Day 8

Today was our last day in Munich, which was as bittersweet as I expected. Munich was the best way we could've started our studies, both chronologically for the time period we're studying and, for lack of a better phrase, "easing" ourselves into the subject at hand.

I didn't take many pictures today, so here's the one that I did take for those who only look at the pictures. (Trevor.)

Our academics today were focused around the National Socialism Documentation Center, which just opened at the beginning of the month. During our time here, I've found myself criticizing the lack of memorials and remembrance at important sites around the city. This new center is built on the old seat of the Nazi Party, in the place of the perpetrators. It's an important step forward for Munich, yet the fact that it's brand new in town is significant, and just about says it all. 

I thought the center was extremely well done, putting into context and uniting everything we have learned thus far in one sequential exhibit. It was a good way to end our time in Munich, and left me with a more positive outlook on the possibility of increasing the dialogue on and recognition of the National Socialist regime. 

Afterwards museum expert Jameson took us to one of the SEVEN she visited on Sunday when Erin and I were in Austria. This modern art museum and the countless others in the same area helped to remind me, once again, that Munich is still a cultural center with many components and motivations. Sometimes I could only look at the city and see the violent past it harbored, as I did on Saturday night when we went to an outdoor conert in Odeonsplatz, the site of a former memorial to those who died in Hitler's failed coup d'etat. Again, I think it's important to set aside my lense as an American and a student of genocide studies in order to examine how the past manifests itself in day to day life here, as that's also important to our studies. 

Tomorrow we head to Nuremberg, despite a rail strike that has forced us to switch trains. I'm curious to be able to compare the two cities, with Munich as the origin and Nuremberg as the attempt at justice.