Ninety Minutes

Ninety Minutes: May 22nd Mini-Task

Their were fifteen participants at the Wannsee Conference, however, for the sake of this mini-task I shall name two. 

Reinhard Heydrich, who was the Chief of the Reich Main Security Office, as well as being the Deputy Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. Beyond this, due to Himmler's request, he was essentially in charge of the Wannsee Conference. Regulating and managing the meeting.

The second name I'll mention was Adolf Eichmann, head of the Referat IV B4 of the Gestapo. Furthermore, his most important role was the recording of the minutes of the meeting. However, it was how he recorded the minutes that was the most interesting. On Heydrich's orders, the minutes were phrased in a fashion that did not betray the true intentions of the Wannsee Conference, maintaining plausible deniability if they ever fell into the wrong hands. However, these minutes also made the true intentions clear to any reader from a non-legal standpoint.

I now would like to talk about something else. There are aspects of the Wannsee conference I'd like to discuss that I feel like the mini-task questions did not address. Things that stuck out to me and moved me emotionally. This is not a part of the assignment, that is the paragraph above, this is merely an attempt to incite discussion. So please, entertain me.

Ninety minutes. An hour and a half was all it took for 15 Nazi and German officials to plan the murder of eleven million people (nine million, if you account for the exaggerated numbers of Jews within the Soviet sphere). That was the first thing that struck out to me, it wasn't so much the history of it. In fact, the history of the Holocaust is fairly, for lack of a better term, fairly straight forward. We all know the story of the Holocaust, the murder of six million Jews, and countless millions of other groups deemed to be lesser by the Nazis. However, it's the prologue to that story that perhaps scared me the most, the planning of such an act. Ninety minutes, the same amount of time to eat a dinner with your family, or to watch two episodes of Breaking Bad; in that amount of time, men sat down and casually discussed the eradication of an entire race. I've never been one to believe in absolute 'evil' or 'good'. These were not monsters, or demons on Earth. These were men; people that had friends, families, people they cared about. They had dreams, nightmares, goals, ambitions, a favourite food, a favourite colour, fears, and so on. In that sense, they were men just like me, you, or anybody else. They were human. Yet, despite all of that, these people that were no different from the average person as far as human traits go, managed to sit down at a table and in ninety minutes completely planned out the Holocaust; the world's most terrifying form of industrialized murder. Beyond that, what struck me even more was a comment the tour guide made during the session; after the meeting, Heydrich and several others sat down with a glass of liquor, a cigar, and commented on how well put together the plan was and how efficient the Conference flowed.

That chilled me to the blood, the celebration of how 'easy' it was to orchestrate a genocide. It's simply so far from the usual horror stories of World War II that any history major has to endure. The stories of the Japanese massacre of the Chinese, the Russian's destruction of the Eastern European countryside, the stories of Allied soldiers assaulting/raping German soldiers/citizens; they all have one thing in common, up close and personal hatred. As a history major, we are no stranger to stories like these, they exist in every story of every war ever fought. However, the Wannsee Conference was something different. It was fifteen men in suits, sitting around a table, and with the simple stroke of a pen they condemned an entire ethnicity of people to death (and one that didn't even take up a huge portion of the German population, as the Jewish population in Germany in 1933 was less than 1%). It's that cold, emotionless disconnect from their victims that is truly terrifying; beyond that, their separation from reality with the phrasing of their Conference's minutes, either to avoid incrimination, or make it easier for themselves and the soldiers doing the killing (or both) is blood chilling.

I'll end this here, and I hope this does provoke discussion, as I found this to be the most emotionally moving museum of the trip, even beyond the Karlshorst museum, which I throughly loved. After all, I can't get beyond the fact that the Jewish population has dealt with persecution since the Dark Ages, and survived/thrived through all of that. Yet, men would plan an event in the 1940s that would push their race (and others) to the absolute limit in a fight for survival.

And all it took to plan it was a simple ninety minutes.

Malls of Berlin

During my time in Berlin I was able to stop at 4 different enclosed shopping malls. Each one was several floors and even the basement was used. For the most part the food courts were located on the top floor which is a little aggravating when you are hungry. But it is understandable as it is a way to get people to look around your mall and possibly buy something they had no intention of buying.
The four malls that I visited were: The Bikini, The Mall of Berlin, The Alexa, and the Arkaden.

Make Love, Not Wall

Make Love, Not Wall: May 19th Field Question

Friends, families, a city, a nation totally separated; that is the significance that lies with the Berlin Wall. This idea of separation and the struggle to live with it or even overcome it is a central theme of the Berlin Wall museum. The second you set foot within the museum, you're struck by several things. In the back of the room, you can see picture stands with photographs of life within the Berlin wall, accompanied by descriptions of what the pictures are depicting. But these are not the first things that catch your eye, no, your attention is immediately focused on the exhibit directly in front of the entry way; a large spike panel that East German officials placed at the bottom of the wall to maim potential escapees, Berliners dubbed it "Stalin's Lawn". An icon of separation, and the extreme measures that the Soviet's employed to ensure that separation stayed in place. After looking at the grisly trap, the museum tells the tale of a changing Berlin; one that had to experience the construction of the wall, adapt to life with it, its population's attempt to escape over the wall, and the falling of the wall and the resulting re-unification of a broken nation.

