Berlin History Tour (cont..) 08-31-2016

Our guided tour complete, now we are on our own.  Today we met for breakfast and walked down to Pottsdamer Platz and went to the Topographic des Terror.  A chronological history of the creation of the system that resulted in the wholesale slaughter of a group of people primarily based on their religion.  A sobering visit that leaves a person wondering...how could one person do this to another.  Anyone who has the opportunity to visit Berlin should make a point of visiting this center.

Other areas of interest we had the opportunity to visit was the plaza where the "book burning" took place and the courtyard where Col. Claus von Stauffenberg was executed after participating in a failed plot to assassinate Hitler.  Across from the U.S. Embassy we saw a memorial that was erected in memory of the many millions that perished at the hands of the Nazis in WW2 and we continued our tour through the Brandenburg Gate to visit a memorial established by the Russian Army to honor the 2,000 Russian soldiers that perished in the Battle of Berlin.  Of interest at this memorial were the display of the first two Russian tanks to enter Berlin in May 1945.

Our father fought in WW2 and this visit brings a better understanding to us on what that war was all about.

SS Police recruiting poster

Brandenburg gate after the wall went up

Col. von Stauffenberg

Monument at plaza where the books were burned.  It represents empty bookshelves.

Original garden at Gestapo HQ's

Could this be a Russian Bear?

We had lunch here today..Maximillan's

Russian War Memorial

First Russian Tank (T-34) to enter Berlin

pavement markings to show the path of the Berlin Wall