Germany’s 20th century history was not necessarily written as victors. While the Nazis rose to power in the 1930s, the country also watched the party fall with the end of WWII. As supporters of the Third Reich, Germany needed to come to grips with the idea of establishing a new post war government with the oversight of the Allied Forces. Our group visited the Reichstag building which houses the German parliament, Bundestag. Our guide works between the regional and federal level and offered insight into the design of the building. Initially, the German population refused to use the Reichstag building as the center of their new government, fearful to be linked with the Nazi regime and their shameful past. However, historians discovered that the Nazis never used the building since Hitler became Chancellor after the building’s establishment and a fire prevented its use. The Reichstag designers also left Soviet soldier graffiti on the walls exposed after the reunification renovations. When the Soviet army overtook Berlin at the end of the war, the soldiers left their names and dates on the walls of the Reichstag. By leaving these markings open for the public to see, Germany remains transparent with their villainous history.
At the Wannsee House, the same accountability shapes the exhibit of the Wannsee Conference where the discussion of Final Solution of the Jewish question occurred. As our group walked through the few small rooms of the German elite retreat house, it remained obvious that the museum took care in the wording of each panel and caption. Using words like “deliberate” and “intentional,” the Germans took responsibility for their actions that led to the annihilation of European Jews, Sinti, Roma, and others. They presented the information in an upfront and honest way, not trying to sugar coat what happened during WWII in terms of concentration camps, ghettos, pogroms, and racial discrimination. Instead they included quotes from anti-Semitic German high command that were especially harsh and appalling while highlighting the persecuted people’s experience, using the words of those affected, and not a German’s perspective.
Through our tours of the Reichstag and Wannsee House, Germany takes a firm hold on their national history and how they present it. Aware that they, as a society, committed serious crimes against specific groups of people, they acted consciously going forward from WWII in recompense. However, as we saw in the German Resistance Museum, those that fought against Hitler during the war were known as traitors in the years after WWII. It took years for the resistors to be honored for their acts of bravery against the Third Reich. While Germany honestly approached their history, they also grappled with the idea of pushing forward as a new government and those who tried to procure it. As they formed their new political system they used sincerity and candor to shape the narrative of their new nation, leaving behind the shadow of Nazism.