After last night’s very big dinner, we had to start our day with a healthy breakfast- waffles. Our first stop was the Berlin Wall Documentation Center where we watched a couple documentaries that explained the wall and the division that took place within Germany. We then toured on the actual sight’s ground, where the wall once stood. It was very sad to hear all the stories of the people who passed away trying to escape, especially the children. It was also hard to hear about all the strategies that were put in place, in order to stop those escapes. The Berlin Wall memorial however was the hardest part of the whole tour; to hear about the deaths that took place is a level of despair, but to put faces to the people who died is a whole other level, as well as knowing their stories. Each person has been a hero in their own way, with their own stories of escape and resistance.
After understanding the detailed story of the Berlin Wall, the struggles it caused, and the number of people it left away from their homes or their families, everyone’s feelings were a bit shaky. We didn’t know that from there, those feelings will only increase and deepen.
We visited the Stasi prison and met a former prisoner. We were taken on a very moving tour, where the man, who didn’t do anything severe or worth mentioning, was prisoned for six months.
He told us about his time in there; the rules they had, the means of transportation they used, the rooms they lived in, and the times they got to “go outside”- a cell with no ceiling. By the end of it, I was a hot mess, and I was ready to bawl my eyes out over the hardships he faced.
Going to the prison, I expected to experience the same thing I did in the other visits we had. But it was different, and it hit home. The eyes of the man were what hurt the most, the time he spent there had clearly affected him, and it was all clear in his eyes. After all, the saying “the eyes are the window to the soul” is not JUST a saying. This visit resonated with all of us, and we left with views and ideas ready to be discussed.
Today was the most emotional day in Berlin, and I hope it only gets better from here.