Update From Germany

Sorry for the lack of posting this week, I’m currently traveling around Germany with sporadic internet and frankly better things to do. I spent my first few days in Berlin and Potsdam, then two days in Dresden, and am now in Leipzig. Tomorrow it’s onto Weimar, then back for a few last days in Berlin before I return to the States.

On my second day here, we visited Berlin’s Holocaust memorial, which contained a lot of letters and other documentation from genocide victims. I’ve been to several such memorials before, but what particularly struck me about this one were the letters from European Jews discussing the rumors they were hearing. You’d see letters between siblings living in different countries sharing rumors and discussing what action, if any, they should take. For example, one man living in Latvia wrote his brother in Mexico to ask whether his brother thought that he himself ought to move to Mexico as well, whether he’d be able to ply his trade there, etc.

Obviously he didn’t end up moving, or he wouldn’t be in the memorial, and that’s what really got under my skin. As terrible as it would be to see your family end up in a concentration camp, I feel like at least for me the knowledge that I may have been able to prevent it would be even worse. I hope I don’t come across as blaming the victim, because that’s certainly not what I mean, but if I had considered fleeing the country and decided not to and eventually lost my family to the Nazis, I’d be feeling an overwhelming guilt on top of everything else. I guess that’s sort of the way poker teaches us to think, focusing more on things that are potentially under our control than on those that are not. This particular memorial didn’t really emphasize the unimaginable numbers or grotesque images of the Holocaust, so these letters were what affected me more than anything.

We also tried to go the casino in Berlin, but it was the middle of the day and the poker room didn’t open until 7, plus there was an entrance fee to get in. I’m not actually planning on playing, but I am curious to see it, so I’ll have to come back one evening. There are casinos in these other towns as well, but none looks big enough to have a poker room. We did see the hotel where the EPT Berlin robbery took place, it’s actually just around the corner from the library where my friend generally works (he’s a graduate student).

I’ve got just under a week left in Germany, so don’t be surprised if you don’t see much on here until next week.