An Emotional Encounter

This weekend I biked over to the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (The History Museum of the Federal Republik of Germany). I thought it was strange that the museum begins its story after the most important event of the last century, but the museum turned out to be one of best I have ever been to.

The main exhibit begins with the victory of the Allies over the Nazis and has many artifacts displayed in very engaging way. The first thing that visitors see is a old US Army Willy’s Jeep parked in front of a faux façade of bombed out building. Ominously placed in the center of this main exhibition hall is a black cube which has slits along the sides. Placed inside the slits are a number of television sets playing footage of speeches by Adolf Hitler and film of what the Allies found in the concentration camps. All of this is hidden from general view as if it is too embarrassing for the Germans to show.

The museum was very crowded and at one point, I found myself watching a video of German children clearing ruble from an anonymous city beside an elderly woman. She turned to me and said in German, “This is how it was. This is what we went through.” I wanted to respond. To yell at her and tell her that I didn’t give a damn. I wanted to march her over to the black cube in the center of the room and show her what my grandparents went through. I wanted to ask her what she was doing during the War. But I didn’t, I remained silent. She walked away and I followed closely behind her still wanting to speak. But soon she rejoined her family and my chance was lost.

The picture above has nothing to do with the story. It's just a really nice street here in Bonn.