1. 2 years ago 
    BERLIN - DAY 1 /// BERLIN - DAY 2 /// JEWISH MUSEUM My host-brother Daniel wanted to take a weekend trip to Berlin. And so we did. We drove out on Saturday morning and made it home by Sunday night - it’s only a hour drive to Berlin from Hamburg. Regrettably I wasn’t taking pictures on the way over but it’s worth noting that a drive from Hamburg to Berlin involves crossing the old line separating West Germany from East Germany. It’s also worth noting here and now that although we often label the United States as a young nation, modern Germany in its current form is barely two decades old. The de facto divide between East and West still exists today on many levels and in many forms, and continues to impact German identity. I can’t say I’m an expert on this social issue, but it’s certainly something I wasn’t really aware of before my time in this country. And in any case Germans really don’t seem capable of expressing a comprehensive explanation themselves. Once in Berlin we toured the city by car for a little bit - for my benefit mostly, just so I could get some larger sense of the city having never been before. We started through a bit of East Berlin, then went into the center, drove through Potsdam Platz, saw the memorial representing the destruction of Berlin in World War II, and eventually parked at the Hauptbahnof to proceed on foot. We passed the Bundestag, yet opted against going inside, and then headed toward the central plaza with the Brandenburg Gate and all the embassies. I have to say that I thought the Brandenburg Gate was on the small side, but what do I know really. On the other side of the American Embassy - I included a pic of the armed guards - is a Holocaust memorial. I thought it was interesting, but I’m not sure I felt the emotion of the Holocaust walking amidst the large concrete blocks. It seems very German I suppose, and it certainly captures something of the gravity of Germany’s actions. Maybe there is just simply no way to communicate the true tragedy of what happened in this country 60 years - the Germans themselves don’t really seem to know how to live appropriately with that burden. Every single German I’ve met is understandingly and overwhelmingly ashamed of that dark part of their history, but again I get the sense that it remains unclear to most people what that means today, and how things should manifest and be expressed. Responses to mentions of the Holocaust from Germans tend to be outpourings of grief, anxiety, and shame. Not that I believe these are insincere, but it has seemed to me too instinctual, too habitual, as if Germans are afraid that moving on from these emotions or expressing anything else additionally would be fundamentally wrong on some level and not quite denouncing the Holocaust enough. Whereas older generations sought to immediately express their shame at the horrors of the Holocaust and understanding that yes, there exists a notion that Germany should thus be a force against genocide or in support of Israel or something (most often it’s the “or something” that prevails; confusion reigns), younger generations in my experience took a somewhat different approach, defensively pointing out their conviction that they were not responsible for the Holocaust. And indeed they weren’t; but perhaps there arises a backlash when a forced guilt overwhelms a genuine one. Of course those born years, decades after World War II are not responsible for its terrors, but the emphasis should not be on blame but rather on the burden that Germany - and its people - will carry for centuries to come. A resolute expression of detachment doesn’t change the fact that Holocaust is and will forever be a German creation, and one who is born German shall forever be German. Anyway back to Berlin: after some night activities whose details we shall not discuss, Sunday morning saw us at the Jewish Museum of Berlin. That was a very emotional and powerful morning, a sentiment hopefully you can share through the pictures, but I think you’ll really have to go there yourself. The museum opened with the special Holocaust section, and then included an extremely detailed walkthrough of over 2,000 years of Jewish history. After that off to Checkpoint Charlie - the old checkpoint between the Soviet and American sectors of Berlin which is now basically a corny tourist spot. However, about a block away remains a rather large stretch of the Berlin Wall. It’s incredibly difficult to know what to make of such history emotionally. Indeed, when I first got to Berlin I didn’t really like the city - I didn’t really get it. It’s spread out and there’s no real “city” area and it just felt a little off. But what I came to understand is that Berlin is burdened with this sense of being disjointed because of all the political and emotional havoc it has gone through over the last century. And with that understanding, I actually really came to appreciate it. Berlin is what it is simply because that is what it’s become, and that is what it will share with the world. And of course on the way out we decided to check out Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. Enjoy the photos.

    BERLIN - DAY 1 /// BERLIN - DAY 2 /// JEWISH MUSEUM

    My host-brother Daniel wanted to take a weekend trip to Berlin. And so we did.

