My first day in Berlin wasn’t very different from that of the other colleagues that came to the Centropa Academy. Everything I experienced on this day can be defined as my first: visiting Berlin, Germany, entering a synagogue, attending a mass – Shabbat, kosher food. In a word, everything was new and exciting…

Hello everybody

I am writting my first blog from Vienna while waiting to my connection flight to Sarajevo.

It was an amasing in Berlin and I learned a lot. I was amazed by the teachers inovation, energy and dedication. This is my first blog in life, I design web pages and have a major hoby on computers software but never write a blog. Since now I thought that bloging is for students and rockstars but not teachers. Well people change :) We changed quite a bit...

Centropa Summer Academy

Berlin, Germany

July 22-28, 2013

This week will truly be a time to remember, this is my first trip to any part of Europe.  So, ever since Monday I have had several aha’s moments.  On Monday, I left Myrtle Beach. South Carolina and on Tuesday by 12 o’clock I had visted theCharles De Gaulle airport in Paris, France and also had arrived to my final destination, which was Berlin, Germany. 

This morning some of us traveled to Wannsee, the site of the 90 minute meeting where the arrangements to murder 6 million Jews were finalized. We ended with a visit to Berlin's Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, where you can read about individual families and people. From the big picture to the individual stories...

Train stations are meant to convey comings and goings, movement and change - sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.  German examples include the Anhalter Banholf - where thousands of Jewish children's lives were saved with the Kindertransport program with England (see the pix) for new beginnings. And the Gleis 17 Grunwald Station - which we will see tomorrow - where many Jews saw the last light of freedom as they boarded cattle cars for the concentration camps ending their lives.

... and we had besides high temperatures very high intellectual/emotional impacts. Thanks to the speakers :-)

It's day three and trying to put together thoughts on everything we've experienced presents a challege. There is the history that surrounds you at every turn here, and you try to process for example the loss of those 40,000 who once occupied the Jewish quarter of Berlin. The synagogue that has but few who worship or the plaques to mark those murdered. Yesterday when we visited the sites of the wall remains you try to imagine the separation and the oppression. The memories remain palpable and will only continue to be as we finish our time together.

On 24 of July we have  visited the remains of the Berlin wall, wall that has separated East from west Germany. Walls  some times  give as comfort and security, and some time wall is symbol of the hot home.

But there a walls that separate, walls that divide…

Today we visit pain making wall ! Luckily hi is gone, we visit only its remaining, and we hear the a lot sad life stories….

Did people learn the lesson?  

I promised when I finished my presentation I would post links to the websites that are related to the project for people to review as well as to post my contact information if anyone has any follow up questions or feedback.  Thank you so much to everyone who offered feedback and had questions and I would love to collaborate with anyone else that is interested or to even help you along the way to do a similar project, I truly believe it made a difference in my students lives.

Below is the link to the WikiSpace website for the project: