Dienstag, 4. Dezember

The alarm clock calls very early in the morning as the meeting time is 07:15 h in front of the school. As all participants are in time we can leave earlier than expected. This morning the voices are quite low - of course everybody is looking forward to beeing home again, but saying good bye the old (and new) friends after such a long period sharing most of the time is more than sad. As flights to Israel are now handled as normal flights (no special area in the airport, no numbers of policemen around) we can stay a bit longer together. The security is very interested in the presents the students have got (we remember that this was the same in Ben Gurion Airport), so suitcases and bags have to unpacked, but - compared to former flights - the security control and the check in is finished after only a short time. Because of Chanukka everybody is served some sweet cake. And then the final good bye - tears ...

Next year in Ashdod or Berlin? We do hope that the contacts will keep for a long time.

                                              first day of Chanukka

Montag, 3. Dezember

In the morning we went to the Jewish Museum, where both groups had a guided tour - the Ashdod group in Hebrew, following the traces of Moses Mendelssohn (useful for the Bagrut), while the Spandau group got a lecture in German on a German Jewish business women living in the 17th century: She was the first one to write a diary (written with Hebrew letters in Jiddish), so we can understand the day to day life for a Jewish family in that time.

In the evening the traditional "Ashdod Evening" took place - all students of the exchange, all the families, and friends of the exchange were invited for a family evening. Esty (in German) and Sabrina (in Hebrew) welcomed the guests; Mr. Moeller, the headmaster, pointed out that such a mutual programme will enable the students from both countries to get to know each other und to learn more about the day to day life and the culture in the respective countries. Everybody was excited by Shani's singing, and then the documents for taking part in this year's exchange were presented to each of the participants - and the hosting mothers got flowers by the headmaster for all the work they had done.

Sonntag, 2. Dezember

Visit to the former Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

Sonnabend, 1. Dezember

This is a day for family activities - and the school bazar, which takes place each year at the first weekend of December, the traditional date for the meeting of former students.

Freitag, 30. November

A grey and dull morning - we went by train to Wannsee, where we changed to a historical bus from the 70ties. We were heading for the Pfaueninsel, "Peacock Island", a place were the Prussian kings, princes and princesses liked to go, when they wanted to feel "on the countryside". The rain stopped when we left the small ferry, and then we had a nice walk through the old park, overlooking the river havel till to the banks on the other side. This morning we were accompanied by a German class. The students had provided a small guide to places to be seen in Berlin, translated by an English class.

 ... and we met Mr Peacock himself - and lots of his brothers

In the afternoon we met again for a Shabbat meal - Shabbat Shalom.

Donnerstag, 29. November

After taking part in the first two lessons we left for a new event in our programme - the remains of World War II and the Cold War under the surface of Berlin: huge bomb shelters, built from 1940 onwards in connection with the existing underground line. How was the life of a normal Berlin family when the war came to Berlin and there were airraids day and night? But this is also a place were the volunteers working for the foundation recall the fate of slave workers from the East, who had to work all over Berlin during the war time. After the war most of the shelters were refurbished during the Cold War again, when there was the fear of an nuclear strike. We are lucky that in this part of the world we do not have to think about shelters anymore.

start of the guided tour                                          Cold War: This should everybody have in stock at least

Beginn der Führung                                                Diesen Vorrat sollte während des Kalten Krieges jede Familie haben.

fluorecent colour in the shelter                                 bunk beds

fluorezierendes Licht im Bunker                                Stockbetten

While we were using  regional train with these comfortable red cars - the same are running between Ashdod and Tel Aviv - in the morning, we went back by underground. Now we have used all types of public transport in Berlin - the busses, the S-Bahn, the underground, the regional trains, the tramway (in Berlin East) - well, nearly all, as we have not been on the ferry between Wannsee and Spandau.

Heavy discussions where to go in the afternoon and early evening: Ice skating seemed to be the final conclusion.

Mittwoch, 28. November

This morning the students from Ashdod take part in different lessons. Irena and Yana join a 8th grade computer class - the students are working on their power point presentations. In the end Irena and Yana present their show on Ashod and Spandau - and everybody in the group was clapping hands.

After that we went to the Town Hall to meet the Mayor of Spandau, Mr Birkholz. He pointed out that the growing of this students exchange will be a good investment for the peaceful future of both countries. He gave a survey of the main figures of the Municipality of Spandau: 235 000 inhabitants, still the biggest industrial area of Berlin with factories of well known firms like Siemens, Osram, BMW, and Orenstein & Koppel. Dana delivered her speech to the Mayor and presented the gift oft the Mayor of Ashdod.

 in front of the Spandau Town Hall (at the wall: the coats of arms of all twinned cities of Spandau)

vor dem Rathaus Spandau (an der Mauer: die Wappen der Spandauer Partnerstädte)

waiting for the Mayor                             Dana presents the Ashdod present ...

Warten auf den Bürgermeister                 Dana übergibt das Geschenk aus Ashdod ...

... which is really impressiv.  ... das ausgesprochen schön ist.

This time there was no problem with the trains and we arrived in East Berlin in the area, were till to the deportations a lot of Jewish families were living, mostly poor ones, coming from the communities in the east - Ukraina, Russia, Poland, the Baltic States, Belarussia, and we traced the remains.

