Well I guess at least one day had to not go as planned. It’s been alright, just a long one. We started off by going to the top of the Reichstag building. Valerie and I split up with her going to the grocery store and me going back to the German Resistance Museum. From there, we ran into a few issues, but we’re currently on the way to Oswiecim, Poland.
The Reichstag
For the last couple hundred years or so, Berlin has served as the capitol of Germany. The Reichstag building is the parliamentary building and has been so for a long time. During WWII, it was a primary target for the Soviet Army when they invaded Berlin. One of the most famous photos of the war was taken on top of the building.
There wasn’t much to the visit. It was a ton of security to go through and we just took an elevator up to the roof. The view of the city was good, not spectacular. Perhaps the coolest thing about the building today is the rebuilt glass dome, which allows you to walk in a big spiral all the way up. Pretty neat.
I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more history displayed. It felt very impersonal, but I guess that’s okay. I’m glad we went up and it was a nice way to start the day.
German Resistance Museum
I talked about the most meaningful parts of this museum in my last blog, but I’ll add a couple of details.
If you’ve never heard of the July 20 assassination plot of Hitler, it’s the closest that Hitler ever came to dying during the war. Well, except when he actually did. There were numerous assassination attempts before and during the war, all of which obviously failed or were aborted. Many Germans realized that Hitler was going to destroy Germany while trying to make it great again, even some of his top generals. A coalition of conspirators eventually formed in the highest ranks of the German army. Claus von Stauffenberg joined the group when he was assigned to a primary war office in Berlin. On July 20, 1944, he detonated a bomb during a meeting between Hitler and a large group of his officials and generals. Assuming Hitler was killed, Stauffenberg headed back to Berlin to sieze control of the government. He and General Olbricht sent out orders to activate Valkyrie, a contingency plan developed to help squash protests and unrest in Berlin. They claimed that the SS was trying to sieze power and that they’d assassinated Hitler. SS and Gestapo members across all German territory were arrested. Unfortunately, Hitler survived and began issuing his own orders. As the day went on, the coup fell apart and Stauffenberg and several other main conspirators were executed that night.
The museum today is in the very building were Stauffenberg worked and attempted the coup. Although the museum covers all acts of German resistance that it can, the exhibit for Operation Valkyrie is in Stauffenberg’s old office. It was chilling to read about his attempt to right the wrongs of his country in the very room where he tried to do so. The intricate swastika pattern in the wood floor further added to the sense of sadness I felt in the room. Symbols of the Reich still remain there. I’m glad they’ve taken efforts to make sure symbols of the resistance do too.
The museum contained a large section about resistance from Christian groups and individuals too. I haven’t read through them yet, but I purchased a box of leaflets from all of the exhibits. I hope to share some of those stories in the future — I’m sure a lot of people would find them interesting.
Travel troubles
While I was at the museum today, Valerie went grocery shopping. We decided to separately make our way to the train station where our trip to Poland was supposed to depart. After some navigation issues, we ended up missing our train. We were extremely fortunate in that there was still one more train going to Krakow today. We made it on that train! That’s where I’m writing from now. Polish trains are not as nice as most of the other trains we’ve been on. We’re riding in those small compartments, squished between a couple other groups of passengers. It’s a six hour trip — the longest I’ve been on in Europe. Only two hours left!
Sleeping in
In the morning, I’ll be touring Auschwitz concentration camp for practically the whole day. Valerie will get to sleep in, which will be super nice since we won’t arrive until midnight. I’m not sure what all I’ll feel like writing tomorrow. Guess we’ll see. I’ll have a disclaimer if it tends toward the more graphic side. Is it bad to be excited? I’ve wanted to see the camp for a long time. Hope I can get some decent rest tonight.
