"it will catch you by the ear” – emanuel nashon

Our last full day, March 12, consisted of a day in Kreuzberg, a visit to the Pergamon Museum, and a hot chocolate with lactose-free milk at the Cutie Pie Café. Aze kef.

Kreuzberg, a district of Berlin, encompasses many minorities and immigrants (particularly many Turks). Visiting the Kreuzberg Museum, Kivunim met with a representative of Kreuzberg Initiative Against Anti-Semitism who elucidated the mission to prevent and combat anti-Semitism in Berlin. She mentioned the intimidation teachers feel in addressing the increasingly relevant issue of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict (with a growing number of 23,000 Palestinians in Berlin).

We then met with Emanuel Nashon, an Israeli diplomat and Deputy Chief of Mission for the Israeli Embassy to Germany. Speaking of the German-Israeli relationship, Nashon identified the Shoah, the Holocaust, as the most impactful in creating dialogue and emphasizing the significance of Germany to Israel historically. Though I disagree that the Holocaust should wholly define Jewish history and Israel’s inception, Nashon underscored that all of Berlin’s remnants reveal Germany’s dark history.

 

“The past is always here, even if you try to ignore it – it will catch you by the ear.”

– Nashon

Furthermore, Nashon stressed that German Holocaust education should not teach guilt but rather the responsibility of German history. Producing a dialogue between friends and equals, the education should accentuate “one foot in the past, and one foot in the future.”

Nashon mentioned the approximately 15,000 Israelis living in Berlin – the so-called “godless” place – that the Berlin mayor has referred to as “poor but sexy.”

After an outing to the Pergamon Museum, we concluded the day and week with a nice dinner (beetroot and horseradish soup) and a summary discussion at the Cutie Pie Café. The café proved as adorable with its name, with its mini desserts and fruit and frothy drinks.

We filled out an evaluation form for Germany Close Up, whose staff then instructed us to write what we experienced most meaningfully within the trip.

I struggled – I fortunately do not have any family members who endured the immediate atrocities of the Holocaust. I do not have a personal connection – simply as personal as collective Jewish memory. However, I connected to the Jewish historical aspect of Berlin as well as the modern city it now is. What a strange contradiction, I thought, experiencing both aspects of the city separately but meaningfully. How could I so fluidly detach the past from the present? Yet I never felt repulsed or guilty for enjoying my trip – maybe this proves a symptom of a generation too far removed from the Holocaust.

 

Either way, I feel that Berlin has proved my favorite experience and city, meaningfully and enjoyably, thus far. I connected so much to this new city so unexpectedly.

Rebecca Abbott

(Kivunim – www.kivunim.org) - a gap year before Barnard