History is
interesting, and sadly some of the most fascinating places to visit are also
reminders of some of the worst things that humans have done to one another. These
places aren’t for everyone, but they not only teach us about what other people
have been through (some in our own lifetime), but also help us reshape our
perspective on the world around us. It can feel a bit weird being a ‘tourist’
in these places – definitely not the place for cheerful selfies! Some of these
places you may only bring yourself to visit once, and I’ve seen people leave
these places in tears.
Just noting that the conflicts
that I’m going to discuss are things that can and should be talked about in
serious depth – as there are very complicated religious, political, ethnic, and
social reasons that culminated into each event. So I am just going to very
simply and concisely give an overview of them as a starting point. I’m
struggling to condense it all so much, as I could write and talk about it all
for hours – especially as there are so many important nuances and different
perspectives. So apologies if the simplification looks like I’ve just brushed
over things…. There’s just SO much to cover!
It’s also worth noting that while these are all
places that saw great amounts of violence, they are all very safe to visit
today.
Belfast, Northern Ireland
‘The Troubles’ in
Ireland lasted from 1968 – 1998, and had its roots all the way back to the
brutal colonisation of Ireland by the English dating back to the 1600’s. It was
essentially a guerrilla/civil war between the Irish Republicans (who the IRA
were a faction of), and the Ulster Loyalists (supported by England). The other
way of looking at the division is in regards to the partitioned Northern
Ireland (majority Loyalists/Protestant) and the Republic of Ireland (majority
Republican/Catholic). The Troubles were a scary and violent time for the Irish
– and very recent, with its effects still felt throughout the country,
particularly socially.
Belfast is a city in
Northern Ireland that was extremely effected by this, with a big local split
between its Catholic and Protestant communities. They were literally walled off
from one another, each with their own civilian armies. One communities hero was
the other communities murderer, and though the Troubles are officially over
thanks to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, this is the city in Ireland where
the history is still very palpable today – best characterised by the still
gated off communities (with their vibrant murals – celebrating their heroes and
mourning their lost ones).
The Black Cab Tours in Belfast are fantastic – your (very friendly
and classically charming-Irish) guides are a mixture of Protestant and
Catholic, and are committed to telling you stories from both sides, as they
drive you around their city and immerse you in what it has seen.
Afterwards, I
recommend visiting one of Belfast’s many fantastic pubs, where you can have a
pint and catch up on the craic with the locals.
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| Michael Fassbender portrayed Bobby Sands in the (intense) film "Hunger" |
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| Murals that adorn the walls in Belfast pay homage to it's recent past |
Germany really came
out of nowhere to become one of the most influential countries of the 20th
Century. After hundreds of years split up into smaller regions (eg. Bavaria and
Prussia), Germany as we think of it today was created in 1871 after the
Franco-Prussian War (a war that started the trend for France and Germany not
really getting along). Since then it has been the starring player in World War
1, World War 2 and the Cold War – taking up most of the 20th
Century. I can literally talk about this off the top of my head for hours –
it’s all so interconnected and a very good example of causation throughout
history (eg. One war leads to the next, which leads to the next, and so on).
Berlin is the capital
city of Germany, and one of my favourite cities in the world. It’s also the
place where in a very small geographical space you can visit many key points of
20th century history:
- The Reichstag
(German Parliament). The burning down of this building in 1933 led to
Hitler taking complete dictatorship over Germany, and the reconstruction
was not started until after the Post-Cold War reunification of Germany in
the 90s. Also making it a metaphor for the fall, divide and reunification
of Germany during the 20th century.
- The Holocaust Memorial. A sombre but interesting installation you can walk through to pay
respects to victims of this genocide. Very awkwardly, it turned out that the
reiteration (aka same but rebranded) of the company that made Zyklon-B
(the poison used to gas victims in the concentration camps) was the
company that had covered the memorial in anti-graffiti material… and
charged for it!! Understandably there was insane backlash, and they have
backtracked by vowing to refresh the anti-graffiti material for free in
future. So kind. Also, DO NOT STAND ON THE MEMORIAL. But do feel free to
wander through it and take it all in.
- The Berlin Wall.
Iconic symbol of the Cold War, and of the divided Germany that it created.
After World War 2, Germany was divided into 2 parts: East (controlled by
the Russians) and West (controlled by the Americans, English, and French,
who had combined their quarters). This was highly relevant, because before
World War 2 had even finished, the Cold War had begun – the ideological
war between the Soviet Union (led by Russia, and Communist) and the West
(led by America, and Capitalist). This war is the war of spies. Also the
war of families being split up overnight, people who opposed the Soviet
ideology being sent to gulags and/or killed, and a stark difference in
quality of life between Eastern and Western Europe. This lasted from 1945
– 1989 – with the fall of the Berlin Wall. There are 2 remnants of the
wall that you can visit – one is the East
Side Gallery, covered in vibrant life-affirming murals by the Spree
River, the other is a drab grey remnant out the front of the Topography of Terror Museum (the
ex-SS headquarters).
The best way to check
these out, and get an in-depth lesson on this city’s history is to do one of
the walking tours of Berlin (Insider Tour
Berlin is good!), where they will show you all of the relevant places over
about 3-4 hours (including the site of Hitler’s bunker), just make sure to
bring comfortable walking shoes!
One of the great
things about Berlin, is that if you’re just wandering around by yourself there
are lots of signs on buildings that tell you if/why they are historically
relevant, and are also lots of places with pictures that show you what the spot
you were standing in looked like when the Berlin Wall was up.
