That's what work called the trip they organised for me through Austria and Germany exposing me to a new side of Europe (new for me at least) - visiting former Nazi Concentration Camps and Soviet Special Camps, alongside various memorials and peace centres. This took place over the past two weeks after my trip home for Mum's 60th which, as you can see from the photos on Flicr, was a fantastic day (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fayenightingale/). The UK was full of stunning autumn fair - juicy red and crispy golden leaves dropping like flies in the wind and rain (though there were some sunny days too!). I squeezed in a trip to London renewing my love of the city and having some well overdue catch ups with folk, also some nice country pubs and walks with Mum and a decent time with Dad who was over from Canada. Loved meeting my little niece Millie sleeping like her father at 3 months old, and Oscar is growing fast and cheekier than ever! Sadly work pressures took precious time away from them all too.
During my usual flying visit home where I continued to struggle with work, paperwork and trying to get to see people, there was a lot of criticism that I'd not written anything on the blog for a while. So here it is, rushed on my first day back in SL before I head into work mania.
After leaving the UK with the usual teary farewell my first port of call was Austria, and as I arrived in Vienna I realised it had been quite some time since I had experienced winter. The cold went through all my layers of clothing and I was pleased to arrive at midnight in my cosy warm hotel room, deposited there by a stereotypical old European taxi driver in his jumper and trousers, less typically listening to a neon blue stereo in his old Merc. Perhaps he wasn't a cabbie at all just enjoyed taking foreigners to their destination?
Vienna was what I expected - elegant old buildings with culture and gold brocade, schnitzel and wine. The first of my 'exposure's was to a castle about 1.5 hours out of Vienna - a well known centre for Peace Studies and also a Peace Museum which I didn't actually find that impressive. The journey put the UK autumn to shame as the hilly horizon was completely dappled with colour in the trees. This on the way back however, with an elderly version of Schumacher behind the wheel, was more like a speeding kaleidoscope of landscape - somewhat nauseating on twisty roads! This short trip ended with the sleeper train to WeimarGermany, via Dresden at 6.30am on a head screamingly cold morning. Weimar - a very interesting town of arts and culture, celebrating Goethe and Schiller, music and architecture, history and beauty, and also Hitler.
On arrival in Weimar, after a hearty German breakfast it was off to the local Concentration Camp - quite a way to be introduced to Germany! This part of Germany has fascinating and frightening history and is so complex I don't know how they have managed to deal with it, but I think they've done a good job. The camp was one of the most well known of the Nazi regime - a camp where the prisoners were worked to death. Buchenwald shamed me due to my serious lack of knowledge about WWII history and the atrocities Europe suffered under the Nazi regime. Only recently through BBC, Channel 4 and cinema have I learnt about the early years and last days of Hitler, the Wannsee Conference, and the division of Berlin with the allies and Soviets (even more ashamedly this was through a George Clooney movie!!). Film and TV rather than UK education gave me glimpses of the history but the reality is quite shocking.
I fittingly arrived at Buchenwald on a FREEZING cold day, you could smell the fallen leaves before your nose froze and became a constant drip - so it was like this with shoulders hunched and hands in pockets that I was guided through some of Europe's darkest history with a very knowledgeable and helpful colleague, Stephanie. I looked through the familiar entrance of the camp from all those WWII films - the rectangle with the small arch in its centre and metal gates that led to a bleak empty space open to all the elements - severe cold winds on open land where the prisoners had to stand still for hours for punishing 'roll call'. The camp (built by inmates) was calculatingly cruel set on a mountainside with stunning scenery in the distance but severe weather in both winter and summer with all the trees cut to prevent any form of shelter. A peaceful place for the locals for a Sunday walk, and a place of horror for those that had to endure the conditions living outdoors in freezing or soaring temperatures. It was a living nightmare for Jews, Roma, Sinti, political prisoners, men, women, and children who were brought to the camp to work to death. Too many atrocities to write about and a place not only used by the Nazis but then used to house prisoners by the Soviets in their 'special camps' which also housed political prisoners as well as those that used to be part of the Nazi regime. A terrible complication and contradiction of horrors. The Nazi's were so calculating that they documented every minute detail so there are photos, stories, documents, and footage of the camp and what went on there. Many of these are put together in a museum on the site - you need to visit to really understand.
Weimar is a beautiful town with nice bars and restaurants and an arty student culture so if you're prepared for an extreme contradiction of experiences then I'd recommend the trip. After that a brief stop off in Frankfurt - a lovely city with the river running through it where you find good museums and restaurants, and where I found my Sri Lankan colleague Sulochana. The two of us then travelled to Berlin - a great, complex, and buzzing city!
Arrived in the over budgeted, enormously impressive glass train station. It may have cost a little more than it should be it's certainly a good way to arrive in Berlin. We were privileged to be escorted through the city by a Professor of Political History, who also had a very interesting East / West history of his own and has just received a medal of honour but for now we'll stick with Berlin's past. It has an immense history. For us though we were there to concentrate on the history of the city in conjunction with Hitler, evacuation and murder of Jews, Roma, Sinti, anyone sick, disabled or not having an appearance that the Nazis favoured.
Then after the history of the war we turned to the Soviets, then the GDR (those that ruled East Germany to you and I), East and West Berlin, and the Wall. The Wall prominent in history and a thing I remember well from my childhood watching escape attempts on TV and watching the euphoria as the wall came down in November 1989. The Wall is dominant still by it's constant presence either in the form of double-cobbled lines (similar to double-yellow lines, but made of cobbled stone - like a long equals sign winding through the city streets), or still standing in places, and if not standing fixed on walls for memorial such as at Check Point Charlie - a place depicting a history of desperation and escape attempts to get from East to West.
The city is full of memorials of all shapes and sizes for victims of many faceted conflicts - it's confusing, fascinating, saddening and buzzing. Not only are people clearly interested in their history and how to come to terms with their pasts they are also making the most of the unified and vibrant city of Berlin. East seems to be the coolest, with a lot of history and many restored old buildings - it’s a dynamic mix of old and new. You drive through this huge city taking in buildings that survived the war, alongside prefab buildings built in GDR times, and many places of culture such as opera houses, concert halls, museums - all are full of life. It is a city with two centres both of which I went to, though from what I saw East was best. I enjoyed Indian, German, Turkish and Egyptian food, many a glass of warming red wine plus some very decent cups of coffee.
Accommodation is pretty cheap too, though book in advance as the city is so popular hotels are getting booked out. I stayed in a cool apartment hotel in East Berlin. If I had had the one bed apartment to myself it would have been luxury - huge room, huge bed, little kitchen, big bathroom with bathtub long enough for tallies and an excellent shower, and to top all that there was a balcony with comfy chairs which was enclosed so no need to endure the cold. In the end, I had to share my hotel room of luxury with my colleague as her trip had been last minute and there were no other rooms in the hotel or 2 bedroom apartments. It was great that she could join me on such a useful trip, but for my fiercely independent self needing all the space in the world I found it hard to have to share a room. It was like going back to school! It also meant a week of heavy snoring, followed by 5.00am phone calls to Sri Lanka - and a v tired and irritable Faye. One night I even resorted to sleeping on the balcony for at least some kip. Sadly she had to endure with my intolerance but I think at the end of the day we had a good trip!
Berlin was a place where I felt safe, relaxed and inquisitive and where the people were friendly and interested. Everything and everyone seemed to tell a story - from professors, to buildings, to memorials, to double-cobbled stones, and to the techno DJ who drove us to the airport on a crisp Sunday morning. We headed back to Sri Lanka full of Europe's history and German food. Berlin is certainly a place I would like to return to.
Europe Exposure
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