Holocaust Memorial: Gray Slabs/Dark Past

Memorial to the Murdered Jews or mor popularly known to many as the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin may seem like just a pile of some two thousand seven hundred gray concrete slabs laid down in a precise rectilinear array over a 4.7 acres of land in Mitte, just south of the more recognizable Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. My visit was not by sheer accident but rather made with intention driven by curiosity and inquisitive wonder. I actually did not have the idea how the Memorial will be like, though I had exectations as to how the experience will be like-- somber and profoud. As I continued walking looking for any clearly distinguisable landmarks or signs, there I was in the middle of a long, straight, and narrow alleys in between the concrete slabs with identical width yet differing heights which rise from eight inches to more than fifteen feet tall. Without that title, it would be impossible to know what the structure is meant to commemorate. There’s nothing about the slabs that signifies any of the words of the title, except, perhaps, “memorial”—insofar as some of them, depending on their height, may resemble either headstones or sarcophagi. Then the emotions sank in. And suddenly, it was quiet. Being an outsider with knowledge is limited to the accounts on books I read! I wish to visit more places like this to have the experiencefirst hand though already in another time and perspective. It would be interesting to visit Auscwitz one of these days. #2023travelwish