Monthly Archives: May 2013

Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat in Nazi-occupied Hungary who led an extensive and successful mission to save the lives of nearly 100,000 Hungarian Jews. The cobblestones are originals from a Jewish ghetto and the bronzed briefcase is said to be Raoul Wallenberg’s- although something I read stated it was a replica. On January 17, 1945 he was taken into Russian custody and never seen or heard from again. Some reports say he died in 1947, others that he lived into the 1980’s. From all accounts, he sounds like an amazing man who risked his life for other people’s freedom.

There was an entire section in the Checkpoint Charlie museum devoted to non-violent revolutions. Gandhi and Martin Luther King were obviously focal points but there was a smaller wall of people who were killed/murdered fighting for peace, justice…for humanity. I had never heard their names before, but their stories are extraordinary. Individuals making a difference! The story below is about a woman named Barbel Bohley who was an artist and one of the co-founders of the Initiative for Peace and Human Rights. (One of my very good friends from Montreal is named Barbel – so when I saw the name I was drawn to her story.) Sounds like an incredible woman- just like my friend!

The black and white photo was taken during the Cold War. You can’t see the dividing line in the old picture but the white line was the dividing line between Communism (the East) and Freedom (the West.) The picture below is of me walking over the line. It was removed and placed in the museum after the wall came down.

There were many things on display at Checkpoint Charlie that were from failed and successful escape attempts. It is hard to see in this photo, but a person could hide under the front hood of the car while the driver drove through the border control (hopefully) without the vehicle getting searched.

We really loved Berlin. Our favorite museum was Checkpoint Charlie. I was in East Berlin before the wall came down in 1989. It feels completely different today- in a very good way. These photos were taken outside of the Checkpoint Charlie museum. (Charlie was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.)

Lennon showed me his sock in the car- apparently, my sewing repairs no longer held up!

Vielen Dank fur alles. Sie Sind sehr gute Freunde!
We loved your town, your food, your home, your school- but most importantly- we love you guys! You all are looking happy and healthy. Good stuff!
Aaron, thank you (again) for giving us your room – you are one lucky kid!
Claudia, keep rockin’ your little orange car and breaking hearts all around town – you little hottie! 🙂
Becky, keep being so sweet, friendly and funny! You have an incredible sense of humor.
Liebe! Liebe! Liebe!

This was such a good time. It was so nice to get some exercise (as if we don’t get enough from the miles of walking we do every day!) The kids said their boats were slower than ours! We told them to buck up and get their little legs moving faster! Ha!