Week 2 (1)

     These past days have been filled with an exorbitant amount of information and I'm trying my best to keep on drinking from the fire hose. From German classes, to informational lectures, and even to information provided on each of the guided tours, I'm trying to constantly regurgitate and apply this new knowledge so it will ultimately be easier to retain. I do this by telling my friends and family about all the places I've visited and consequently the history behind them as well. As far as German goes, I've been frequently trying to speak to locals with German, but since almost everyone knows English, I don't make it too far into a German conversation before they will smile and tell me that English will be alright. I am very appreciative of all the education that is being provided right now and it is really the opportunity of a lifetime to learn in this manner.
     Quite frankly, I never have been a fan of history, but to be able to stand in the place that history happened changes these feelings quite drastically. A prime example would be of the EL-DE House that we visited. While I have a little knowledge about the Gestapo and their unethical treatments I never quite understood the extent to which this was executed (pun not intended). The EL-DE House was formerly owned by someone of the initials LD. The spelling of the house originated the phonetics of these initials. The original plan that Mr. LD had for his establishment was to serve as an apartment complex and to rent rooms out. Unfortunately, the Gestapo commandeered this house during WWII and obviously, this plan was never carried out. Serving as a Gestapo headquarters, the most noteworthy aspect of this house was actually in the prisons in the basement. Inscriptions made by the prisoners were almost completely preserved. The original inscriptions by the Jewish prisoners were painted over after they had all been taken out of the community. The preserved inscriptions were in all different languages because at this point the prisoners would be usually the slave laborers from different countries of Europe. There are several captivating stories that can be told by these inscriptions (2 notable ones would be the escape of a Russian slave laborer and a mother who gave birth during her time of incarceration and proclaimed her daughter whom she was not able to spend anytime with yet her sole reason for not giving up).