    We drove out on Saturday morning and made it home by Sunday night - it’s only a hour drive to Berlin from Hamburg. Regrettably I wasn’t taking pictures on the way over but it’s worth noting that a drive from Hamburg to Berlin involves crossing the old line separating West Germany from East Germany. It’s also worth noting here and now that although we often label the United States as a young nation, modern Germany in its current form is barely two decades old. The de facto divide between East and West still exists today on many levels and in many forms, and continues to impact German identity. I can’t say I’m an expert on this social issue, but it’s certainly something I wasn’t really aware of before my time in this country. And in any case Germans really don’t seem capable of expressing a comprehensive explanation themselves.

    Once in Berlin we toured the city by car for a little bit - for my benefit mostly, just so I could get some larger sense of the city having never been before. We started through a bit of East Berlin, then went into the center, drove through Potsdam Platz, saw the memorial representing the destruction of Berlin in World War II, and eventually parked at the Hauptbahnof to proceed on foot.

    We passed the Bundestag, yet opted against going inside, and then headed toward the central plaza with the Brandenburg Gate and all the embassies. I have to say that I thought the Brandenburg Gate was on the small side, but what do I know really.

    On the other side of the American Embassy - I included a pic of the armed guards - is a Holocaust memorial. I thought it was interesting, but I’m not sure I felt the emotion of the Holocaust walking amidst the large concrete blocks. It seems very German I suppose, and it certainly captures something of the gravity of Germany’s actions. Maybe there is just simply no way to communicate the true tragedy of what happened in this country 60 years - the Germans themselves don’t really seem to know how to live appropriately with that burden.

    Every single German I’ve met is understandingly and overwhelmingly ashamed of that dark part of their history, but again I get the sense that it remains unclear to most people what that means today, and how things should manifest and be expressed. Responses to mentions of the Holocaust from Germans tend to be outpourings of grief, anxiety, and shame. Not that I believe these are insincere, but it has seemed to me too instinctual, too habitual, as if Germans are afraid that moving on from these emotions or expressing anything else additionally would be fundamentally wrong on some level and not quite denouncing the Holocaust enough.

    Whereas older generations sought to immediately express their shame at the horrors of the Holocaust and understanding that yes, there exists a notion that Germany should thus be a force against genocide or in support of Israel or something (most often it’s the “or something” that prevails; confusion reigns), younger generations in my experience took a somewhat different approach, defensively pointing out their conviction that they were not responsible for the Holocaust.

    And indeed they weren’t; but perhaps there arises a backlash when a forced guilt overwhelms a genuine one. Of course those born years, decades after World War II are not responsible for its terrors, but the emphasis should not be on blame but rather on the burden that Germany - and its people - will carry for centuries to come. A resolute expression of detachment doesn’t change the fact that Holocaust is and will forever be a German creation, and one who is born German shall forever be German.

    Anyway back to Berlin: after some night activities whose details we shall not discuss, Sunday morning saw us at the Jewish Museum of Berlin. That was a very emotional and powerful morning, a sentiment hopefully you can share through the pictures, but I think you’ll really have to go there yourself. The museum opened with the special Holocaust section, and then included an extremely detailed walkthrough of over 2,000 years of Jewish history.

    After that off to Checkpoint Charlie - the old checkpoint between the Soviet and American sectors of Berlin which is now basically a corny tourist spot. However, about a block away remains a rather large stretch of the Berlin Wall. It’s incredibly difficult to know what to make of such history emotionally. Indeed, when I first got to Berlin I didn’t really like the city - I didn’t really get it. It’s spread out and there’s no real “city” area and it just felt a little off. But what I came to understand is that Berlin is burdened with this sense of being disjointed because of all the political and emotional havoc it has gone through over the last century. And with that understanding, I actually really came to appreciate it. Berlin is what it is simply because that is what it’s become, and that is what it will share with the world.

    And of course on the way out we decided to check out Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. Enjoy the photos.

     
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So I, Sean Kesluk, left Los Angeles for a 6 month adventure abroad in Europe and South America. After a few weeks studying the Deutsch in Freiburg, Germany, it's two months up north in Hamburg working for the city's Jewish community center. After a brief foray into Sweden, I'll head South to Buenos Aires for some Spanish classes and volunteer work in a La Boca soup kitchen. After that it's back home to the States and national service with AmeriCorps NCCC. With a month of training at the VA medical campus in Perry Point, MD, it 's off to Baltimore for my first project, two months working for The Samaritan Women, a non-profit renovating a hundred-year-old mansion to use as a transitional home for women in recovery from heroin addiction and human trafficking, in addition to expanding a farm/urban garden to distribute produce to soup kitchens, shelters, and those in nutritional poverty. The second project will see us down in New Orleans, LA doing post-Katrina work with The Phoenix of New Orleans, a non-profit which renovates homes for Lower Mid-City homeowners who can't afford to do so.
 
 

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