In to the “Wald” (1)

   The German word “Wald” means “woods, forest”in English. The German “state” I studied in, Baden-Württemberg, has probably the most famous “Wald” in the world—das Schwarzwald, “the Black Forest.

According to Wikipedia, “It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south…The name Schwarzwald, i.e. Black Forest, goes back to the Romans who referred to the thickly forested mountains there as Silva Nigra, i.e. "Black Forest," because the dense growth of conifers in the forest blocked out most of the light inside the forest. ”

    The north forest is said to have the best vegetation dispersion, with a rich coverage of pine trees and    , and small lakes scattered around. On my visit to Titisee (Titilake) near Freiburg, I had a chance to step a little bit into the Black Forest and have a taste of its loveliness.

     After getting off the regional train from Freiburg at stop Titisee, I walked to the lake while sometimes stopped at traditional stopres along the road. At the end of the main street lays Titisee, a small sized water surrounded by green hills. It’s neither the biggest nor pretties lake I’ve ever visited, however, with the images of the blue sky, green woods and lovely cottages reflecting on its tranquil surface, it must be the lovelies lake I’ve ever been to. 

   Postures, pictures, and then it was time for some deep breathes. Encouraged by the nice weather and mood, my friend and I rent a motorboat and rode it ashore.  Bathing in the warm sun and breathing fresh air, we drove along the shore to get a better view of the little cottages. The breeze blew my hair gently and the tiny water sprinkle kissed my face, like drizzles dropping. Embraced by such beautiful serenity, I felt the time slowed down.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe- Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas

   On a raining Sunday, I went alone to visit the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas).  About one hundred meters away from the tourist-attracting Brandenburg Tor, a field of Stelae, which contained numerous gray concrete blocks, lied silently on a square plaza in the center of city. The orderly lied blocks were of the same shape but different height;  erecting straightly from the ground into the sky, they formed a gray lifeless forest, where silence and stillness overshadowed the rustle and bustle in this city.
   From one side of the Stelae field, a downward sloping stairway led people into the underground information center. An exhibition designed by Dagmar von Wilcken about the persecution and extermination of the European Jews and historical sites was displayed in the center. Both the ceiling and floor of were divided into long rectangular areas, which mirrored the shape of the blocks and reminded me of the gravestones. Here's an exert about the 4 most important rooms in the center (marked in blue), which I took from the official information brochure.

0 Starting Hall: an overview of the national-social-list terror policy between 1933 and 1945.  A line of photos and short explanations, as a very small model, dealt with the persecution and murder of European Jews.

1 Room of Dimensions: the first room centers on diary entries, letters and last notes that were written during the Holocaust.  I found one of the sentence in the farewell letters extremely heart-breaking and thought-provoking: " I do not to do anything (to be treated like this), I simply need to be who I am."

2 Room of families: in this room, information about 15 Jewish families were presented. Previous black and white photos and personal documents reflected their prewar life, the separation, destruction and murder during the war.

3 Room of Names: here the names and brief biographies of murdered and missing Jews from all over Europe can be heard. Presenting all victims' names in this way would take six years, seven months and 27 days.

4 Room of Sites :this room shows the geographical extent of the Holocaust in whole Europe. A focused introduction of the major murder sites including Auschwitz is supported by film and photo documents.

The work to record information about the persecuted Jews, homosexuals, Sinti and Roma during the National Socialist Regime continues. As it is emphasized in the exhibition, "it is impossible to find the exact number of victims...or to record the tragedy of every family", the history of that time period, of tear and blood, of frenetic racism and genocide,  left us a heavy lesson, which could never be forgotten.

                                        the narrow pathways in the Stelae
     

柏林札记——从伤疤说起 the Berlin Wall

         In the glass arcade, one can find information about the pre-war, wartime and post-war Berlin. Behind the arcade is the "remaining wall", which is about a-hundred-meter long. Like a scar, it has been preserved as a piece of memory about the unforgettable history of the city. 

 

Diese Fotos zeigen die Information über den schwierigen Leben der Frauen in Berlin auf.  Die Schwierigkeiten wie z.B. Instabilität,Versorgungsmangel, und Vergewaltigung, hatten ihr Leben traurig gemacht. 

