Our Day in Berlin

Berlin is incredible-- so much so, that I find myself wrestling with the beauty I see before my eyes and the images of atrocities that I know took place in this very land on which I stand.
Today has been incredible--
We awoke to a great breakfast that reminded me very much of an Israeli breakfast with eggs, cucumbers, cheese, tomatoes, yogurt, fruit, and rolls.... Onto the bus and we headed to another hotel conference room where we listened as our very own Michael Dobkowski addressed the entire group and talked about German Jewry pre Nazi era. It was a powerful start to our day of Berlin... Onto our bus where Chaim, our amazing Israeli guide, spoke to us more about Berlin as we headed to the Jewish museum. What a museum!! So much symbolism in the architecture, and every detail of the enormous museum. One thing that struck me is that from the outside, the museum looks like two different buildings and in fact one represents Germany and one represents Judaism-- and since the architect so well articulated that there is not just one point of connection between Judaism and Germany-- and that the points of connection are multiple and too hard to name, that the buildings are connected underground through a tunnel -- therefore there should be no searching for that one link... For, it does not exist.
We then got back on the bus and had a delicious lunch in the back outside courtyard of a falafel, shwarma restaurant.
Back onto the bus and from the bus we saw Checkpoint Charlie, The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and the Brandenburg Gate. We then headed (aren't you tired already??) to The Topography of Terror Exhibition-- where we saw a remaining portion of the Berlin Wall, and looked at the central institutions responsible for the criminal policies of the Nazis.
Back onto the bus... this time to Wannsee. At Wannsee, we were first faced with a magnificent neighborhood and then gardens that are unlike any I have ever seen and a villa on a lake, called Wannsee. Chaim talked to us while we sat on steps overlooking the gorgeous lake with sailboats and rowers, and with the only thing interrupting our gaze, the gardens in the periphery-- and Chaim talked to us about his father-- a man who survived the Holocaust but lost his wife, four children, parents, and siblings. It was powerful and moving and then he followed his own story by discussing Mengele with us-- the brutal Nazi doctor who performed volatile experiments on prisoners in the camps. He spoke a lot of the experiments done to twins....
We walked around the museum at Wannsee-- inside the villa where 16 important Nazi's gathered to discuss "the final solution of the Jews".
Now we just got back to the hotel and have a few minutes before 1. dinner 2. our bus debriefing 3. Maude (our Survivor traveling with us) sharing her story with the entire MRH group and then4. at 10:30pm, a Havdallah Service to end the Sabbath.....
Tomorrow we leave at 5:30am to drive to Krakow (an 8-10 hour drive).... I will write more later-- having a few issues with the camera but starting tonight on the main MRH website, pictures from our bus will be posted. (or should be, barring any major technology glitches)....
We are taking great care of our amazing group and are really becoming such a family.... but, not at all without thinking and missing all of you back home!!