By Cynthia Clement
Before we started this trip I believe we all have some type of expectations of what we would be feeling when we visited certain sites and areas, I know I certainly did. Now after visiting sites such as the Place of Justice of the Nurnberg Trials and the Wannsee Conference House I can stay that I did feel some of the feelings but not all of them to the degree I was expecting.
After having been in Nurnberg for a full day and looking around I didn’t expect the courthouse to be in the area that it was. I understood that it wasn’t going to be near the city center but it seemed like we went out of our way and we just walked a few blocks and just happen to stumble upon it. I think I put so much significance of the place where the first crimes against humanity were tried that I also expected the Germans to do the same but that is my American perspective blinding me. Sitting in the modified courtroom was surreal for me because after watching films like Judgement at Nuremberg the magnitude of the people that once stood in the room, like the 22 men on trial and Robert Jackson, was almost overwhelming. I loved the part of the audio tour where we got to sit for a few minutes because at least for me it made it feel really real. The rest of the exhibit was well done. They included enough background information of WWII and Nazi Germany that if someone walked in not knowing anything, it would be enough information. The wall of the timeline of the court case was very well done and took majority of the time because it even included what happened after the case was over which I appreciated. Another part of the museum which I believe was an interesting was the addition of the Pacific Front of the war. I didn’t get to listen to all of it but I believe they might have included it due to the American intervention at the end of the war. Overall, I had mixed feelings about the location of the building but that isn’t anything I could change but once inside I believe the portrayal of this moment in history was great.
Another historic site that create mixed emotions for me was the Wannsee Conference House. Again, the location was a huge factor in my initial feelings because it was quite unexpected. As we were on the bus headed towards the location the surrounding houses and the overall neighborhood was very much residential and nice. When we arrived the Wannsee House blended right in with its surroundings and walking through the gates and down the pathway all I wanted to do was take pictures of how beautiful everything was. The feeling was unsettling due to the fact that I knew of what took place at this villa back in 1942. I liked the way the museum was set up inside the house with the various formats. The room with the quotes of the relatives of Holocaust survivors was interesting to read through because of the people they highlighted. We touched upon this as a class but the atmosphere of the villa wasn’t at all what I was expecting and I believe that is what made it so unsetting.
​
These two sites were the only ones that made me feel something and open my eyes to something new about WWII and the Holocaust but they were the ones that stood out to me the most over our 13- day trip.
