Dear People of the World (formerly Dear Americans)

According to Germany's prominent magazine, Spiegel, there has been a controversy over Roman Catholic Pope Benedict, who is German recovered ties with English bishop, Richard Williamson who is holocaust denier. Mr. Willamson claims there was no gas chambers, and the number of holocaust victims is 300,000 far lower than 6 million, which most historians suggest.

Pope Benedict seems to like stirring relations with other religions, a few years ago, he made some statement that insults Islamic prophet, Muhanmad. Does he represent German's still Nazi ideology?

Interestingly enough, such historical argument has been going on in Japan in regard to relationship with its neighbor, China.

China claimed that Japanese imperial army mass-murdered 300,000 innocent people in Nanking, 1937.

But Japanese right-wingers claim it was only 40,000 or less. Some extremists claims no such mass-murder occurred.

Recently Air Force chief in Japan was dismissed by the government over his publicly released essay which claimed Japan's invasion of China was legal. But he's been well-received by the public since then.

Germany and Japan were the losers of the Second World War. It is natural that such pheomenons occur.

People in both countries feel they have been forced to have negative point of views on their histories by victors of the war.

The title of the novel would be "Bauhausler". Hope you enjoy it. I am reading Ian Kershaw's book on Nazism for the research.

I think history should be viewed objectively. That's the very way of learning history.

Soon, I will start a novel which a story takes place in 1930's Germany. Japanese woman who travelled to Berlin to study Bauhaus art met a Jewish teacher and a Nazi-officer and then she got involved with the both men.  

400 people were killed in Gaza in Palestine by the air raid from Israel.

Aren't they the people who experienced genocide like that? Why are they making this place like Ghetto or Auschwitz?

Very few Jews in Israel overlap their anscestry experience with Palestineans. That is why Iranian president ran denial campaign of holocaust because he thought those who experience such genocide would not have done similar things.

Well, holocaust and airstrikes on Gaza may be two different things.

The below films includes holocaust memorial museum in Berlin. The thumnail picture is photos of Jews exhibited in the museum. (Japanese version only). First scene is holocaust memorial monuments, stone wave, and memorial for gays, and inside museum under the stone wave.

Those scenes were followed by famous gate, parliament building, Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin Wall, Krakow scenes, hotel room in Krakow, and schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna.

The bottom one is scenes from Auschwitz. Both of them were filmed in last summer, July 2008. So sad!

This is the sequel of already posted article "Ich bin ein Berliner." My trip in Europe last month. After I enjoyed my 2 day stay in Berlin, I flew to Krakow, the old capital of Poland. From the city, I went to one of the famous World Heritage sites. It took 1 and a half hour to get to Auschwitz Museum by car. It was clear and sunny day. The place looked strangely beautiful although what happend there was so scary. At first I went to the second part of the former concentration camp, Birkenau.

Over 1 million people were said to be murdered there. The below photo is the bombed gas chamber. Nazis bombed the chamber when they left that place to destroy the evidence. It looked like Roman ruin to me.

The below is where the prisoners slept and their toilet.

Also the below is the site of forced labour in the ditch.

The below is the freight train car used for deportation of the prisoners. No seats in it. They had to stand up inside for days without food.

Then I went to the Auschwitz. That is me in front of the famous gate "ARBEIT MACHT FREI. (Labor makes you free.)" But the prisoners never became free. 90% of them died inside the camp.

Between 9 and 12 of July, I was staying in Berlin, Deutschland (Germany).

It was a beautiful and interesting city. The purpose of visiting there was to learn history of holocaust and the Cold War era.

The first place I visited was Holocaust Memorial. It is Wave of Stones.

The memorial for 6 million Jewish victims. The place was near Brandenburger Gate and the Parliament Building.

On one downtown street, I found small memorial plates. It is called "Stolperstein. (Hitting stones)" One of 1600-1700 existed on Berlin streets to mourn holocaust victims.

I also visited some history museums. One of the most impressive ones was German History Museum. I saw below postar for Anti-Jew proganda, which depicts Jews as greedy and communist.

The same museum exhibited part of former Berlin Wall.  

I went to Checkpoint Charlie, the former checkpoint between West and East Berlin. That now became tourist spot.

The below photo is memorial for Border Crosser who failed and then being killed.

Berlin experienced very dramatic history. I really felt that by being there.  

I've made video clip of my stay in Berlin. See this you tube clip.

On 12 of July I left Berlin for Krakow to see one of the famous World Heritage designated by UNESCO.

I will talk about that later.  

Danke schonn!