Mark Byon's Journal

Berlin 2008

 

 

Note: In my journal entry for the collaborative website, I tried to comment on the various memorials, sites, museums, etc. the class visited in relation to each other. In my journal, I have several bulleted notes, but these notes in isolation from one day to the next don’t offer a full enough contemplation of the study trip. So, here’s the revised edition.

 

Sunday, March 9

 

 

 

At the restaurant we went to today, the concept of “profession” (perhaps in relation to larger class issues) was mentioned today. Running a small restaurant, from what I remember being said, is a totally professional position in Germany. Of course, there must be issues related to status, but how would this differ in the United States? Just a side thought . . . Whenever I visit another country, for whatever reasons, I try to imagine what life would be like there – if I grew up there, how would I conceptualize my own development, as far as what I considered to be a “suitable” lifestyle etc. One thing that the U.S. is criticized for is its extreme (unhealthy) work culture!

 

What will stick in my mind are the various laws that are displayed on the street signs we saw today. Perhaps I’m biased because I have an interest in the law / legal theory, especially issues related to notions of equal citizenship / human rights / civil liberties, etc. During my time at Vassar, I’ve done some research on how the law has systematically excluded gays. Perhaps part of the reason for why the street signs resonate with me is because gays are excluded in the U.S. by the law from participating in everyday life: protection from discrimination in the work place, marriage / other spousal rights, etc. To have these laws interwoven into common space and visually integrated into an everyday practice, walking along the sidewalk, is effective for me because it is a constant reminder of Germany’s anti-Semitic past.

 

 

Monday, March 10

 

 

 

Soviet War Memorial

In the context of the other memorials we have seen, the Soviet Memorial felt quite isolated. Of course, contemplating a memorial doesn’t always have to be a collective experience, but compared to the Memorial of the Murdered Jews or the Jewish Museum, the lack of collective feeling (except for the collective of our student group) seemed to make the visit a bit less memorable, certainly more isolated. There are some sites that are meant to be less of tourist areas, like the Grunewald train station memorial, but perhaps what is uncomfortable for me is just that: the isolated feeling that one gets when visiting a site that doesn’t necessarily entail large groups of people visiting at one time. Although a crude example, perhaps it’s something like visiting a graveyard all by yourself – the isolation can be rather ironically overwhelming at times.

 

 

 

   

  Overview of the city- the significance of aesthetics

 

Reichstag

The Reichstag was absolutely beautiful. The glass architecture in the surrounding area was an effective means of transmitting the theme of transparency in government. The view from the top of the building was also quite something. This sounds somewhat odd, but I do remember seeing some bulldozers from the top of the Reichstag – does anyone else get the feeling of “crudeness” when they see construction machines? Maybe cities just wouldn’t be the same without all the construction going on, but something caught my attention about it. Although slightly off topic, it reminded me somewhat of the angel of history that we discussed in class. I didn’t bother to ask during the trip, but I wish I could have learned more about the urban planning of Berlin at the time we visited – will Berlin be adding just more buildings – will any of them have to do with the Holocaust? Is Berlin “progressing” towards something? One day, will these sites be torn down in favor of “progress”? Beijing is undergoing major reconstruction for the Olympics, and there is much tension between the city dwellers and urban planners about how Beijing’s ancient architecture, its sense of culture and history, is being erased. 

 

 

          I'm East, I'm West

 

 

East/West and Bullets

 

When I first began thinking about taking the Holocaust seminar, I thought about the comparative approach I would take in my interest in studying North and South Korea.  If North Korea and South Korea were to reunite one day, what kind of memorial would be put in place in commemoration of such an event? How would the two countries commemorate the deaths involved in the division / the Korean War, and what of the families that have been separated? One of the pictures above is a simple plaque of some sorts laid in the ground. There are other sites that show more explicitly the division between East Germany and West Germany, but perhaps the point of somewhat trivializing the former border is to emphasize that the past is the past, spatially anyway. If North and South Korea were to reunite, surely then North Korea would be remembered as the “less developed” area of a hypothetically reunified country. Today, there is very much a distinct South Korean and North Korean identity (although, one could go on and on about how one identity is more indoctrinated than the other . . . ) From the little I’ve heard, there isn’t necessarily a totally culturally unified East/West Germany – there seem to be notions of East and West, perhaps similar to how there are surviving notions of southern and northern identity in the United States . . .

