During our study abroad trip to Berlin in December, we were able to visit a Kindertransport memorial. The sculpture is near a busy street with several stores and restaurants, but it is kind of tucked away from these things on a smaller side street. On first encountering the memorial, visitors who don’t know what it is may be confused because there isn’t much information included on the sculpture itself about what it is or why it’s there. An informative plaque at the rear of the sculpture thanks contributors, lists the name of the sculptor, the date it was installed, and the fact that the sculptor dedicated it to his parents. Another small plaque on the bottom of the sculpture on one side again gives the name of the sculptor and the date. However, the most informative plaque on the front of the sculpture reads the following in German and English, “1938-1945 Trains to Life, Trains to Death.”
The front plaque proves to be the most important to those who don’t necessarily know what the sculpture commemorates because it ties the sculpture into the images and information on window fronts of the building beside the sculpture. Again, without looking for the information on the windows, a visitor might just walk past them without a second glance. We didn’t realize the windows with the explanation about the sculpture were there until we were leaving from taking pictures for this LibGuide. We’re so thankful we noticed them because they were very informative, and they add another set of information and pictures we can include here. All of the pictures on the page were taken by Chanel.
There were multiple fresh roses adorning the sculpture. It is unclear who left the roses, as during our visit we didn't experience anyone leaving any.
