Human Rights in Berlin

It's been a few days since my last blog, so there's a lot to catch up on. We've stayed busy during our time in Berlin with our program schedule. We've had different lectures and site visits during our time here. Last Wednesday, we went to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Oranienburg. It was my second time visiting the former labor camp as I had visited it during my first trip to Berlin last year, but the feeling of standing in the vast courtyard is still a surreal experience.


On Thursday, we spent the day listening to different speakers, including a former labor camp inmate. It was remarkable to hear his first-hand experiences. We met at the Anne Frank Center in Berlin, which was sort of hidden in a small alley in the central part of town. The picture below is of a few of the German Fellows in our program waiting for our morning event.


On Friday, we went to Hohenschönhausen, the former Stasi prison in Berlin. We were given a great tour by Hans-Eberhard Zahn, who was imprisoned there from 1952-1954. He had a charm and charisma about him that is even more impressive considering what he went through at the prison. He showed us his cell, where he was kept in solitary confinement for many months. He was able to joke about how comfortable the bed was and the limited space in the confines as well. Below is a picture of him wrapping up our tour with a word about the nature of freedom.


We didn't have a program on Saturday, so I spent my afternoon wandering around many of the sites I had already visited in Berlin last year. I started off at the Zoologischer Garten where I took a picture of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church that had been mostly blown out during WWII.

It got too touristy for me there, so I hopped back on the S-Bahn to go to the Hauptbahnhof


where I walked across the Spree River to get past the Reichstag and into Pariser Platz. The American Embassy there is finally fully constructed versus the massive amounts of construction I saw last summer. I took a picture of the Brandenburg Gate just for good measure although I got my fill of it last year.

I met up with our Bosnian Fellows, Ljobo and Dajana at Alexanderplatz and ended up walking with them and Anika, one of the German Fellows. We visited Nikolai Quarter and the Lustgarten before heading to Gendarmenmarkt.

I took a picture with the status of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels again too.

The weather was nice all day but rain threatened every few minutes with a few drops of water. We ended the evening by getting dinner with some of the other Fellows in Kreuzberg that night.

On Sunday, I ended up going to Potsdam since I live less than 15 minutes away in Nikolassee. I went with Neaka and Alli, two of the American Fellows, to Schloss Sanssouci, the palace of Frederick the Great. I had gotten a tour of Potsdam and Sanssouci last year with my program, so I was able to navigate the city pretty well. In fact, I had to practice my German at the Hauptbahnhof because we had bought the wrong tickets for the bus and S-Bahn.


The weather was very cooperative for our little outing in Sanssouci. We had nice sunshine in the afternoon for our whole trek through the massive gardens. We walked more than 2 km from the east end of the park to the west end and then back. We went to visit the Chinese Palace where we decided to pose as the gold statue on the top of the building. It was pretty fun!


The castle itself is not very large by German castle standards. It does, however, have an amazing view of Potsdam and all of the land. The picture below looks out over the different layers leading up to Sanssouci Castle.


Today, we had a few discussions that were really fruitful and great presentations. We talked to some asylum seekers in Germany and learned about the challenges facing folks who are seeking asylum. We also had some time to hear from a former Neo-Nazi who shared his experiences with us and also what he is doing now to help Neo-Nazi's discover life outside of that scene. Very interesting indeed.

This week will conclude our hectic schedule, but starting next week, we'll begin our research period and begin laying the foundations for our final presentations on July 4.

Until next time,

Sam