 

The damage left from warfare is evidenced in the picture above. It reminded me of how to contextualize Berlin as a city, a site of violent struggle (as most places are). But that Berlin aesthetics emphasizes all these sites of violence speaks to the collective need to or demand for remembering the past.

 

 

Can you see?

 

Book Burning Memorial at Bebel Platz

Being the sometimes aloof person that I am, I probably would have walked right past this exhibit, not taking notice that the color of the tile stood out from the rest. As I mentioned in the entry above, it is but a simple memorial, but one I won’t forget, because it signifies a critical element of German history. Looking down into the not so transparent exhibit was disturbing in some ways. It was rather "ghostly" to see the shelves underground – you really had to squint to see what was going on, and it was somewhat (perhaps purposefully) frustrating to glean what was going on – but perhaps this was just a result of our visiting during the day. Apparently at night, there is a bright light that runs through this exhibit.

 

 

 

Neue Wache Memorial

 

This memorial reminded me of one of my posts on blackboard, about the religious conflict over Holocaust memory. While this memorial is supposed to represent “universal suffering” in the context of German history, that the image provoked Christian themes of suffering was mentioned. How appropriate was this memorial? Even though there is a oculus at the site, how would people interpret this memorial if this supposedly Christian representation of suffering were more out in the open rather than confined in a rather dark space?

 

 

 

 

      

 

 

 

Jewish Museum Berlin

The Jewish Museum was rather overwhelming. The architecture was engaging, specifically, the slanted grounds in the Garden of Exile and the various Axes were “fun”. I know that the intention is to disorient people, but for someone like me who has no sensory knowledge of the Holocaust and how it disorients a person physically, psychologically, emotionally, etc, the slanted architecture reminded me of what Ruth Kluger said about the museum being a kind of Disneyland. I always feel a bit out of place offering criticisms of monuments and memorials, because the history isn’t “mine” per se, so in some ways I feel relieved that there was an actual scholar who offered some criticisms in person, because even if I were an expert architect or German scholar, I would still feel still out of place commenting on the Holocaust and the appropriateness or efficacy of all that we’ve seen during the course of the study trip.

 

During my first trip to the Jewish Museum, I wrote down a lot facts, facts, facts, facts! But I wonder, how much information do people actually retain from their museum visits? The first time around, I couldn’t take in all the information that was presented. I was appreciative of how the museum presented a good amount of information on Jewish culture before the Holocaust, especially because most people would probably just link Jewish history with the Holocaust. As mentioned earlier in this journal, I am interested in human rights / civil liberties and the like, so legacies of the Holocaust expectedly come up, and there has been a good amount of criticism (both inside academic forums and in everyday conversation) that there is simply too much discourse on Jewish victimization in the Holocaust. It is important to know that Jewish history isn’t only about “victimization”; it was good to see all the cultural history recorded in the first section of the museum on the top floor.

 

There was one small section at the bottom of the museum on Jewish presence in Shanghai. Being interested in East Asian history, I was naturally gravitated towards this section. I just had no idea of any notion of Jewish history in Shanghai. One might ask why I would think there would be a lack, but the thought never occurred to me. I read up on how Jews were quartered under Japanese occupation in Shanghai and this East Asian city presented some of the most dire conditions for Jews. Some students in class have commented on how they are perturbed by how much focus there is on the Holocaust being a “Jewish tragedy” rather than simply a “human tragedy”. Although just a small part of the Jewish diaspora, learning just who comprised a Shanghai's population at this give time adds a more human element to urban history, and for this I was appreciative.

 

A comment on the “Fallen Leaves” exhibit – our tour guide mentioned that stepping on the faces was supposed to “bring back to life” (or something along those lines) victims. Really? I found it rather disturbing. Not to sound overly sarcastic, but isn’t there another way of bringing back to life those who were tortured, murdered, etc. than literally stepping on their highly abstract and symbolic, whatever you’d like to call it, faces?

 

Tuesday, March 11

 

 

 

 

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

 

This memorial reminded me a bit of what I saw at the Garden of Exile at the Jewish Museum. I did see the curators standing outside the museum asking people not to stand on the memorial site(s). Perhaps this is a misinterpretation, but just like the Garden of Exile, if you were to run into one of these blocks, you could really hurt yourself. The hard structure of this memorial gives an air of seriousness, even though plenty of people were just playing around. First of all, given how much space this memorial takes up, you just can't miss it, and secondly, having to walk through the memorial rather slowly so that you don't hurt yourself makes it more likely that you'll contemplate its design.