The DDR Museum is also a great one to check out if you want
to learn more about life in East Germany! Great (but tough) supplementary
reading is the true story “A Woman in Berlin” by Marta Hillers, about her
survival experience in Berlin as the Russians came at the end of World War 2.
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| East Side Gallery |
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| Check Point Charlie |
Auschwitz, near Krakow, Poland
This is probably the
most infamous dark tourism place in the world – as it is the German death camp
where an estimated 1.1 million people were killed during World War 2. Not just
Jewish people, but also political prisoners, homosexuals, Slavic people,
gypsies, and anyone else deemed ‘undesirable’ by the Third Reich.
Auschwitz actually
spanned over several camps, including work camps. The most infamous part was
the extermination camp, with its gas chambers and ovens to cremate the masses
of bodies. This was the greatest example of how the Nazis created an extremely
efficient murder factory. Prisoners who were allowed to live, were treated
worse than animals – beaten, degraded, starved. Many were beaten or worked to
death. Some had medical experiments performed on them by Dr Mengele (a
must-read on the subject is “I was Mengele’s Assistant” by Miklos Nyiszli). The
very unlucky had the short-term job of working in the crematoria, before they
were also executed for knowing too much.
It is very telling
that the Nazi’s tried to get rid of the evidence of what they had done, by destroying
files, the buildings, and killing off as many witnesses as possible. Most of
the evidence against them came from brave prisoners who hid and smuggled
evidence, in the hope that future generations would be able to bring justice to
what had occurred.
Things to note on your
visit are: you need to book a tour in advance, you can’t bring in any bags that
are bigger than an A4 sheet of paper (cameras are ok), and you’ll probably want
some chocolate for afterwards… just to cheer up a bit. It’s a tough but
rewarding visit.
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| Stolen off Google - I've never felt comfortable taking photos here |
Riga, Latvia
Specifically, you
should visit The Corner House.
Latvia was one of many
countries in Eastern Europe that was part of the Russian-controlled Soviet
Union. Under this regime, Latvia was run by the KGB, and any dissidents
(opposition of the Soviet regime) were arrested, imprisoned, and usually shot.
The Corner House has a very intense place in my memory, because
it was one of the first places I walked into and could just smell and feel
death all around me. It was very effecting. This building was the KGB
headquarters/prison in Riga, and was in use until 1991. Reopened in 2012, the
tour guides are ex-inmates (or children of), with fresh and genuine stories
about their life under the Soviet regime, and experiences in the building.
Almost every Eastern
Europe country has similar buildings and museums (The House of Terror in Budapest is incredible, though also very
sad). The thing that makes them so interesting is how many people still living
in those cities lived through those times, had family effected by it, and have
their own personal views and stories. Different regimes had different nuances,
just as different countries had different protests and uprisings (like the
Prague Spring in 1968), and all are worth a look.
It’s also worth noting
that not everyone completely misses life under Communism, there are some who
miss the safety on the streets, job and housing security that they once had.
Basically, what I’m saying is that history has many perspectives and is
definitely not black and white!
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| The streets of Old Town Riga |
Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
The Yugoslav Wars of
the 90s (Socialist Yugoslavia broke up to create: Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia,
Montenegro, and Bosnia & Herzegovina) were brutal, and very likely
occurring in your lifetime (1991-2001).
Ethnic cleansing, weaponised
rape, and genocide were hallmarks of this very recent war. Bosnia &
Herzegovina was one of the worst places hit (the Bosnian War), where from
1992-1995 there was conflict between the Muslim Bosniaks, Orthodox Serbs &
Catholic Croats.
Capital city Sarajevo
is absolutely fascinating to visit today – East and West influence, with
fantastic food, and so many hidden gems (street art, the Olympic bob-sled
track, and an emerging nightlife scene). It is a must-visit city! But in the
90’s it had a main street called “Sniper’s Alley”, which was very literally
named. Today you can visit the Tunnel
Museum, where you can visit the entrance of ‘the Tunnel of Hope’ where
Bosnians would smuggle themselves and supplies during the Siege of Sarajevo. You
may also spot a “Sarajevo Rose” – literally scars in the streets from exploded
mortar rounds, filled with red resin to create mini-memorials throughout the
city.
And of course, there
are lots of museums throughout the city – some pretty tough to get through
(such as the Museum of Genocide)! The
most intense place to visit in regards to the Bosnian Wars is Srebrenica (actually 2.5 hours out of
Sarajevo) and the site of the worst massacre of Muslim Bosniaks (mostly men and
boys) by Bosnian Serbs. This is a gruelling visit, and seeing footage in the
museum of what happened is even harder when you see dates from the 90’s in the
bottom corner (I was probably playing with my Barbie’s while all of this was
happening…). This is all made even more controversial by the complicity of UN
soldiers on site during the massacre.
On a slightly
different note, Sarajevo is also the place where you can visit the spot where
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated – sparking the beginning of World War
1.
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| A Bosnian Rose at the Tunnel Museum |
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| The old Olympic bobsled track - a lighter place to visit in Sarajevo, but be careful not to go off track, as there are still landmines in the surrounding area from the war! |
So there we have it….
Some of the most depressing, but also fascinating, and important places that
you can visit in Europe.
While visiting these
places can be really sad, it does put perspective into place. How lucky I’ve
been to happen to be born in the time and place that I have. They also set
themselves up as ominous reminders to the world of what humanity is capable of,
begging it to learn from its past.
(I promise I’ll follow
up with a more light-hearted post next time!)
