On our second and last night in Weimar, we all arrived back in our rooms. We were already uneasy being in Weimar because we were out of the comfort of our beautiful and comfortable rooms at the Swissotel in Berlin. There was no air conditioning and a bug or two (or three or four...).
People were hanging out in other's rooms and then suddenly we heard this band of men chanting outside. They were actually yelling altogether in German. So what else do a group of young American Jews automatically think? The Nazis are coming to get us! Sara comes rushing into the room with alarm on her face. "What is that?" "Uhhhhh, I don't know," I respond. A few minutes later, one of our guides, Lisa, comes into the room and reassures us that (with Deborah) that it is a group of anti-Neo Nazis protesting fascism and the Neo Nazis. Wow! We had only come into the hotel minutes before.
Earlier that morning, Deborah asserted to a few of us, "This morning, when you closed the door to the shower, did you feel like you were entering a gas chamber?" "Yea," I responded. "Were you also not sure if when you turned the water on if water or gas would come out?"
Weimar was certainly a different experience than Berlin. Berlin resembled New York in certain ways; moreover, it is an international city that is tolerant and easy to understand. Weimar was smaller and less comfortable. We had been making Holocaust jokes the entire time we were there (in Berlin), but the shower/gas chamber one proved that this was how we were coping with the situation. We knew it was absurd to be scared, but also very hard to break out of our pre-conceived notions.
I asked my new German Jewish friend, Martin, about this a few days later. "Do a lot of German Jews make Holocaust jokes? We've been making a lot on this trip." He didn't really answer. I clarified the question a bit and asked if they find that people are really welcoming and (over-welcoming to Jews). This was a perception of our trip that everyone loved Jews in Germany. Martin told me that he doesn't openly tell people that he's Jewish. He wants an impression to be made on an even level. He said if he tells people he is Jewish, they apologize for the Holocaust and then they don't see him from an objective perspective. It's obvious how different life is for American Jews and for Jews living in Germany. American Jews are so very comfortable - for the most part - and can detach themselves. We take so much for granted and have to detach ourselves from a serious situation to cope with the reality of where we are. I am somewhat sure that Martin didn't understand my Holocaust joke question completely (I was a little embarrassed I had even asked it, so I changed the subject), but there is validity to the idea that they don't make any. The Holocaust can't define Jews living in Germany because they have to prove that they are more to be part of society.
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Dear Liz,
your blog is so well-written, really interesting to read.
I enjoyed reading about your German-Jewish friend Martin :-)
I would add, that Martin does not believe that people in Germany apologize for the holocaust when he tells them he´s jewish, rather it´s simply the german word for jew - Jude - which can ruin the greatest conversation. It polarizes. People feel uncomfortable. Take the Holocaust Memorial for example. What nation would put something like that right in the center of the center of the capital? A great thing for tourists, yes, but it´s not more than that. Of course, no one can say no when people build a memorial for your killed ancestors. Human beings like attention. But this memorial is a metaphor for the impression that many Germans have, that one thing stands in between them and complete happiness - the Jude.
Martin
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