 

 

 

Holocaust Museum

 

The layout of the Holocaust Museum was much more manageable than the Jewish Museum (which doesn’t mean, of course, that the layout was better in narrating Jews and the Holocaust). There was a very specific linear progression and overall less information presented. The most effective parts of the museum for me were the room narrating the biographies of various Jewish victims, maps showing the various concentration camps spread throughout Europe, the phones also narrating biographies, and the computerized data recording information on Jewish victims. A note on the last part: I felt guilty entering any names. I have some Jewish friends who I am/were close to, and I (admittedly) was curious to see if I could find some information on their family lineage, but I resisted because I felt guilty for some reason – as if I were intruding on personal history. The computers are there for all museum attendees to access, but are they really?

 

Wednesday, March 12

 

 

 

Grunewald train station memorial

 

Somewhat similar to the Soviet War Memorial, this site was isolated and not “alive” like other sites we visited. However, the thoughts I had about it are not similar to those I had of the Soviet War Memorial. At the war memorial, at least there were cars passing by, some sign of life. This place seemed to be more isolated and “dead”. Perhaps even more significant, since our class was making good use of the U-Bon and S-Bon, I did find myself feeling temporarily disturbed on one of our train rides. Can you imagine what it would be like to just be transported to your death? Just like the anti-Semitic laws we saw posted on the street, comparing the use of the trains back then to our class’s use of the mass transportation system can be seen as a reflection on “everyday life” . . .

 

 

 

Potsdam

 

I feel out of place bringing the following up, but today for the first time ever I saw a neo-Nazi in person. He was dressed in army pants with black boots and had a shaved head. Talking about him makes me feel that I’m somewhat fetishizing neo-Nazism, taking into consideration just the aesthetics of what I saw. I was surprised to see him, especially in the university area, but I know virtually nothing about contemporary German culture. Some of the professors I spoke with told me that neo-Nazism was “on the rise” in some sense, and that this was particularly troubling (for obvious reasons). The Potsdam students described individuals participating in neo-Nazism as just plain “stupid”, perhaps similar to how the majority of Americans would describe contemporary followers of the KKK and other groups promoting “white power”. He was just one person, but definitely an image (for better or worse) that I won’t forget. I should’ve asked more about neo-Nazi culture – were they a complete joke? I think I remember someone saying something about random acts of violence. Are they something to be reckoned with?

 

I enjoyed discussing with the Potsdam students what they thought about Americans. I know this sounds so self-centered, but it helps me in some ways just to get feedback about “myself”. The point of the trip, mostly I suppose, was to learn about the Holocaust, but throughout the course I’ve been struggling with how I have no sensory knowledge of the material we’re studying. This, of course, has to do with my lack of connection with and/or knowledge of the Holocaust, Jewish history, contemporary Germany, etc. Much of our discussion was something like “In Germany university students do a, b, c” and “In the US, students do x, y, z” – this rather trivial conversation carried over to a larger discussion of politics when the Potsdam students came to visit Vassar.

 

Friday, March 14

 

Jewish Cemetary Schönhauser Allee

 

This was one of the hardest sites for me to visit. Two parts that struck me: the camp itself, and the houses that formerly housed Nazis. I remember the tour guide discussing how although the idea of using these houses as hostels may seem twisted, having visitors, particularly Jewish survivors, occupy the houses is a way of stating “I’m/We’re here and you’re (no longer) not.” This statement reminds me of Prof. Daniel Mendelsohn’s statement about how retrieving personal (trivial) facts about the individuals he was researching was a way of defeating the past. The idea seems a bit romanticized – don’t you think? But I admit, I fell for it.

 

The day we visited the concentration camp, it was raining. I tried imagining what it would be like to be in that concentration camp, in that kind of weather . . . and I almost want to say . . . no comment . . . although, “No comment” is precisely what shouldn’t be said.

