Berlin Memorial Activity

                        

             The most important thing I learned through this activity was the extent as to how much the Jews were discriminated. I knew before that the Jews were taken from their homes and forced to work in concentration camps that would starve the workers. What I didn't know was all the other little, vital things that Hitler took from them. It started off with the Jews not being able to be in a certain group/club and not being able to work certain jobs, but it got far worse then that. Jews were losing drivers licenses, banned from owning jewelry, and prohibited from owning a radio. There was a point where they basically did not have a right to milk and food.

             I think that the Berlin memorial monument was built to honor all of the Jews that during during the time of Hitler's exuberance in Germany. I also believe it is set to honor all of throes who died because of the laws that supported the idea of antisemitism. There are so many of the gray blocks that it represents the thousands of Jews that were killed during the Holocaust. 

             There were certain years that had more laws than passed than usual. I noticed that in the year 1938, there were a lot of antisemitism laws passed in Germany. During 1938, German expansionism increased a lot, and preparations for war at home grew a lot as well. This led to the passing of many laws that impacted the Jews greatly. The Jewish people lost the right to any entertainment and lost driving privileges. Another year I noticed that had numerous antisemitism laws passed was 1942. In 1942 the Nazis had full control of Europe. They also had an ongoing streak of winning battles. This empowered the Nazis and Hitler more, which is why there would be more antisemitism laws passed during that time. These new laws included the withdrawal of milk. 

             I think that the top two restrictions I would have the most trouble with are the banishment of owning a book and the withdrawal of a radio. I would have trouble with those two because a book and radio are escapes. When you are reading a really good book, you forget what is happening around you, what time it is, and where you are. You get engulfed in the book. The same goes for a radio. Listening to music can make you forget all of the negative stuff around you. Without those basic escapes, I would probably go crazy. This is sort of like how Anne Frank used her diary as an escape.