We are still here

The evening I arrived in Berlin was the start of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Actually, not really a holiday, more a day of reflection and fasting. Since my mother is a Holocaust survivor being in Berlin among other Jewish people was an amazing and at times tear filled experience. Probably the most exciting thing for me was seeing a community of Jewish people so alive with lots of children running around along with a few elders but mostly young people.

Oranienburgstrasse synagogue was built in 1859 as the main synagogue of Berlin. It was one of the few synagogues to survive Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) but was badly damaged by Allied bombing. It has been abandoned by the community as most of them had been sent to concentration camps, had escaped Europe, or were in hiding. The Moorish style building was considered an architectural gem at the end of the 19th century.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall the synagogue was reconstructed. As you can see there are remnants of the iron structure underneath. This was considered a revolutionary way to build in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The damaged facade was reconstructed completely and the backside of the building looks like this. Most of the space occupied by the massive building was left open as a remembrance of what had been and is no longer. The functioning synagogue is on the top floor and we looked out those windows during the services gazing out over a vast empty space. The building also houses a museum and offices in support of the Jewish community of Berlin.