Friday, September 2, 2011

AN EVENING OF CONTRASTS ... IN BERLIN




Maybe it's me, but I can't help thinking there's something wrong about going to a party at the doorstep of the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin ... but that's exactly what I did last night. One of the city's top night clubs is right next to the city's memorial to the six million souls who were exterminated by the Nazis during World War II. The contrast couldn't be greater: A bright yellow building, housing a fancy hotel and nightclub, and the stark, grey memorial made of 2,711 concrete slabs that look like coffins. But that's Berlin, a thriving cosmopolitan city of contrasts where life goes on, the wall came down, but invisible barriers remain. It's impossible to walk around this city without seeing ghosts of its past ... and maybe that's for the best.

1 comment:

Beth said...

I've seen pictures of that memorial. It looks like it is very moving. I was struck by just the pictures, so I can imagine what it is like in person.