  柏林墙的历史是我大学里有关德国文化的第一课。

  刚入大学的时候，正值柏林墙倒塌20周年纪念，德文老师就借此机会为了我们讲述了当时的政局和柏林墙简史。对于这件美苏冷战期间的产物，德国人，尤其是柏林人，自然是怀着极其复杂的感情；两大势力对峙的结果使本来就被四分的首都被生生割开，好比一颗被4只利爪钳住的心脏，现在还被切段了中间的血脉。一堵不断加固的灰墙，是硬生生横在柏林人眼前的一道绝望——切断了东西亲人友人间沟通，还又在士兵平民之间燃起一团憎恨的怒火。于是，这道“封锁线“ 成了东柏林士兵迫于军令把守的魔网，被迫分离的家人望眼欲穿的无望，逃逸者的荆棘地乃至坟场，丧生者亲人日夜对其落泪的哭墙。

   在柏林墙纪念馆里，我惊心于墙间地下各项隐密机关的布设的严密血腥，又惊叹于设法逃逸的百姓设计出的种种“翻墙“高招：简单至挖地道藏车厢，复杂至升空热气球滑行小索道：一边感叹于 “德国人家家都有工程师”，又一边感慨于一个民族的聪明才智竟落到用于加害自己同胞，或者躲避同胞的迫害之中，实为真正的灾难与不幸。

   曾经的柏林墙如今只有一小段作为见证被较为完整地保留。但整座墙所经之处，都留下砖砌的地标，紧贴着土地蜿蜒在城市之中，好像一条无法癒合的伤疤，在提醒偶尔低头驻足的人，这座城市所不能被忘记的挣扎和痛苦。

My first day in Germany

       After 12 hours’ flight, the airplane finally landed at Frankfurt international airport.  I got up from my seat, on which I spent most of the 12 hours sleeping (too bad that there was no mini TV on the back of each seat), took my carry-on luggage and got off the plane with the flow of the crowd.

      Finally I’m in Germany, yes, after who-knows-how-many years of being a huge fan of her (or his, if you consider Germany masculine, as “ der Vaterland”).  Perhaps I shall not call myself a “huge fan”, for a fan is supposed to know a lot about his or her admirer while I know almost nothing about this country----I might be a little bit exaggerating here, but I mean it.  Before I learnt German, all I knew about German culture were based on some eye-catching pictures on travel magazines, a little basic stuff about world modern history, fairy tales from Brother Green, and a handful of anecdotes about an Austrian Empress (you may argue that she’s not even Deutsche, but she’s from Bavaria, I guess that counts.) Since I started my German lesson, I haven been introduced to a great world of literature, history, philosophy, art…ect. And the more I learn, the more strongly I feel that I know little about everything…

       Right now I’m on this “dream-land”, everything in front of my eyes are new, and I want to know and understand them well.  I passed the Customs security check quite quickly, surprised that the Custom official (Zollbeamten the first German word I learnt) let me pass without bringing up any inquiry.  I got all my luggage, purchased a new cell phone SIM card, hanged out a little bit in the airport, before I set off to the train station.

       I could have taken a flight directly from Frankfurt am Main to Berlin, but I decided to take the longer trip on the train, and to take the chance to have a look at it.  

       As the ICE left Frankfurt main station and started running on the green plain, I was surprised by the scene outside of my window: not those “beautiful little houses with pretty flowers on the windowsill” I have expected, nor the forest where little wood cottages locate, but graffiti on the walls along the train track: patterns or letters in exaggerating shapes and noisy colors—I would expect  such graffiti in New York City,  or on the top floor of my high school teaching building, but not here!

     “ When we think of Germany, what often comes into our mind is really only the landscape in Bavaria.”  My friend reminded me of this common stereotype toward Germany held by many Chinese. 

      What shall I expect? What is real Germany?  What in the following months will change my perspective? Questions crowded my mind, yet I had no energy to think them through.  I fell asleep on the coach.  When I woke up, I was welcomed by even more grand and sophisticated graffiti on every wall facing the train track. I arrived in Berlin.