Berlin- another day of reflection

The weather - cold and very wet was very appropriate for a day of reflection about Berlin 1933-1945.  I still find it strange that a whole nation can be swayed by wayward despots.  I was on a guided walk around the city, starting at the Brandenburg Gate- a massive monument to military conquest from a previous era.

Just around the corner is the National Holocaust Memorial, built to be walked through by its visitors so that they experience the oppression of the Jews during those terrible years, and in memory of the 6 million murdered people.  As you walk through, the blocks tower over you. It was made all the more atmospheric because of the chilly, damp weather.

A little further on, we stood above what was claimed to be Hitler's bunker.  No comment....

Further walking took us to the Topographie des Terrueres. A free to enter museum where the horrors of the SS , the Third Reich were described in minute detail. It's on the site of the Gestapo headquarters.

Part of the exhibition leads into the last part of the Berlin Wall to be preserved.  Another physical monument to human misery.  Thank goodness that it was torn down.  The threat of totalitarianism hasn't gone away.  Putin's regime makes no apology for their extremes.

Then on to Check Point Charlie- the symbol of division in so much writing and films. 

I have to say, I've only been travelling for 5 days and I'm exhausted!  I'd better rest tomorrow, as I've got a half marathon on Sunday. Travelling to Poland tomorrow.. Just dropped into an Italian restaurant to pasta load.

The joys of running beckon as antidote to all this dark thinking.  Roll on Sunday morning. I hope it's sunny ☀️😎!