I am part-way through my summer tour of ten concerts in Europe, having already played in the cathedral in Mainz and the Abbey Church in Steinfeld and am now aboard the train to Braunschweig where I’ll play a concert tomorrow in the late afternoon (le quatorze juillet). George and I spent five days of honest-to-goodness vacation in Berlin – our only time together for the next month, sadly. Much to our surprise, we fell in love with the city. Many had forewarned us that this might happen, but I’ve long-since learned never to enter a city with too many expectations lest I leave disappointed. It would be hard to leave Berlin disappointed!
Berlin is a city which wears its shame and its pain on its sleeve. The abundance of holocaust markers, memorials, signs of remembrance, etc. is staggering. Berliners are extremely conscious that the holocaust can never be forgotten – so that it can never happen again. The huge memorial to the murdered Jews (at least six million) occupies a very large amount of space right in the center of the city, probably the same amount of square meters as the Brandenburg gate area. Directly across the street is a small, but moving, memorial to the murdered homosexuals (at least 50,000) – which constantly plays a video of people kissing. It was kissing that was considered the giveaway of being homosexual; and the punishment was severe and brutal – before being killed. How interesting that the world today still tolerates (tacitly condones?) this kind of prejudice and violence in many places in Africa, Russia, and the entire Muslim world. Something must be done about this.
In the streets of Berlin, there is a very stirring exhibition, entitled “Diversity Destroyed,” which has huge pictures of so many of the great artists and scientists that fled the Nazi regime in the 1930s. Seeing these faces (from Einstein to Hindemith), and learning of their torture, gave me an enormous sense of compassion because of the city’s obvious contrition. They are acutely aware that their prejudice and extremism caused a “brain-drain” on their culture – most assuredly with lasting consequences far beyond any of our lifetimes.