A year ago I took one of the most transformative journeys of my life, with 24 fellow educators, to study the Holocaust and the Jewish resistance to it, in Washington, DC, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Poland. I kept an extensive diary and took tons of photographs. And contrary to many assumptions, it was a journey that led to profound understandings about life, not death. For the next several days, I have decided to go back and retrace my steps and try to process what unfolded for me. Not weighty tomes, but maybe a picture and a note from the diary.
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July 8 and 9. Day began with packing- we are leaving Berlin for Prague at midday. This morning we went to Tiergartenstrasse 4, for the exhibit, discussed in a previous post. After a stop at the US Embassy we went to the Holocaust memorial for the Roma and Sinti, in the shadow of the Reichstag.
Holocaust memorial for the Roma and Sinti. Berlin.
Holocaust memorial for the Roma and Sinti. Berlin.
In the reflection of the sign above, you can see the slabs representing destroyed communities through Europe.
At the train station, we begin our journey to the south, the Czech Republic. The train meanders past Magdeburg again, and alongside the Elbe River, passes through the Sudetenland.
Sudetenland by Alan Bush.
Sudetenland, shortly after the sell out at the Munich Conference in 1938. Some excited. Some not.
Then we reach Prague, have a tour of the city.
Prague.
Hitler was here on March 15, 1939, and the flags came out after full annexation.
Review in Prague. During the war.
Prague by Alan Bush.
The was one of the last cities liberated by the Allies-the Red Army- and it is important to note that it was relatively unscathed by bombing during the war. However, there is a lot of Holocaust history to be encountered. But first, to the Jewish synagogues, and burial grounds, that attested to the hundreds year old vibrant presence.
We were not here long enough to do extensive touring, but it is a beautiful city and highly recommended for any would-be European traveler. There are some fascinating tours and here is an interesting article on the 
assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, in his capacity as the “Deputy Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia”, whom we met in a previous post at the Wannsee Villa. I would have like to have toured that site.
Now the tour continues to Terezin, or Theresienstadt. I will be at the site where the “Train Near Magdeburg” was destined to arrive-but never did, thanks to the US Army. But why there? We will see.
Teaching History Matters 