Category: Field Studies

Although I contest the mentioning in Berlin at War that the mood in Berlin began to deteriorate in 1943–I fully believe that many experienced a decrease in their mood far before this because of the rationing restrictions and the infrequent air raids that had already occurred–the decreease in mood in 1943 because of sickness is…

Berliners were told so many times that I’m sure they were convinced Berlin was the best defended city in WWII. Whether this is true or not is up for debate. What we do know is that Berlin did indeed have some considerable defenses against air raids throughout the war. The most prominent of these were…

Since our trip is about to begin, I’m using this log to introduce my character. My character is a thirteen-year-old German-Jewish girl named Sarah. She has just watched many officials come into her home and take her father away to a concentration camp. (We will later learn that he was taken to Sachsenhausen) In school,…

I can only imagine how Berliners that lost loved ones felt during this time. Some people were given their loved ones personal items, however, the majority of family members received nothing at all. In addition, family members had to wait to hear of the loved ones demise because the Nazis limited the number of death…

Gestapo were the Secret State Police that served a political function of finding those that opposed the Nazi regime. Racism and prejudice characterized Nazi theory; inferior groups were had a predisposition to crime. The Gestapo seemed to have a lot of power, having the ability to work outside of the law whenever necessary. The Gestapo…

Vancouver, British Columbia January, 1995   I had just arrived in Vancouver to visit my son and my young grandchildren. B.C. was frosty and wind whipped around me as I waited curbside for him to collect me from the terminal. It had been a long flight and I was exhausted, my bones ached and the…

My character is a sixteen year old German-Jewish boy named Kristof Block. His parents own a bakery in Nuremberg. Tall, dark hair, socially awkward, and introverted  the outbreak of the war has caused this teenager to retreat further into his family and diary. Highly intelligent, he is acutely aware of the dangers that surround he…

Chapter 10 of Berlin At War talks about the evolution of the Nazi Party into “The People’s Friend.” One of the most astounding elements of this section is the implementation and leverage of technology. In 1920, the inaugural broadcast from a makeshift station was sent across the German airwaves. Ironically enough, “the German public was…

While I have learned about Hitler’s rise to power in school, I did not know how instrumental German radio seemed to be in the Third Reich’s reign. They seem somewhat primitive now, but in the 1920’s and 1930’s, radios were considered a luxury item, and often far too expensive for the average German (one example…

Being forced to wear a star seems so little but I believe mentally it can be very traumatic. I don’t believe that people should be separated from each other or forced to wear something to show that they are different. I have a hard time coming to terms with Hitler having so much influence on…