jüdisches museum berlin.

The Garden of Exile also reminded me of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe:

The Holocaust Tower

The Screaming Room

I know they were being liberated, but how did they even remember how to smile?

The view of the Garden of Exile from above:



Emotions that hadn't been processed after our visit to Sachsenhausen began to surface at the Jewish Museum. It was the architecture (Daniel Libeskind) that elicited the response from me more so than the actual artifacts and information in the museum. I had been excited to experience the building after reading and seeing photos of it for so long. There was so much beauty, strength, intelligence, brilliance, compassion, and attention to human psychology in the architecture... every detail moved me.

I was most touched by the Holocaust Tower. The tower, a tall, empty silo, isn't heated, nor cooled and the only light comes from a slit in the ceiling. The affect of the concrete architecture enclosing empty space as a memorial was powerful, and I quickly became overwhelmed looking up at the sliver of light in the darkness. In asking how to memorialize the dead of the Shoa, a question that arose quite a lot during our trip, this came closest as a possible answer (for me).

After visiting the Garden of Exile (it's tilted foundation is uncomfortably disorienting), and the art installation where we walked on metal plates carved as faces, creating disturbingly clanging, almost scream-like sounds, that echoed through the room's interior, I wanted time to explore and reflect alone.

When I came to the photos, 1933 - 1945... I can't really express the emotional affect with words... but... I guess I will say... I was glad to be away from the group.