Today we repeated our tour to the wall with a guide, who was extremely capable of making us feel the history like we were part of it. We learnt how the wall constructed, the different layers of it and about the life and the cause of death of some of the victims in their attempt to escape to the other side of Berlin as well. We watched also two quite informative documentaries about the divided Berlin back in the Cold War and how the lives of thousands affected after the construction of the Wall, with many of them losing family and friends within minutes.
Then we had the opportunity to visit the Stasi Prison, where we walked around the cells and learnt about the life of a prisoner by an actual former inmate of the Soviet prison, Mr. Hans Jochen Scheidler. Describing the tortures he suffered every day and seeing the facilities myself, I have to admit it was shocking even imagine the living conditions and suffering of those people. But he left us with a really important pleading and wish: that we protect our democracy, even the way it is, because the suffering of a war is unbearable and it will definitely be catastrophic for humanity. In the end of the day though, it was made clear to me something I already knew: it is part of the journalistic profession to be able to record and communicate to the audience even the most painful stories.
