I decided to take a train into Berlin to learn more about the old and new Germany.   The German train station was a marvel in engineering, efficiency and elegance.   From the vantage point of this photo,  I easily counted 30 high-rise cranes busily erecting a sleek and trendy city. I walked a few blocks over the famous remains of the Berlin Wall

 I grew up during the Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Bad Guys.  The Berlin Wall has been a part of my generational narrative. Ditto for the Brandenburg Gate.

Check Point Charley was the name given  by the Allies separating East Berlin from West Berlin.

Three cheers for Capitalism! After the Wall was demolished in 1989 and Berlin  unified, the area has become a money-making tourist site. Two Euros for this photo! What the heck, right?

Down the street from Check Point Charlie, the stunning Bebelplatz Square is where, on May 10, 1933, Hitler, his brown shirts and youth groups burned around 20,000 books.                              Right where I stand, volumes of Marx, Heine, Remarque and Mann were destroyed.   Eerie.

                                           I walked over to the Berlin Wall and discovered an amazing outdoor historical installation.         

 Situated against crumbling parts of the Berlin Wall, this wonderful time line, titled "The Topography of Terror" chronicles Germany from 1923 to 1945.                                                                          It was a frank declaration of Germany's difficult past. They pulled no punches and presented every detail with clear eye and articulate prose. It was very informational, but, in the bright light of day, it was an informative and at that moment, unemotional.....

Next day, I walked to The Memorial to The Murdered Jews of Europe located near the Reichstag, and interesting enough, close to the bunker where Hitler committed suicide.

The Memorial, opened in 2005,  has an above and below ground presentation.
Above ground, the Memorial is dotted with 2,700 grey, cement slabs of varying heights.

In the center of the Memorial is the underground bunker..

 Descending into the underground Memorial is as much physical as metaphorical. Only shades of grey exist. Photos and timelines of Jews murdered in the Holocaust line the walls in straight, harsh lines.

As I viewed this place, I began to feel an intense grief and sorrow; more than any other place I had visited. I was astonished to see the names of well-known Polish families and family photos...photos so similar to those my grandmother showed me years ago....are these my people?

I've always known my grandmother's maiden name, where she was born, those of her deceased siblings and even her mother's maiden name.

She never knew the full disposition of her family; where they went during the War or where they died during the Holocaust.

At the end of the Museum was a bank of computers. People are invited to type in the last names  or birth towns of those lost in the Holocaust.

 I typed in the name Wasserman  and Grossman...and Zyrardow, Poland...the small Jewish village of her birth.

Like numbers in wacky slot machine... names slowly scrolled into view....

And there, in blue Times New Roman were the names of my grandmother's family, including Tillie Grossman, most likely my great grandmother.

Do you also see my name: Naomi? Yes. I was named for her. I met her and my maternal grandmother's family on this trip. I have heard their voices calling for a lifetime... Thank you for waiting for me......

Thrill...? Shock...? Ineffable grief...? Joy...?
Yes. All those emotions. And more.
Much more.

Sensing my extreme distress, a young German Docent came along side, touched my arm asking: "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I believe I have found it. Thank you." I replied.

I ascended the stairs to the daylight above.

Journey to Bergen-Belsen Camp

The day started warm and sunny as I traveled  ten miles from the Lower Saxon town of Celle, Germany, to the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp.  I found it interesting, my elderly hosts  seemed only vaguely aware of its existence.

52,000 people died there....how would one not know?

The camp, now considered a "Memorial Park", is located in  fairly remote farm land; it's not easy to get to, requiring personal transportation on the Sunday I went.

Arriving at the Camp, the weather changed to overcast, breezy and cool. Colors  faded into sepia tones as I settled into the morning. The tall, leafy trees picked up the wind, whispering in the air.

I was greeted by an impressive gate and recently-constructed museum. 

Grey, black, pale yellow, dominated my vista; few colors anywhere either in the museum or landscape. Everything here is somber, quiet, profound.

I could not rush into the Camp and spent over an hour inside the excellent museum, learning. Reading. Finding the courage to go outside to the Camp. Having found the installation for the Camp's most famous "resident" Anne Frank, I felt like I found my little sister.