 

 

Saturday, March 15

 

If I heard Prof. Peck correctly, Berlin/Germany is a place with a thriving Jewish culture/community, but without Jews. From what I remember, I think what was trying to be said was that Jewish life is not necessarily as integrated as one might think in Germany. Is this correct? I was a bit confused by the lecture, but the following topics did raise some interesting questions: Jewish community is not built around a sense of solidarity like it is conceptualized in the United States / The issue of race is also not discussed as much as it is in the United States / The issue of race is more centered on Turks. The notion of the “rebirth” of Jewish life between 1989 and 1990 / Defining who is Jewish according to German law e.g. welfare, other institutional problems / religious conflict – who is in charge of the community?

 

There was a lot more mentioned, but this lecture demonstrated just how multi-faceted Jewish identity is. Just as the Jewish cultural section in the Jewish Museum Berlin presented a good amount of information on Jewish life before the Holocaust, contemporary Jewish identity also presents a myriad of questions.

 

 

Wednesday, March 19

 

 

 

 On my way to the Schwules Museum (Gay Museum) I ran into a “small” transportation problem. I had to wait close to an hour for the M-9, or was it the M-19 (?) to get over to Mehringdamm. I ran back and forth between the U-Bon and the bus stop, not knowing which would come first. Despite the trouble, I was glad to see left-wing politics alive and well! (Actually, it brought a genuine smile to my face, because lately I’ve been feeling that slight doubt about whether non-profit work is the way to go for me – Vassar gives you a weird non-profit/private sector guilt complex, or something like that). The protesters played some dance music and seemed to be having a grand time. Although there’s plenty of protest politics to discuss in the United States, given that most of my time is spent on campus, I don’t get to see much of it.

 

Since at the Jewish Museum and the Holocaust Museum, we were allowed to take photographs without flash, I just assumed that documenting my visit to the Schwules Museum would be the same. It wasn’t the case. Absolutely no photography was allowed. If I wanted to use photos I took for academic reasons, I was told that copyright issues would take about two weeks to clear. I was fortunate enough to visit the rather large library at the museum and one of the employees allowed me to take photographs since this part of the museum wasn’t a part of the exhibit, but I won’t post anything in case doing so would violate the museum’s policies (except for the exterior).

 

The Schwules Museum has both a permanent exhibit displaying pictures of concentration camps, a model of Hirschfeld’s Sex Institute, and a variety of artwork. When I was visiting, the museum was in the process of changing their rotating exhibit, so maybe this was part of the reason for why obtaining more detailed information on the museum was quite difficult. The rotating exhibit focused on comparative work with the United States. Other parts of the exhibit included the following: Sachsenhausen exhibit, information on the 2^nd homosexual movement, oral history from various participants in the gay rights movement up until the 1880s, mid 1880s gay research.

Fact that caught my attention: Est. 8 – 13,000 homosexuals murdered in the Holocaust. Many were castrated.

 

All exhibits in the museum were in German, from what I remember, perhaps speaking to who the intended audience was when creating this museum. In my group’s study of the Jewish Museum, we learned that one of the aims was to educate the “international audience”, but the Schwules Museum, at first glance, doesn’t seem to have that objective.

 

Questions: how prominent is gay history in Germany? In some random conversations I had in Berlin, it seems that there is still some pressure to conform and lignering stigmas to being gay, and this is one of the more culturally liberal areas of the world. Since during my visit to the museum the rotating exhibit presented a good amount of information on the gay rights movement in the United States, I started thinking about another course I am taking, Seminar on Constitutional Theory, and how I learned that even in supposedly “gay friendly” cities like San Francisco, hate crimes involving castration and other forms of mutilation take place and are often ignored by the judicial system.

 

Concluding Thoughts

 

This sounds a bit silly, but my short-term memory isn’t the best in the world. My long term memory, however, seems to be somewhat more reliable. During the course of the study trip, I felt bombarded by everything: navigating the transportation system, visiting the various sites, figuring out what my bank problems were! It has only been a couple of months since our trip, but I’ve been bombarded with other work. The full effect of Berlin probably won’t come until later on in the summer. As I was preparing for this final project, I found myself missing Berlin more and more – like most things, you can’t appreciate them once they’re gone and distant. The journal entry before you is probably more of a manifestation on my short-term memory, a recording of what was the most “memorable”, which is not necessarily a reflection on what I might find most significant about the trip. Perhaps the thoughts I am offering in my conclusion are reflective of how memory, legacy, etc. are ongoing debates and contemplations. That I gravitated towards sites that reminded me of issues I’ve been grappling with speaks to the multiple subjectivities entailed when visiting another city and reflecting on a history that is not necessarily a part of one’s own.