Berlin: The Topography of Terror

Tomorrow morning we will leave early for a flight to Brussels and from there to Toronto, regaining the six hours we lost on the way here two and a half weeks ago. I walked by Checkpoint Charley today, just a couple of blocks from our hotel. It was a very crowded area with many tour buses parked about its location on Friedrichstrasse. Two blocks west of there we visited a large area museum called The Topography of Terror. It is on the location of the former buildings that housed the offices of the Gestapo and the SS. There people were held, tortured, beaten, and executed from the earliest days of Nazi power. It now houses a large, partially outdoor, partially indoor exhibit detailing the rise to power, the years of domination, and the final days of the Nazi regime, including material about later trials of war criminals and their results. The Centre has had a number of exhibits over the years and has published a book on each. I came away with four significantly heavy tomes on different aspects of the Nazi years, adding to the other volumes that I’ve been lugging around during our tour. The Centre and the exhibits are most impressive and powerful. Like at other places that we have visited, there were many people taking the two to three hours (at least) needed to go through the whole place. Again the mood was reflective and the atmosphere quiet. We saw people our age but more often younger people were there – not school groups, just young people with friends or partners. They wanted to know about the history and they were taking it seriously.

Though our journey is over, I intend to continue this blog about the Nazis and the Holocaust, using the materials that I have accumulated as well as other resources that I have sent for. As mentioned in an earlier post, when I get my photographs organized, I will post them under another blog title, the link for which I will post.