We are in Passau. The water level on the Danube River is so low that we exited our ship from the top deck, which is not customary. The water level is so low that the ship can’t go to Nuremberg. Passau has experienced dramatic floods and droughts this year. A month ago, the lower part of the town was flooded. Not an unusual occurrence in this town. But only a month later, there is a drought and water levels are very low.
Passau is a beautifully preserved model of a 15th century town. The houses are low-rise. Only the churches rise above the skyline. The streets are paved with cobblestones.
What you see in this photo is the high-water marks of historic floods. The marks are recorded on the City Hall, which fronts the Danube. You can see the marks in comparison to a lofty front door, about 10-12 feet high. The worst flood, it is believed, occurred in 1501. The second worst flood was in 2013, when the water level reached about 15′.
Our guide, a law student, said that all higher education in Germany is tuition-free. But you can’t be admitted without passing an exam. You pass more exams to check your progress. If you don’t pass the exam, you get booted out. Students who are committed to their education are likely to retain their places. Those who are not keeping up are at risk of being kicked out.
I learned that Germans put a high value on education. Parents can send their children to religious and private schools, but such schools must follow the same standards and curriculum as public schools. Home schooling is not permitted.
I asked about Jews in Passau, and our guide–a law student–said the Jews left Passau 500 years ago. Later, I googled and learned that in the fifteenth century, a petty thief confessed that he stole the Host and sold it to Jews. Ten Jews were accused of stabbing the Host until it bled. The Jews were tortured until they confessed, and they were put to death along with their accuser. In the aftermath, the synagogue and Jewish homes were burned. A few dozen Jews converted to Christianity, and the rest of the small Jewish community packed up and left Passau. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/passau
We visited the main church in town. It was stunning, a magnificent combination of gothic and baroque styles.
In the evening, back on our ship, an oompah band played, and it was delightful. I feel a keen sense of double identity, first, as an American enjoying their performance and singing along with familiar songs and polkas. (“I love to go a wandering, along the mountain track, and as I go, I love to sing, my knapsack on my back.”)
Yet as a Jew, I can’t help looking at these friendly, jovial faces and wondering whose grandfather was a Nazi. None of them? Maybe.
Mary says I’m obsessed with the Holocaust. I don’t think so. But to be in Germany and Austria is to be constantly reminded of the horrors that befell people whose only crime was to be Jewish.
Friday we visit the infamous Treblinka concentration camp in the Czech Republic. I will go there to honor the dead and to pray, “Never again.”
These are measures of how high the flood rose and the year in which it happened. The worst flood occurred in 1501. The second worst was 2013.
How can you not be obsessed with the obscenity of Naziism?
Diane,
Germany changed on a dime.
The attacks against Randi Weingarten were a heads up.
Unfortunately, people who are part of a religious sect that has immense and growing power may prefer emotional comfort for themselves.
The threat to Jews has a terrifying historical past. You are not alone in wanting the children and grandchildren similar to yours, to be protected. Given the rise in antiSemitism around the world, we should all increase our awareness about the pogroms inflicted by the right wing and that includes the precursor signs of intolerance enacted in law, in judicial decisions and in policy. When those harbingers are attributable to the influence of Catholic and evangelical churches, ignoring them comes with peril.
Ours was the only Christmas tree on the block. The Holocaust was still very much on people’s minds in the late ‘50s. From survivors of the camps to those who fought and finally liberated them.
We can’t allow the horrific events of the past cloud our judgement or destroy our love of life. But evil is a reality. It’s important we remember and call out those abominations for what they are. And never forget.
Are you going to Poland as well, and see Auschwitz and Birkenau?
I visited Auschwitz when I was in Poland many years ago. The current trip includes a cruise in the Danube, then Prague, Berlin, and Copenhagen. We have been lucky with the weather so far.
“Yet as a Jew, I can’t help looking at these friendly, jovial faces and wondering whose grandfather was a Nazi. ”
It seems plausible that most of the German (Polish, etc) population, including soldiers, were unaware of what was happening in the concentration camps or whether these camps existed at all. It’s also the case that people often have no idea if their grandparents were Nazis.
Máté,
I am sure you are right.
Many people didn’t know what was happening.
When I see the millions of people in our country who adore a man like Trump, I can understand how Hitler took power.
I wish more people could ‘see’ the world and the history behind what you see. Talk about higher education, continuing education, life long education… we seniors are rather educated! By the way, Treblinka is in Poland. Were you referring to Teretzin in the Czech Republic? I’ve been to Teretzin twice. If anyone wants to read about Teretzin Camp; how it was staged to look like a ‘retaining’ camp for Jews (and others) where life was
just grand! Children were continuing to be educated; an imprisioned Czech composer formed a choir; men played sports. All as a deceptive front that
a ‘work camp’ with mostly Jewish prisoners was not a bad place. Did the
Nazis really fool the Red Cross, International agencies who inspected?
From Teretzin Camp, those imprisoned were sent to Auschwitz or Treblinka to be exterminated. http://www.terezin.org/the-history-of-terezin
I am going to Terezin. I have seen books of the children’s drawings. I know that the camp was a Potemkin Village for the Nazis. What a disgusting ruse.
I was surprised to learn that Hitler spent part of his childhood in Passau. Guide never mentioned that fact.
Colin, when touring Passau, the guide told us that as a young child, little Adolf fell into one of the two rivers that surround the town. Unfortunately he was saved.