21.1.2013 Last shenanigans in Berlin

Oranienburger Strasse Synagogue

Today is our last day in Berlin, what a sad thought. I've thoroughly enjoyed our time here. Seeing all the sites that we managed to see this week has been truly amazing. We have seen things about the Holocaust, Jewish history, German History, houses of royalty, and many other things that have been fascinating. Today we went to Oranien Burger Strasse Synagogue which was a synagogue that survived The Night of Broken Glass when Nazis broke into Synagogues and other places that Jews frequented and burned many of them to the ground. The entry ways of the synagogue have been restored to a certain extent with what they could find and piece together in the rubble, but the sanctuary of the synagogue was torn down because it was at risk of collapsing. It was truly amazing how much work had been put into the synagogue to restore it. It was also really interesting to try to imagine what it was like before it was destroyed and the windows were broken. Another aspect that was really interesting was that they had two police officers stationed in front of the synagogue and one behind. Dr. Moser explained to us that this was because of past acts of hatred towards Jews, which makes sense.

View out of the back of Oranienburger Strasse Synagogue

If you look in this picture you can faintly see pillars in the background and some concrete squares going in rows from the entryway back to the pillars. This is where the sanctuary used to stand. When I looked here I tried to imagine what it would be like to be walking in to the sanctuary when it was still standing. With the rabbi talking near where the pillars are and rows upon rows of pews and more pews in balconies, and the torah scrolls decorated near the pillars.

Broken Windows

1958 vs. present

After we finished at the synagogue we were free for the rest of the day to go see any more sites that we were interested in, or do touristy shopping, etc. In the evening we met up and went to dinner at an Italian restaurant. Afterwards we all cleaned up and packed and watched The Sound of Music. Time for bed! We are leaving at 6:15 am to go to the airport to head to Vienna!