This morning I hopped a cheap train with a couple of kids from my program for a day trip to Dresden, Germany. Heading there, we didn't know that what we recognize as Valentine's Day, the citizens of Germany remember as the anniversary of the Allied bombing of the city. From what I gather, it is a day of national remembrance for all. But national remembrance means different things to different people.
Getting off at the Dresden station, we noticed an unusual number and variety of "polizei." We had arrived just in time for a Neo-Nazi march. Seriously. It was a repulsive, compelling, fascinating spot to be in. I've never witnessed any demonstration before. And it is just amazing that Neo-Nazism is actually alive, active. There was also, of course, a gathering to counter the Neo-Nazis. It was very difficult to tell who stood for what, though. Everyone was speaking in German. Virtually everybody was wearing black.
The wind carried the sounds of helicopters, chants, the rock tunes of a band playing against Neo-Nazism. I saw more police than I have ever seen in my life. (And I thought the Czech police were plentiful.) It is so fresh and was so outrageous that it is extremely surreal to me. But at the same time hauntingly and sickeningly powerful.
[A lighter side note: We stopped into the Staatliche Kunstammlungen Dresden art museum (to escape the cold, and being hounded by police), and got to see some great works from Titian, Rubens, Vermeer. Though it's not the kind of work that usually gets me going, the museum is home to Raphael's Sistine Madonna, and it was a really lovely piece to see.]
I am still trying to process this cold, long day. I don't really have much to say about it; I'm in awe. But it was an experience that I could not have had anywhere else. I truly, I guess, experienced the culture of the place that I was in, firsthand. I feel like I've been lacking that a bit in my abroad experience so far, and it's strange that a Neo-Nazi march was what brought on a feeling of "authenticity," or something. But as horrifying as it was, it was also extremely valuable, I think, in ways I cannot even consider at present.
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