Remembering Auschwitz in Berlin


This past week has seen the 70th liberation of Auschwitz.  Several memorials were held in Berlin.
Bill and I visited the Jewish Cemetery in Weissensee, the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe, and one of the largest in Berlin.  Most of the graves date back to before 1933, but there are also newer and very recent graves. Many famous men and women are buried here, among them Adolf Janhof, the founder of KaDeWe (Berlin's upscale department store where Senta works), and Stefan Heym, the German-American author-turned-politician (one of our favorite authors).  
Cemetery translates "Friedhof" in German, meaning a place of peace.  There is no way to describe the turmoil the spectator feels in this cemetery.  Upon entering through the beautiful wrought-iron gates the first thing one sees is a simple memorial to the millions of murdered Jews.  A large black stone with an inscription is surrounded by small rectangular stones with the names of concentration camps. I just stood there, overcome with unspeakable emotions, terrible sadness, shame, utter incomprehension, guilt, and so much more. Words fail. The simplicity and bleakness of this memorial say more than a billion words can ever say.

The cemetery itself is a place of peace and quiet.  Here one senses that the dead lived their full lives and upon death received the honors, memorials and burials due to them.  Each deceased has a place that can be visited, and thus the dead person can be remembered. Visiting a cemetery can be sad but also comforting because the bereaved can grieve at the grave where their beloved is buried.  The terrible thing about the six million murdered Jews is that they lost everything, their lives and even a right to get a proper grave site; many or most do not have any relatives or descendants who knew them because they were murdered, too.  The dead cannot speak.  Let us living remember and speak out in their stead.
 
Unfortunately, like so many other cemetaries in Berlin, the Jewish Cemetary in Weissensee is somewhat unkempt, even though a number of city employees are trying to help keep it in fairly good condition. 

Here some good news:  On Tuesday, the Holocaust Memorial Day, a small Jewish congregation opened their doors to their new synagogue in Cottbus, a small town in the State of Brandenburg that surrounds the city of Berlin.  The cultural minister for the State said that the opening is a "special event for Brandenburg" and that he hopes the synagogue "will be filled with much life".  Other German states had seen openings of synagogues, but Brandenburg was lagging behind.  Rabbi Nachum Presman said that this "new chapter for Cottbus"... is a dream" come true.