BERLIN THE THIRD REICH (NAZI BERLIN) WALK.
Julie has asked me to write about thethe Third Reich walk, which is the one about the remaining Nazi Party sites in the city.
I am sure that you know all about Hitler, the Nazis and their rise and fall, so I will not bore you with it all. However I would just like to start with a couple of points that might add a bit of background which will hopefully tie in with the other blogs. First of all the Nazi Party flag
the colurs of black white and red were the colours of the anti government group, the government that the National Socialists overturned. The red represented the social emphasis of the party, the importance of the people, and the white the importance of nationalism to the party (Some people believe white was chosen, because it reflected the racial purity, Ayrian master race thing.). Also Germans would have been familiar with the swastika sign. It had been around for thousands of years, and was always a symbol of good fortune and happiness.
Second, whilst he was still a student in Austria, Hitler was a great admirer of an Austrian politician and borrowed his techniques. These being that although calm and rational debate in an open and inclusive forum might be good, a well organised and efficient politcal party that used terror and head kicking got the results.
So that's a brief outline about what the National Socialists were about, and how they went about it. Julie has introduced you to our guide Nigel. He took the tour from nearest point to next nearest location, not chronologically. I think it would be best for us to do it the other way round, because the story will flow better.
1933 Jan 30th Hitler leaves Reischtag as Chancellor.
Hitler leaves the German Parliament building as Chancellor (Like the British Prime Minister. He and his government now legitimately rule Germany and reshape the country and the city.
Below is a photo of the last remaining Nazi building in Berlin. it is the Air Ministry building, which governed both the domestic and military air force. Like all Nazi buildings, it was big and imposing and designed to intimidate.
Right next door was a building that is now called The Topography Of Terror. The original building housed the headquarters of the four main agencies that enforced the Nazi code of ruling by terror. One was the Gestapo, another was the agency that implemented the holocaust.
1933 May 10th Book Burning in Berlin.
Above is a photo of the Humbolt University in Berlin. Among its alumini are Albert Einstein, a Jew, and Karl Marx a communist, both detested by the Nazis. The Nzazis chose this place for a mass book burning of books by, and associated with undesirable people and their ideas. The photo of the empty shelves is an underground memorial which is also outside the university.
1936 Opens Concentration camp just outside Berlin.
Just outside Berlin, was a concentration camp that housed mainly political prisoners. I don't have a photo because like Julie, I couldn't bring myself to go there. I don't know how young Berliners can cope with it, for as Julie noted, they cannot graduate from high school unless they have visited one of these places, AND studied the Hitler years.
1938 9th November Crystal Night.
The night when the Jews had their homes and properties destroyed. This date was also the anniversary date this year for when the Berlin wall came down. So not only did the Berlin police have to deal with the crowds attending the 25th anniversary of the wall, they had to deal with the Neo Nazis coming out onto the streets to celebrate the anniversary of Crystal night and the running battles they had with the Anti Fascist groups. Remember this is Berlin, and like an onion, one layer of history reveals another related one.
1943. 22nd November 24hour Day and Night Bombing of Berlin Begins.
As Nigel stated, a major flaw in the Nazi military planning, was they didn't reckon on being bombed back! Starting on this date Hitler's Third Reich that was "to last a thousand years", was systematically being turned to rubble by the allied airforce.
Julie's blog shows the chuch ruins that were left standing as a testament to the folly of war.
1944. July 24th Assassination attempt on Hitler.
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On this day an assassination attempt was made on Hitler by some high ranking Nazi officials. It failed. The building in the photos is a memorial to these men and others who resisted the Nazis. The line across the square commemorates where these men were lined up and shot. The numerous bullet holes in the wall were the results of the allies attacking the building.
1945 30th April Hitler suicides.
Underneath this car park in this quiet residential area, is the bunker where Hitler committed suicide. There is no plaque or marking of any kind to indicate this. This was a conscious policy by the German government not to give the Neo Fascist any rallying point. A piece of trivia, if anyone throws up a Nazi salute just for fun, there is an instant 500 Euro fine, which cannot be appealed.
1945 2nd May Russians enter Berlin
With the arrival of the Russians over the bridge just a hundred yards or so from the resistance building, the Reich came to an end and the beginning of the Cold War began.
If I may end on a personal note. with the conclusion of the walk and the conclusion of my finishing this blog entry, my thirty years or so interest in all things National Socialists and Hitler has also come to an end. Is it because of a chance to travel I have now see the places I have previously only ever read about? or is it because I am just all "Nazi`d" out? ? I don't know. But now that particular page has turned in my life. Perhaps it is true that travel changes you.
Courtyard of Hotel
Our room top right corner - no. 26