In that sense, the museum was very moving. Perhaps I'm just reminded of the Karlshorst museum, and am already operating on nostalgia. However, the museum does tell a story, it has recordings from survivors of the wall, it tells the story of people who escaped the wall or assisted in escapes. Furthermore, it tells the story of the politics leading up to the creation, existence, and destruction of the wall. It gives the museum viewer a complete picture of the Berlin Wall, showing everything from the politics to the more personal human aspect of life behind the wall.

That's the strength of this museum, I feel. It focuses on every aspect of the wall, reinforcing this over-all central theme of separation and how devastating it can be not only to the country, but to her people.

May 22nd mini-task: heydrich and muller

         Two major participants in the Wanasse Conference include Reinhart Heydrich and Heinrich Muller.  Muller was the head of the Gestapo, he was personally in charge of much of the persecution of Jews and other acts of Nazi brutality.  He would direct and carry much of the actions suggested in the conference.  Muller was needed in the meeting because he would be highly involved in the application of the decisions made by the conference.  Heydrich played a much more significant role, the planning phase.  He is described by more than a few people as one of the nastiest and cruelest of the Nazis.  He chaired the conference and sought remove the “problem” of European Jewry.  He intended to improve the efficiency of Nazi genocide.  The small group of Nazi officials he gathered effectively formulated this plan in a ninety minute meeting.  With a group smaller than ours in a time frame comparable to the time we spent their today, made plans to greatly accelerate Nazi Genocide and accomplished exactly that.  Heydrich was quite pleased.

Field Question- Karlshorst

May 20, 2015

 

            The Karlshorst museum was erected in 1935 as a part of a bigger investment program to have a military college for military engineers. It was formerly used as German officer barracks as a casino, a dining hall and meeting place for the officers. On May 8, 1945, the building was used to sign the unofficial surrender of the Germans, officially marking the end of World War II, the biggest and most cruel world war in human history. This event occurred in this building for the most part since it was a building which still had running water and working electricity. The Soviets eventually took over the building and opened up a museum in 1967, of which some pieces still exist. A German-Russian museum of war was opened in 1994 after the Russians handed over the building upon the agreement that the museum, or at least parts of it remained.  Today, the museum still stands and takes a much different perspective of World War II than most of the other museums that exist today. I was particularly impressed about the “Photography in the War” exhibit, which discusses the use of photography during the war. Most of the pictures of war crimes were taken by the perpetrators themselves. This shows that the perpetrators accepted their crimes, justified them and did not try to hide them. This contrasts the Soviet mindset since the Soviets forbid pictures to be taken of war crimes. Most of us don’t think about the camera and the photographer that took the war crime pictures, which is yet another problematic aspect. 

 The outside of the German-Russian Museum as it appears today.

An exhibit from the former Soviet War Museum attempting to depict the conditions of World War II. Many problems with this exhibit exist since the accompanying sound is too quiet, the streets contain too many people and the Reichstag takeover was not an important victory since it was not used by the Nazi’s during the war.

The reconstruction of the room in which the signing of Germany’s unconditional surrender of World War II took place on May 8, 1945.

An explanation of the “Photography in the War” exhibit which discusses the reason behind the photography of war crimes taken by the perpetrators.

 

Representation of the Berlin Wall at the Documentation Center

The documentation center located next to Bernauerstrasse was a very interesting site to visit.  Among the exhibits in the building itself, there also exists a number of monuments outside the building as well.  Adjacent to the center is a reconstructed area that once included a church before the wall went up.  There has since been another church built in the area to symbolize the one that existed previously, which also includes the outline of the previously-standing church as well.  This puts the viewer in perspective of how much area was affected by the introduction of the wall in this area specifically.

Overview of area outside the documentation center.  Left: Reconstructed Church and outline of previous church.  Right: Remaining section of the wall.

Close-up view of the outline of the previously standing church.

Within the center itself, there are three levels: two that are used for exhibits and one that is a look-out onto the layout of the wall that previously existed.  The first level of exhibits shows the beginnings of the wall, including the construction of it, the initial reaction and the early years.  The second level continues this theme but ends off with the tearing down of the wall on November 9, 1989.

