Have you seen these golden tiles in front of some buildings? I actually first noticed them in Turin, Italy, and my brother in law explained that they are a record and a reminder of the people who lived in the building and were the victims of the Nazi regime.
As you bend down to look at these golden tiles, you notice how precious they look amongst grey and grime stones that surround them. As you begin to read each golden tile, you start to understand the gravity of what has happened to each person, you begin to calculate how old they were, you realise the tiles are people from one family; a mother, a father, their child. A sense of uneasy falls over you. Then, as you look at the building they had lived in, someone walks through and you get a glimpse of the the apartments inside, your imagination tries too place where the people on the golden tiles had lived. As you step away you mourn the loss of them.
Keep an eye out for these golden tiles as you explore Berlin. Please take the time to read them and absorb the gravity of what happened to the people mention on them.
You may wonder what „lest we forget” in the title of this post means. It’s something we say in Australia on war remembrance day, it means we should not forget.
The below picture was taken outside a building, close by 44 Schonhauser Allee, Prezlauer Berg.