Reflections on a Visit to Germany
I am a secular Jew. I don't belong to a synagogue. I seldom attend religious services, yet I feel Jewish. I understood what Daniel Pearl said before he died. Being Jewish is part of my identity, not a choice or decision.
Recently I traveled to Germany for business and some side trips. I had previously spent a few days in Berlin in 1984, when I lectured on behalf of the State Department. What I remembered most was the Wall, the barbed wire, the soldiers vigilantly watching to prevent escapes from east to west, and the drabness of the Soviet sector.
This time was different. I planned a trip that started in the south, in Balingen near Stuttgart, then north to Bad Kreuznach, then last in Berlin, where I was speaking at an international education research conference.
The war ended 66 years ago. Yes, "the war." For
