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Jager blackouts; "Good Pants, Bad Pants"; Czech Republic pick pocketers; Kutna Hora bone chapel; German sausages and Hofbrauhaus; Biergartens; Austria bike riding; Pub crawls; tons of new friends and an amazing journey.... and not to mention, random make-outs!
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August 28, 2008:
After another great lunch of fried rice, we went to the Nazi museum, The El-D House. We were able to see the history and documentation of the nazi movement here in Cologne, and the incremental steps of small-time persecution developing into the larger massive killings during WW2 during the Third Reicht, when Hitler used mass propaganda to "cleanse" and eradicate, and keep the Germans' line of a 'pure race'.
Pictures of The El-D house back then
An original newspaper clipping of Hitler during the nazi era
I must've seen something that majorly appalled me
There was a huge following in Koln
The propaganda booklets
It's weird how humans can be so similar to sheep sometimes-- simple-minded and easily misguided
The locations of all the concentration camps
One of the most intense part of the museum that held significance for me was The Book. This book contained all the names of the Jews & Gypsies that were deported to various detention centers and concentration camps, to later be mass murdered.
The book of names
Heartbreaking and unnecessarily cruel
Political satire on how the world aimed to appease Germans instead of doing what was truly necessary to stop the madness from escalating
Another intense and emotional moment for me occurred down in the holding cells, designed for 2, but in reality, held 16-20 people prisoners at the El-D.
Though it was depressing, it was very educational and I found myself honored to be able to witness such a large, albeit vicious part of history at the point of origin.
The cellars of the El-D House...
Small narrow rooms with pipes running through
The tiny holding cell that detained 16-20 people
The writing on the wall
The peephole was used by the Nazis to spy on their prisoners
I felt relieved when I left this place. A bit more enlightened and informed, but glad to be outside in the sunlight and not trapped in that dark cellar. I could just imagine how it must've been for the people decades ago, that were trapped there for weeks, months, some even, never seeing the light of day again.
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©
Christina Erin Chiang,
2009
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