The Fatherland
So here I am guys, in lovely Germany. I must say (even though I have been here before, all be-it a fair few years back, 1989 to be precise) it is a beautiful place I am staying in, but I can't help feeling slightly caught up in history. My brother is based in Bergen-Belsen, and the NATO camp is in factt the remenants of a Training camp from WWII, most of the buildings having just been updated. The block next door to my bro's flat still has the outline of the massive eagle which used to hang above the door, and there is a huge marble swastika in the randhouse which has to be kept covered at all times.
More dramatic however is what lies just 5 mins down the road. Anyone who knows about the war may recognise the place name as somewhere where truely horrific acts took place, for Belsen concentration camp is literally within walking distance, just through the forrest. I will go there this week to look around, not sure how i'll feel about it all really. In Bergen which is the main town I saw a commemorative tree planted to remember Anne Frank who perished in Belsen, along with thousands of other Jews and POW's so the whole area is pretty spooky.
Will try and upload some pics from my phone this week too, not to be maccabre you must understand, but just to share my travels.
Mort, in a slightly retrospective mood, signing off.
posted by Mort @ Monday, June 26, 2006
3 comments
3 Comments:
I must say I wasn't too impressed with Germany. Sure it was really pretty, and I was in a kind of depressed mood after leaving the gang in Edinburgh, but I found the people there to be rather unfriendly and Berlin is pretty much a ghetto.
I did get to see a bunker near Biblis that Hitler himself hid out in though, so that was my share of the history tour.
Nettie: not all of Berlin is like a ghetto. It greatly depends on which area you're in. Also, what Germany looks like greatly depends on what part of Germany you visit. The south is very enchanting. The former east Germany (where Berlin is) is rather gloomy.
Germans are not quite popular here in my country, but there are nice and friendly Germans, jawohl.
Mort, I've been to Sachsenhausen, near Berlin, another concentration camp. Indeed, if you realize what happened at such places, it is very saddening.
I have stood at the Berlin Wall too when it was still there and fully functioning (yes, I am that old...), with armed guards on the watchtowers. That was confronting too.
All I can say at this point (not much time again i'm afraid) is that I was moved like never been moved before. I must have spent over 4 hours there today just wandering about and it was all pretty shocking to see the scale of it all. The camp itself was HUGE, easily took over 1 hour to walk from end to end. Will update soon.
Toodle-Pip
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