I found the experience to be quite emotional due to the inclusion of many forms of information.  Not only did they provide many visual images and items from this time in history, but also personal recounts from survivors of this event.  This center also focuses on viewpoints from many different people, such as victims of different ages and occupations.  One particular recount from one of the survivors explained that if he wanted to continue attending University, he would have to sign an agreement to join the army if it were needed; at that point he wasn't sure what to do, because he refused to join the army.  Another insight that struck me was the story of those who were in the army but did not want to be, and purposely misfired or aimed off the target so as not to actually shoot someone.  An interesting aspect of the center is that it incorporates interactive activities as well, such as writing inspirational words or whatever emotion the viewer feels.

Section of the documentation center that features personal recounts from people who were impacted by the Berlin Wall.

Hanging personalized papers that feature messages written by visitors of the center.

Example of how many of the exhibits are set-up.

Items that remain from escaping through the Wall.

By displaying information in many forms (such as pictures, videos, personal recounts, reconstruction of the wall, and many more), it makes the center quite valuable and efficient in spreading the history of the wall to anyone who visits.  Not only that, but the layout provides an accurate evolution of the wall, starting with it's creation, the tear-down, and everything in between.  Overall, I found the center to be quite informative and a unique experience to visit.

Museum Karlshorst

During our visit to Museum Karlshorst we had the opportunity to see many exhibits displaying history during World War II which was a great experience in itself, but there is some history surrounding the Museum Karlshorst that we could not see. The building that houses the exhibits has a history of its own. The museum is the location of the unconditional surrender of the German armed forces on May 8, 1945, and with this World War II came to an end in Europe. The building also served as a mess hall for military engineers in training at Wehrmacht Pioneer School, and the headquarters of Soviet Military Administration.  In 1949 Soviets renounced administrative authority to the first government of the German Democratic Republic. The structure then severed as the Central Museum of Armed Forces Moscow from 1967 to 1994, and was opened as a permanent museum in May of 1995 and  After the withdrawal of the Soviet Armed Forces in 1990, Germany and The Soviets decided to call to mind the history of the German- Soviet War and the fall of the Nazi rule, and resurrected the structure as the Karlshorst Museum. The museum was open to the public in May of 1995 and has remained so for 10 years.

The Karlshorst Museum

The Karlshorst Museum

The Karlshorst Museum is located on a historical site for Germany as well as the rest of the world, for it is where World War II came to an end. This end came by the means of Germany’s unconditional surrender that occurred in the building. Therefore its significance is that is was used for the signing of the Capitulation. Before its importance at the end of the War it was built by the Nazi’s along with a nearby barracks and was used by the Nazi’s until their eventual surrender. It also found many uses after World War II for the soviets as it is located in the eastern portion of Berlin. The Soviets used the building and surrounding area as the soviets administrative buildings as the set up the military in this area. A few years after the wall was erected in 1967 the building was converted into a Soviet Museum and remained as such until 1994. Within the Museum between 1967-1994 was a historical interpretation of the German surrender as well as exhibits pertaining to Hitler’s war of annihilation. Even to this day the Museum is owned and operated the soviets and this is clear in the way World War II is depicted in their exhibits.

The Karlshorst Museum today is home to a variety of work that range from artwork, to propaganda used during the period, to a section on photography of war. This Museum offers a very unique perspective when compared to the others we have seen in Berlin and brings up many difficult questions, such as what were the German people thinking photographing the brutal acts of violence. It also brings up the question as why more people did not stand up to the Nazi’s, unfortunately these are questions that remain unanswered now and maybe forever.

The Berlin Wall

       The Berlin Wall is a significant piece of German and world history. It divided a city in two but it was also reflective of the division between the West Europe and Eastern Europe, Russia, etc. There are still many pieces around the city, despite the disapproval of some residents. The documentation center is close to a large section of wall, preserved with the various layers (other walls, watch towers, etc.).

         However, the part of the exhibit that I found most interesting was the focus on the individual. Outside there were these circles representing where individuals died trying to cross over. Although they do not list specific persons names they still provide individual instances. Inside there were videos of East and West Berliners talking about all different aspects of the wall (creation, movement between the sections, fleeing, daily life, etc.). Some stories were depressing or scary but others were almost emotionless and that was the most surprising. One woman from the West talked about how she moved to a different area so she wouldn’t have the constant reminder of the wall. This suggests that the wall in some regards became almost commonplace in society.

         There were also individuals mentioned throughout the whole museum, used as personal examples of different aspects of the wall (resistance, fleeing, punishment, etc.). For example, the solider Gerd Sommerlatte, who while on patrol duty jumped the barrier and fled to the West only to be hauled back by officers weeks later. These individual stories make the wall more personal and more real, something that is not always achieved when just walking along the wall.

A small side note, while looking at the notes written by people visiting the exhibit I noticed that one theme was people asking for prayers for North/South Korea. After spending sometime in South Korea, I learned that many civilians there use the fall of the Berlin wall as a sign of hope for their own country. I find this very powerful, because the fallen Wall has become a symbol to more than just the German population.