Dear Michael, thank you for the invitation and shares with me the particle of our common emotions in Pankow.
Best regards Zdzislaw Pacholski
Hello Michael,
watching your fantastic pictures is a great joy for me.
They remind on the days spent in Berlin. I like your text as well as your pictures. I think, many people should watch this site and come in contact with you and your father's history.
Best regards to your father and all the best for you, Ute
Herein you will discover images courtesy of my Canon 50D digital camera, which I’m obviously not a pro with-Yet! My father (Günther Goldbarth) and I visited Pankow for 4 days to attend festivities celebrating ‘Jewish Life in Pankow.’ The highlight was attending Jewish Orphanage talks (November 9th) at the Waisenhaus school for children aged 5 to 10, where my father talked about his time as a student surviving War World II. Other former students who spoke were Renate Bechar, Leslie Baruch Brent, Alex Deutsch, Ernst Herbert Farr-Freytag, Bert Lewyn, Ernest Lowenberg Salomon Muller, and Stephanie Schoenfeld, who commanded the voice of an angel speaking on behalf of her mother Hilde, who passed away in May of 2001. Inge Lammel read passages from her book ‘Disturbed Childhood’ discussing life at the school and in Pankow. Other guest speakers included Pastor Ruth Misselwitz, Bezirksbürgermeister of Pankow, Matthias Köhne, and Professor Peter-Alexis Albrecht.
The above talks inspired a packed house-Surprising at first given the passage of 8 decades since the war. Not so surprising when you pause to consider there are not that many opportunities remaining to hear from actual living survivors who escaped a death sentence from the Nazi regime. The following day school children performed a very colorful play and we toured the school. From everything I experienced at Waisenhaus, I have no doubts this generation will build a future free of discrimination, hate, crime, and war. Special thanks to Peter-Alexis Albrecht and his wife Julia for making our stay very pleasant with many interesting activities, entertaining dinner conversation, and opportunities to enjoy various culinary delights! It was inspiring to meet so many spry and good-hearted senior citizens who trekked from all over the world as far as Argentina to revisit their childhood at the Waisenhaus.
The rest of my 2 week trip was spent in Berlin where my father and I visited Knut the polar bear, the Anne Frank Museum, the Berliner Dom, the KaDeWe, along with various art galleries and sites of historical significance. Despite subsisting primarily on a diet of Wiener Schnitzel, Weise Beer, Niederegger Lubeck Marzipan, and Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, I actually lost a few pounds!
Images that will always remain with me are that of a Beagle who ate breakfast with us in a bakery/café, the beautiful cat house at the residence of Karin Manns, the warmth of the staff at the NH Hotel in Kurfurstendamm, along with the tinkling of a wine glass whenever Leslie Baruch Brent would rise to give a very eloquent toast but only after apologizing for doing so and stating this task has befallen unto him because no one else was prepared to deliver the toast! All in all, my trip was delicious and quite enlightening. Prost!