.  Here Einstein defends his theory.   If only he knew how much he would need that defense now

This was a touchscreen exhibit that dealt with the increasingly oppressive laws against Jewish Germans.  The clock would spin and when you touch the screen, it jumps to a specific law.  You could also choose in which are of life which laws were enforced.  Here are a few examples.

Culture

Education.  Look at the progression between 1938 and 1942. 

Blisters in Berlin

Nicole (l) and Stephanie with a map of Berlin on the wall behind. 

Yeah, baby!  Walked a lot today and have my first blister - on my right heel.  Went to the university today to sign my contract and get all sorts of good info from Stephanie and Nicole.  Good to meet people you've been emailing for months.  They were very helpful and fun and also directed me to the closest shopping mecca for me to stock up on some goodies.

The long walk started with me taking the wrong route from the train station (U station from now on).  After I've walked about 20 minutes I decided to turn back and start again from the U station.  Surprised to actually find my way back!  And then found it very easy to get to the right place.

This part of Berlin is incredibly beautiful and I had a lovely walk among the trees on cobblestone roads. I took the picture below  to try and capture the mood.  The semester only starts on 17 October, so there are very few students around - probably why it's so quiet.



After the meeting walked a km or 2 to get to a bus stop to take me to Schloss str where I could do some shopping - find a sim, adapter for the euro plugs and food.  One sees interesting things while waiting the 4 minutes for the bus.  Look at all the airplane thingies in the air. Or at least, that's what I think these are.  A lady at the bus stop looked at me funny - probably thought I was taking pictures of a lamp post.

Here's a picture of a street scene close to the university.  The Germans also ride on the wrong side of the road so I am likely to die while crossing the road - still look right then left.









The neighborhood I'm staying in at the moment is/was apparently quite Jewish.  Everywhere there are these signs with a bread roll on (I'm not sure yet why a bread roll).  At the back of the bread roll is a law that discriminated against Jews.

This law from 1940 said something about Jews only being able to buy groceries between 4 and 5 pm.  In the same street is a sign that showed a law that said Jews are not allowed to sing during meetings.

This copper plaque is paid for by some private citizen and there are apparently many more.  Each one commemorates a Jewish person who died during the war.  It is cemented into the cobblestone pavement. These things reminds me of our apartheid history in SA and I wonder if we will see these sort of things in 60 years in SA?

Tomorrow I'll meet my research supervisor and go sign my accommodation contract.  Fortunately all in the same area that I went today and I have a map, so sure I won't get lost again.  Want to go sight see a bit afterwards and find a pocket German-English dictionary.  Hard to buy groceries when you're not sure what the ingredients in cans and plastic containers are.   Talking of - food here are quite a bit cheaper than in SA. A whole pack of mini-croissants that I know are more than R20 in Woolies - about R10 here for example.  I bought a pomegranate for about R10 too.  Lots and lots of cheeses and salamis.   Njam.

Interesting how many bakeries and pastry shops there are in Berlin?  Why aren't all the people here obese because those cheesecakes look incredible!!!  I'll have to embarrass myself a bit more and take some pictures to prove my point.

Today was exciting and I could take a nap, which means I feel a little more up-beat even if I'm still travel weary. I woke up about 3am in the morning, seriously homesick.  Read Ps 103 and reading about God's character comforted me enough to have a good sleep until 8am.  Hopefully I can have a good night's sleep tonight.