Enjoyment at the Holocaust Memorial

The last time I visted Berlin the Holocaust Memorial was not yet completed. I have read some blogs about it and knew if I ever made it back to Berlin I should visit it.

I don't know why I was going to visit the memorial because I do not find going to sites covering the holocaust pleasant. I visited the site of the Dachau concentration camp back when I was 17 and I walked away from that experience amazed by what one human can do to another human. It is a dark spot on human history and to me unimaginable how anyone could have been involved in such cruelty.

I approached the Holocaust Memorial with a feeling of dread with the expectation of negative emotions the site would bring out it me.

I was surprised at the memorial. Children were playing hide and seek in amongst the blocks meant to convey "what loneliness, powerlessness and despair mean," There were people climbing around or laid out on top of the block getting some sun. There was one group of people that appeared to be having a picnic on top of one of the blocks.

I suppose that a country may not benefit from a constant reminder of their father's sins but my experience was a great deal different than my expectations. I really did not think I would hear laughter and see smiling faces at this memorial.