The path to the outdoors is a tall, cement wall-lined funnel. Everything here is a metaphor.

The topography of the camp is spare, punctuated by a tall obelisk, an impressive memorial site and ceremonial head stones, including one for Margo and Anne Frank. 

Tall grass grows everywhere.  Eleven tall, grassy mounds are the mass burial sites for thousands of bodies. When the Camp was liberated by British troops in 1945, typhus was rampant; everything was burned to the ground.

It's a quiet place. People speak in hushed tones; children do not run about. 

It's the Jewish tradition to bring a small rock to a grave site. Here, I bring a small stone from home to place in the memorial.

I found the memorial headstone for Anne Frank. She died from typhus but a few weeks before the October, 1945 British liberation. Her remains are in one of the 11 mass graves. 

Having lost all but my maternal grandmother's family in the Holocaust, I can't help but think: "Are any of my people here as well?" And, like so many others: "How could this have happened?"

I spent over three hours prowling the Camp, trying to understand mass genocide in this place;   The loss of thousands here was physically stunning--an ineffably painful awareness.  Race, religion, creed, political affiliation is the basis for wholesale destruction. 

I left the Camp with more questions than I entered with, struggling to even find the vocabulary to frame my thinking.... Not only how could this have happened; but how does genocide, war and utter human stupidity continue all over the world? 

Cycling is a way of life here...July 5, 2012

Everyone has a bike in Amsterdam and everyone rides; it's an entire way of life.  Sometimes, people forget where they parked and locked their ride..... One, two, even three to one bike is common, including entire families.

Posted: N. J. Brown, USA

European Trains and Bikes- July 8, 2012

European trains have special cars to accommodate cyclist's needs and I love it! This is a terrific way to travel. Europeans  seem relaxed about taking long trips from country to country on a bike. Entire families tour this way with very young and well-behavaed children in tow.

 Of course, relatively nice summer weather helps It it rains: put on a coat; if it's hilly, find a bus or train station to lighten to shorten the load; if you are hungry or tired, pull off the road, buy a snack and siesta. If the bike seat's hard, put a sheep-skin cover on it.  

Bread and cheese make the perfect brunch on the train station bench outside of Amsterdam, near Gouda (pronounced "Choo-daah"). Train stations provide affordable, satisfying, portable, healthy and fresh food daily.

 Weather is nice on the 8th--around 75 F. The sun is quite intense, but the weather changes from fair to rain showers quickly, so I wear my rain coat. 

Posted: N. J. Brown, USA

Trip to Gouda Cheese Market and Dutch Diversity July 7

I rode down to the traditional cheese market in Gouda. It's pronounced, Ccchou-dah and, by the way, only rookies ask for Gouda cheese.  Request "old' or "new" depending on your preference for age and taste.

Being  biased, I expected to see stereotypical Caucasian Dutch in wooden shoes like these Cheese Men selling the creamy, yellow rounds in the square.

The market is an excellent example of western European social dynamic. Other than the tourists who were white, I counted one in four women among the crowd in Muslim clothing.




These two women, left, were "real" Dutch. They were shopping and socializing; not gawking tourist-style at the cheese show in market square.

It was fascinating.

Maps are  common and, if you get lost, just ask.

70 Years ago today: July 6, 2012

Seventy years ago today, July 6, 1942, the Franks went into hiding a few blocks from where I am standing on the Prisengracht Canal.
Today, I am privileged to travel at will without fear. I carry a copy of her Diary in my panniers.

Teachers from Hilverson school in Amsterdam

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Teachers from IB campus from Hilverson. We taught a lesson about Anne Frank today on tolerance and acceptance.

Posted: N. J. Brown, USA

Anne Frank iphone app in Vondel Park

Touring Amsterdam with the Anne Frank iphone app. A treasure-hunt app to find places around Amsterdam. Here, I'm in Vondel Park where Anne played before hiding. The park is very near to her future Secret Annex. It's a nifty use of technology.

Posted with Blogsy

Lessons at Hilversum campus.

