"They Jewed me down." Berlin, Part 3 (reading time 1:22)

I was in my early teens in Dallas (1960’s) the first time someone said, “Let’s Jew him down.” It stung…actually it pissed me off. After suppressing the instinctive urge to attack (it’s a Wild at Heart/Braveheart thing) I discussed it with my family and learned my first lesson that bigotry is not just a black-white thing. It was the way it was in the southwest in those racially charged times. I didn’t get it then; I never have. Those years up through to our current time have been a landmine-pocked landscape of change. The moments have been filled with the carnage of hateful debate, resistance to change, fear or anything different than “you” and a painstakingly slow evolution towards the idea of acceptance. So many moments that have catalyzed change…for good. So many sacrifices along the way. Better? Yes. Done? No.

The rest of the team had arrived from the U.S. We were now touring a few of the Berlin districts so that the visitors could discern the culture, ethos and evolving nature of Berlin for our business as mission project. A kaleidoscope of faces, fashions, art, cafes, businesses, art galleries and historical landmarks. Rich. Diverse. Youthful. Vibrant. Evolving.

And then we arrived at the last stop Mike had planned for the day; the Holocaust memorial. Completed in 2005, the structure presents itself to remember the murdered Jews, homosexuals and other unacceptable people groups. The area covers 205,301 sq. ft., forming a vast square-like structure. Comprised of a series of crisscrossed pathways amidst 2,711 vertical pieces of smooth concrete wall, at forst glance it might look like a dense panorama of rooftops with varied heights and angled tops.

“The architect left the definition of his artistic approach to the individual visitor. So, let’s split up and experience it that way, and we will meet up at that far right hand corner.” That was all Mike said.

I considered writing a description of the sensory encounter I felt in the handful of minutes that followed. The emotions are too overwhelming to capture here…and now. I offer you some of the images from my path so that you, too, might have a chance to walk with me, one Israelite who was “Jewed down” deep into this patch quilt of concrete past.

What did you feel? What did you see? What did hear? What will you remember?

For emphasis.

(b)