I was in Berlin few days ago.
To be honest, i knew almost nothing about this country and this city prior to the visit,
other than the Berlin wall, their involvement in both World Wars, Adolf Hitler, Nazi, division of Germany into two blocks, cold war, and of course their advancement in the automobile technology...
Germans were known for their punctuality, efficiency and no-nonsense principles.
They love beer, and they are rather rough or rude...
Of course, these beliefs are not entirely true, and it's not fair to stereotype all Germans as such.
What i did find impressing about the Germans is their ability to bounce back from the setback of the two World Wars and the split of Germany into two blocks...
And most of all, the courage to admit their wrongdoing during the war time, and did what ever they can to ease the pain of those who suffered during the war...
The major cities in Germany, suffered heavy bombings during WWII; and Berlin, the capital of Germany, was extensively damaged particularly.
A lot of buildings that we see in Berlin, were built or rebuilt after the war. Imagine how much time and money wasted to raise this city back from ashes and ruins.Because of the 'brilliant' mind of a psycho - Hitler.
He was in fact, happy to see Berlin destroyed by the fire of war, because he didn't like this city.
and he decided to build another new city to replace Berlin as the capital city.
Of course, he did not succeed.
That was only 1 of the crazy thoughts of Hitler.
His most infamous ideology is of course the Nationalsozialismus, or Nazism.
He believed that the pure blooded Aryan people (Germans) are supreme against other races and Germany should only represents the pure German people.
This leads to the establishment of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, located north of Berlin, a prison to torture and murder political opponents, antisocial elements (eg. homosexuals), prisoners of war (PoW) and most notably Jews.
It was a depressing experience to walk on the paths where these innocent souls were tortured and murdered, because of some insane fantasies and beliefs of the Nazis.
Plan of the concentration camp
Main gate into the camp
The phrase 'Arbeit Macht Frei' which means 'Work makes you free' on the gate where prisoners marched in and out to work knowing that they will never be freed. How ironic.
The Neutral Zone, or 'Death Strap', where the prisoners can be shot without warning if they trespass this area, approaching the camp's wall
The Jewish Camp
Prisoners were executed here, shot.
The infamous gas chamber
Soviet soldiers were executed here, in this what it used to be, a fake clinic
The bodies were cremated immediately after execution
Bodies with valuables, like gold tooth were brought down here, to the pathology lab to have their valuables removedI felt kinda upset to realise that, what humans are capable of to harm one another. It's like a butcher slaugthering a goat or a cow, but worse, beacause the killing is not for survival (for the meat in the butcher's case) it's just for fun or for some crazy reasons.
Who can deny the rights of survival of another living soul? Who can claim that they are more superior than the others? Disaster will surely follow when power is entrusted to the wrong hands... But when people are living in devastation, in desperate measures, they'll grab anything that can offer them hope, and Nazi, offered them hope at that time.
What is important now is that, people learn from the history, and avoid repeating the same mistakes that our predecessors have done. Now more people have chances to receive education, and the advancement of technology have allowed the expansion of imagination and vision, therefore, open your eyes and use your brain to decide the leadership that we need to lead our country towards advancement, and not further downfall. A leader with ability not only to bring us up, but also bring us together, unite us as a nation, to bring peace between races and religions. No more Malay, Chinese, Indians, and any races, no more disputes between Muslims and Christians, only Malaysian, a truly 1 Malaysia. And by saying 1 Malaysia, there should be no boundaries and differences between the democratic rights and status of all citizens of Malaysia, which is the ultimate meaning of '1'. May peace be with all of us.
Who can deny the rights of survival of another living soul? Who can claim that they are more superior than the others? Disaster will surely follow when power is entrusted to the wrong hands... But when people are living in devastation, in desperate measures, they'll grab anything that can offer them hope, and Nazi, offered them hope at that time.
What is important now is that, people learn from the history, and avoid repeating the same mistakes that our predecessors have done. Now more people have chances to receive education, and the advancement of technology have allowed the expansion of imagination and vision, therefore, open your eyes and use your brain to decide the leadership that we need to lead our country towards advancement, and not further downfall. A leader with ability not only to bring us up, but also bring us together, unite us as a nation, to bring peace between races and religions. No more Malay, Chinese, Indians, and any races, no more disputes between Muslims and Christians, only Malaysian, a truly 1 Malaysia. And by saying 1 Malaysia, there should be no boundaries and differences between the democratic rights and status of all citizens of Malaysia, which is the ultimate meaning of '1'. May peace be with all of us.