 New Synagogue (Berlin East) Neue Synagoge in der Oranienburger Straße

                                                         one of the oldest buildings of Berlin in front of the TV tower (Berlin East)

                                                                                      eines der ältesten Bauwerke in Berlin, dahinter der Fernsehturm                             

Memorial for the murdered Jews in Europe    Brandenburg Gate

Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas   Brandenburger Tor        

                                                                           ... it was soooo cold outside! ... es war sooo kalt!

After visiting the Memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe we went to the Brandenburg Gate, which has become a symbol for a free and united Germany after the war. At Starbuck's everybody was happy about the hot chocolade - and then we went home: Another long day.

Dienstag, 27. November

City West is on the schedule for today. So we left school by bus, changed at Spandau Train Station to the S-Bahn (quick train system), heading for Zoo Station - but after a while the train became more and more slowly, and stopped for a long time in one of the stations. After 10 minutes we decided to leave the train, had a short walk, and then we took another bus - one of the main computers controlling the trains had a break down, as we heard later. We visited the place of the main Charlottenburg synagogues, destroyed in the progrome 1938, only some of the old items are integrated into the new building of the new Jewish Community Center. In front a memorial reminds of the death camps.

Walking through the side streets of Kurfuerstendamm with all the expensive shops and beautiful houses from the beginning of the last century one can imagine that this has always been and still is a place for welltodo people.

The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtniskirche (Memorial church) is one of the symbols of Berlin - a modern building around the remains of the old church, destroyed in the bombing during the war.  

 memorial at the Jewish Community Center, Charlottenburg

Denkmal vor dem Haus der jüdischen Gemeinde, Charlottenburg

in front of the Memerial Church, City West           walls of the church from inside

vor der Gedächtniskirche                                    Kircheninneres

We returned home to Spandau for a break, and by 17:30 h everybody was in time to leave again for the city center - a guided tour to the Reichstag, the German Parliament, was waiting for us at 19:00 h. In the darkness the building is even more impressing. The security control was really seriously, but then we were taken to the hidden places in the building. After the Parliament debates had ended we could enter the interior of the Parliament, too. At the end we climbed up the glass cupula, looking over Berlin with all the lights. We arrived rather tired back to Spandau by 21:30 h.

 late evening visit to the Reichstag, the German Parliament

abendlicher Besuch im Reichstag

Montag, 26. November

As a good tradition the headmaster, Mr Moeller, welcomed the group from Ashdod. Dana thanked for the invitation and then she presented a gift to the headmaster. A walk through the school followed, and we could have a look into the classrooms, the laboratories, the computer rooms, and the diffenrent workshops.

Dana thanks for the group to be invited ... and she hands over a present to the headmaster

Dana dankt für die Gruppe für die Einladung und übergibt ein Geschenk an den Schulleiter.

Esty taking part in the science lesson                                        ... new friends

Esti in der Biologiestunde                                                        ... neue Freunde

By bus and S-Bahn, a quick train system serving Berlin and the outskirts, we went to Wannsee, where we visited the House of the Wannseeconference, where Adolf Eichmann and the other participants laid down the principles of the "Endloesung", the murdering of 11 Millions Jews of Europe countries. A guided tour in Hebrew and in German was more than a history lesson

Haus der Wannseekonferenz  House of the Wannseeconference

Sonntag, 25. November

Leichte Panik am frühen Morgen in der Ankunftshalle von Schönefeld: Warum ist der Flug LY351 von Tel Aviv nicht auf der Ankunftstafel verzeichnet? Erleichterung: Statt 09:45 h wird die Maschine um 10:27 h landen. Unser Busfahrer wartet geduldig und bei allen steigt die Spannung. Dann legt die Maschine an und bald erscheinen die ersten Passagiere vor der Passkontrolle - großer Jubel, als die ersten der Ashdod-Gruppe zu sehen sind.

Early Sunday morning in the arrival hall at Schoenefeld Airport: The flight LY 351 from Tel Aviv is not listed. Relieve after a short while - the flight is late. The arrival time will be 10:27 h instead of 09:45 h. Our busdriver will wait patiently and everybody is more and more excited. Then the plane arrives and soon the first passengers appear in front of the passport control - screaming and shouting, when the first members of the Ashdod group are to be seen.

Wiedersehensfreude, großes Umarmen, dann sind wir im Bus auf dem Weg nach Spandau, wo die Eltern schon warten. Innerhalb kurzer Zeit sind alle auf dem Weg in die Familien. Big hugs, it is so good to meet again after such a short time, then we are on our way to Spandau, where the families already wait for us. Within a very short time everybody is on his way to the families' homes.

Um 16:00 h treffen wir uns vor dem Rathaus zu einem kleinen Spaziergang durch die Altstadt von Spandau. Überall sind die letzten Vorbereitungen für den Weihnachtsmarkt zu sehen, der morgen beginnen wird. At 16:00 h we meet in front of the town hall for a walk through the old town of Spandau. Everywhere the last preparations for the huge Christmas market, which will start tomorrow, can be seen.

Es ist nicht zu kalt - in den nächsten Tagen kann es ein wenig Schnee geben. It is not too cold, and during the next days there is the chance for some snow.

... and our group is completed by Jana, who is hosting Dana:

Clarissa is waiting for Shani.

Ivo is waiting for Omri B.A.

Florian is waiting for Omri A.

Nov. 12, 2007

Die Schülerinnen und Schüler der Austauschgruppe haben am 12. November an der Gedenkfeier zur Erinnerung an die Progromnacht des 9. November 1938 teilgenommen.

The students of the exchange group took part in the ceremony remembering the progrome of Nov. 9th, 1938.