Students from the International Campus in Hilversum and I discuss Anne Frank's autobiography on July
These delightful and articulate young people, fluent in at least three languages.
Only two, however read the book but all had visited the Anne Frank Secret Annex on field trips.

The International School is located in a suburb of Amsterdam.

Arrival: Amsterdam, July 4, 2012

Landed in Amsterdam on July 4th, 2012. Despite my jet-lag, I'm excited to pick up my bike and begin the journey.

The term park and ride takes on a whole new meaning in Amsterdam. Bikes are parked everywhere and locked to anything. The bus station provides double-decker parking for thousands of commuter's identical-looking bikes.
I use my cell phone to take a photo of my rental bike so I don't forget where I parked it!

Posted with Blogsy

Final Preparations!

Orientating myself to  Amsterdam. I pre-purchased all my Anne Frank museum entry tickets on-line through their excellent web site: http://www.annefrank.org/. Pre-purchase was great, as so many time slots were already booked! 

There is a wealth of information on the web site, including a nifty phone app for  treasure-map style discovery of places important to Anne and pre-war Jewish life. The app places Amsterdam's war time history into perspective with photos and information. 

I'm readying all my photo equipment, maps, books and rain gear...weather will be much different than hot, steamy Houston!

...A few of my favorite things: bikes, books, Fund for Teachers bag.

The Route: Amsterdam to Bergen, Germany

Above map shows journey from Amsterdam east through small towns and backroads into Germany ending at the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp

Fellowship Rationale: May 4, 2012

 Having lost her entire family to the Holocaust, my grandmother’s perspectives on war and prejudice fostered my lifetime commitment supporting education and human rights.

Reading The Diary of Anne Frank as a teenager was more than history; it was my benchmark against discrimination and demonstrated the power of writing. Although 70 years since WW II, fanaticism and genocide persist in the world but my passion promoting human rights remains a personal and professional ethic.

Although I’ve only "met” Anne Frank through her Diary, I yearn to see where she lived, hid, and wrote. I aspire to write a documentary of her intellectual best in Amsterdam to her most desperate where she died in Germany’s Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp.

The Diary of Anne Frank remains a relevant springboard to develop empathy for human rights and provides compelling frame work comparing current discriminations with the past.

This Fellowship will allow me to journey from the “The Secret Annex” in Amsterdam to Germany, and create a documentary of Anne Frank’s legacy. The documentary will research and compare human rights issues of WWII with current policy toward minorities in Western Europe and the United States.

My project will reflect sociological implications of prejudice, compare current cultural migrations and related policies in the U.S. with Western Europe’s and improve rapport on important political human rights issues.

Studying Anne Frank’s influence with lens and notepad will help me grow intellectually and spiritually while helping a new generation of students learn about Anne Frank, the Holocaust, the power of documentaries and current issues on human rights.

Briefly....

Four activities occupy my time: family, reading, teaching, cycling. The reverse order also works.

Cycling provides an excellent springboard for travel, meeting new people and engaging in dialogue of current events.

I am a high school teacher in Fort Bend ISD in Sugar Land, Texas.

Cycling as primary means for  exploration from Amsterdam to Bergen, Germany, seems the ideal method and metaphor to learn about Anne Frank, The Holocaust that consumed many of my grandmother's family, and Western Europe's sentiments toward immigration and tolerance.

A recent photo (4.1.12) of me in San Antonio, Texas, competing in the Senior Olympics Games, wearing the North West Cycling Club team jersey.

April 17, 2012

April 17, 2012--Fund for Teachers Headquarters, Houston, Texas. Stephanie Ascherl, left, distributes Fellowship materials and congratulates new Fellows, including yours truly.

Fund For Teachers, Houston, Texas USA

Fund for Teachers  awards fellowships for self-designed, professional growth opportunities for PreK to 12^th grade teachers who recognize the value of inquiry, the power of knowledge, and their ability to make a difference.

My Fellowship, titled: "Cycle from the “Secret Annex” in Amsterdam to Germany’s Bergen Belsen Concentration camp documenting the legacy of Anne Frank and human rights awareness" received funding for me to travel to Amsterdam then bike east to Bergen, Germany, to create a documentary of Anne Frank's legacy in July, 2012.