Written by: Catherine Heller
“I’m going to Germany.”
This can be a controversial statement for a traveler make. He or she is faced with narrowed eyes, a tense jaw and a comment such as, “Oh, you’re ready to forgive them? I’m not.” So when Rabbi Rubinstein led a group from Central Synagogue to Berlin and Prague, it was a more complicated trip than one to Israel or Argentina. The decision to go there is judged the way few travel plans are.
Peter Rubinstein is adamant that Jews should visit places where they once lived and were not wanted. It is important to bear witness to the slaughter that went on under the Nazis, and acknowledging the past is an important reason to go. But history is not the only reason to go for there is a renewal of Judaism in Germany. Fed mainly by immigrants from the former USSR and Israel since the fall of communism and the reunification of Germany in 1989, it’s the fastest growing Jewish community in the world. It is important that these Jews, many of whom were raised in a state where religion was suppressed, are exposed to liberal Judaism, a Judaism that is not Orthodox.
The visitors from Central attended Shabbat services at a congregation housed in an old US Army chapel. About 50 congregants in addition to the group from Central participated in services that were in German and Hebrew, prompting Rabbi Rubinstein to comment that he now knows “what it’s like to understand only half the service!” It’s meaningful to participate in a service in a country where Judaism was supposed to be a footnote in museum; it is the present and future of the faith and a compelling reason to visit.
Berlin is a difficult city to dislike, even for a traveler with prejudice. Eighteen years after the wall came down, it’s thriving, with dynamic exciting new architecture, well restored old buildings, clean streets, manageable traffic, great restaurants, museums, art galleries and shopping. Potsdamer Platz, the no-man’s land in between East and West Berlin is an energetic commercial, entertainment and residential square with corporate headquarters for Sony and Daimler-Chrysler, among others. For years it had hundreds of explosive mines, today it has movie theaters, a film museum and a beer hall where you can taste eight different brews. The city appears prosperous; what was described as a poor immigrant neighborhood was tidy with well maintained playgrounds and stores.
The group from Central stayed at the Adlon, a gracious hotel near the Brandenburg Gate. Thousands of goose stepping Nazis once marched through this imposing arch with a horse drawn chariot on top. It was the border between East and West Berlin. Today it is a landmark in a swanky neighborhood, the end of a boulevard with the lovely name of Unter der Linden.
The Brandenburg Gate is around the corner from the Holocaust Memorial designed by American architect Peter Eisenmann. A vertigo inducing labyrinth of blank uneven tombstones takes up nearly a whole city block with a documentation center in an underground bunker. The memorial is in a bustling part of the city that all Berliners pass, and there are other reminders of what happened 70 years ago. Sidewalks are dotted with small brass plaques affixed in front of many homes. They offer the names of the Jews who lived there and the dates they were deported. Everyone who lives in Berlin or who visits there now cannot escape knowledge of the genocide. It is not necessary to visit Daniel Liebeskind’s Jewish Museum to be aware of the Holocaust, though the museum is an important part of a visit to Berlin.
For many of the group, the most significant part of the time in Germany was a stop at the suburban railway station at Grunewald, about seven miles outside Berlin. This is the depot from which hundreds of freight trains packed with Jewish deportees left for concentration camps. It is a wealthy, stately suburb such as Bronxville or Scarsdale with comfortable homes, majestic trees and well kept gardens. Jews were marched through the streets of Berlin, clutching the one suitcase they were permitted. Nazi records provided details for engraved bricks on the platform, “February 10, 1941, 741 to Auschwitz, February 12, 1941 402 to Threiensadt, February 15 801 to Belson-Bergen.” The march of the desperate didn’t just happen once or twice, it went on for years. Residents of Berlin knew Jews were disappearing.
We were joined by a class of German school children, several of whom were of Asian and Turkish ancestry. Their age appropriate behavior (they were about 10 or 11 years old) needed no translation; they fidgeted and shoved each other in ways any parent or teacher has seen. The teacher’s speech was also understandable. She made sure the students saw the bricks and gave a somber explanation of their country’s sordid history. The record had not been censored. The students saw American tourists visiting the site, and could sense our shock and grief.
Today, there is visible renewal of Jewish life in Germany. A striking contemporary synagogue stands in the place where the old one was destroyed on Kristallnacht in Dresden. It is the first new synagogue in East Germany since the end of World War II. One remnant remains from the original structure, a Star of David saved by a firefighter and hid in his home. It is now above the entrance to the new synagogue.
The synagogue is part of the ongoing reconstruction of Dresden, which was fire bombed by the Allies. The local Lutheran minister supported construction when his own church, as well as the Catholic cathedral, was being rebuilt. Today Dresden is a city with world class art and jewel collections, great history and great historical anecdotes. It was the capital of the German state of Saxony, which perfected defenestration as an effective way to deal with political enemies.
There is renewal in Germany today that pours through the whole society since the wall came down. Jewish renewal is a part of this. The Reform movement has started a seminary in Berlin, Geiger College. The first class graduated class in June, 2007 in a ceremony greeted with much fanfare and support. Chancellor Angela Merkel attended as did many other German notables. It is a marvel to have rabbis ordained in Germany, and to have congregations waiting for them.
Space does not permit a more detailed account of the Central Synagogue trip to Berlin, or to Prague where part of the group went after. But a visit to Germany is important to those interested in Jewish life today, as well as those who want to bear witness to a savage past. Berlin is a beautiful, livable city, rebuilt after two dark chapters in history.
