Tuefelsberg, Greek Food and Mauer Floh Markt

Sunday we had mostly a kid free day.  Josie went to her friend Ella's along with Maya to make Christmas cookies for the day.  Benjamin had a spy birthday party for his friend, Adrian.
Marty and Simone took a train/walk trip back to Tuefelsberg.  Marty and I tried to visit the inside a month or so ago but didn't know that a couple of days a week they are closed and of course we showed up on one of the closed days.
On the way they stopped by Track 17.  This is a track at a nearby train station that was notorious for being one of the tracks where the German government gathered Jews and then sent them away for deportation to concentration camps - namely those in Warsaw and Aushwitz.  The vast majority were then murdered at the hands of the Germans in those concentration camps. In 1998 the Duetsche Bahn (Germany's railroad company) established a memorial for the Jewish people who were taken from this spot to their untimely and unjust death. There is a steel grate for every trainload of humans who were taken from this platform.  There are endless steel grates.  The heinous act of the Holocaust is remembered time and time again throughout Trevor Noah's book about South Africa and he talks about how one of his friends was named Hitler.  They are part of a dance group together and when Hitler would get out and dance the rest of the group would yell "Go Hitler, Go Hitler, Go Hitler"  Clearly, most Americans and Europeans have never heard this name apart from the dictator of German - Adolf Hitler so people were shocked and appalled that someone would be called Hitler.  Noah says that in South Africa names are a big deal and parents want to name their children the most powerful names they can think of.  Hitler clearly was powerful, albeit for very wrong and horrible reasons but powerful nonetheless.  He says he has friends named Mussolini, Napolean and Bruce Lee because these were powerful names.

this city.  I can only assume this helps solidify that it will never happen again.  I always remember the section in
My point is, there are MANY MANY atrocities happening around the world, even to the same magnitude as far as how many died in the holocaust,  in  just Africa alone.  I can name several but the majority of the Western world knows nothing of these.  What if there were memorials for those killed, massacred and tortured throughout African history.  Or these horrible crimes and wars were taught in the average history class.  Awareness really is the beginning to healing and the beginning of change.  So I commend the German government and people as well as the Jewish population for bringing these horrific historical things to light so that we can learn to never do them again.
After visiting Track 17 they walked on to Tuefelsberg and it was, in fact, open.  They went through and climbed up and on and through the artist colony.  This place is SO "Berlin"
I met them in Mitte/Prenzlauer Berg at our favorite Greek restaurant for a late lunch and then Marty had to rush back to pick up Benjamin from his birthday party and Josie was making her way home from her Christmas cookie making party.  Her friend Maya was taking her home in their car.  It was very unfortunate timing, but Benjamin's stomach bug found the way to Josie's stomach when they were nearly home.  Sadly

and very embarrassingly, she threw up in their car.  They were so very kind and said it wasn't a big deal but I know it is.  It is a big deal when your own kid throws up in your car let alone a friend.  Sorry again, Jochen!!
Simone and stayed longer and went by the Mauer Park FlohMarkt.  I have been many times but it is much much smaller in the winter.  We got their near closing time but you could tell that only about half of the normal vendors are there in the winter.