An evening walk around the Jewish quarter

A long day ended with a walk around the Jewish quarter of Berlin. Students heard stories of Otto Weidt, the Aryan women who protested against the deportation of their Jewish husbands, and the events of Kristallnacht. 

Students also saw the moving memorial to Jewish victims of the Holocaust on Grosse Hamburgerstrasse.

The German Resistance Museum

A chance to learn about resistance movements including the White Rose movement and the participants in the July Bomb plot.

The Olympic Stadium

Also on Friday afternoon we visited the Olympic Stadium built for the 1936 Olympics. The Germans topped the medal table provided great propaganda for Hitler's nationalist views. Although the success of Jesse Owens challenged some Nazi ideology.

Plotzensee Memorial Prison

After lunch, we paid a brief visit to the Plotzensee Memorial prison. During the Third Reich over 2800 people were killed - including members of the Red Orchestra and later many of those found guilty of being part of the July Bomb Plot.

Families of those killed were invoiced to pay for the cost of the execution and even to cover the expense of the stamp for the letter informing them of their loved ones death.

Sachsenhausen

An emotional morning was spent at Sachsenhausen. The Nazi concentration camp was constructed in 1936 and over the next nine years over 200,000 people were held within its walls. These included political prisoners, asocials, Jews (who were rounded up after Kristallnacht) and later Soviet prisoners of war.

Our first day in Berlin!

Hello everyone!

Well everyone is pretty exhausted. Not only did we get to school at 3.00am... But we have been out all day on an epic history tour.

We got a coach from the airport to our hotel, dropped off our bags and set out on our tour of the city.

We started at the German History Museum where we had a guided tour on the Weimar Republic and the early years of the Third Reich.

Then we went on the first walking tour - one memorable spot was Bebelplatz which was the site of one of the largest Nazi book burnings. As one philosopher said - "where you first burn books, one later burns humans".

Final Day

Today was our last day in Russia, and all of us really didn't want to leave.

We began by visiting the Peter and Paul Fortress, which was built by Peter I, to protect the city. We got to see the resting places of past Tsars, as well as the burial room of Nicholas II and his family. We then got to go to the Prison on the island, where political prisoners were held up till 1917, we saw Trotsky's cell, as well as many other radical revolutionaries.

After this, we drove out of the city and went to the Tsarskoye Selo, which is the Tsar's village outside the city, where they spent their summers. We just walked around all the huge palaces, and frantically tried to remain on our feet without falling on the ever so icy ground.

It was then a mad dash to get lunch in 20 minutes, so KFC and Mcdonalds were pretty common purchases. We then headed towards the airport to fly back home.

After arriving to warmer England, we were all already badly missing Russia. But we cheered up when awards and anecdotes about the trip where given out, on the bus journey home. Some of the best included best fall of the trip to George Cook, as well as him also winning the Rasputin Love Award, for being chatted up by some Russian women.
Leila Sabatti also won for her incredible puns of the trip, including Where does Nicholas II go to get his coffee? tsarbucks.
As well as Ben Pryor winning the Cult of Personality award, for beginning the standing ovation at the Ballet, before the show had even ended. Also Harry Ruffles winning the Social-realism award, for looking exactly like one of the paintings on the metro tour earlier this week.
Many more people won for countless awards, and it just reminded us all for how amazing the trip was.

On behalf of us all, I would like to thank Mr Dickens, Dr Cokewoods and Mrs Harris for helping to organise the trip, and having to put up with us all for a whole week. Without your speeches, historical insights and general greatness, the week in Russia wouldn't have been the same. Thank you!
Overall it has been one of the amazing school trips, and I just wish I could go again.

See you soon!
Daisy :)