Two more days in Berlin. Can't believe how the time has flown by. We've spent most of our time in the eastern part of the city, but we ventured to the western part of the city twice: once to go to KaDeWe and once to check out the Brandenburg Gate, the American Embassy on Pariser Platz, and the Holocaust Memorial.

The Holocaust Memorial (officially called the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) is in a former dead zone between the inner and outer walls. It is a series of stone rectangles (stelae) that quickly go from small to way over your head as the stones grow larger and the paths descend and climb in not particular pattern. The idea, some say, was to create an uneasy, confusing atmosphere and to show that the Nazis quickly lost touch with reason and got in way over their heads. The smaller stones looks like caskets, and larger ones look like tombs or mausoleums. The effect is a bit creepy, but it's also quite moving.

 

The irritating thing about the memorial, however, was the chaos that ensued among the stelae. Kids played hide and seek. Parents yelled for their children. Little kids cried and screamed, likely confused and scared by being in what seems maze-like when you're walking through the memorial. Several people bought their dogs. The regulations, below, state clearly that there is to be no yelling, no running, no dogs, no smoking, and no alcohol consumption. I didn't see anyone smoking or drinking, but I saw enough of the running and heard enough of the yelling to be disgusted. I get that kids don't understand the Holocaust, but I was offended by their behavior at the memorial and the fact that their parents let them run around and play. No one would do that at Pearl Harbor. What should have been a moving experience left me wanting to smack people.