Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
few memorial sites that focuses on the perpetrators rather than the victims of the Nazis. It's
chilling but thought-provoking to see just how seamlessly and bureaucratically the Nazi in-
stitutions and state structures merged to become a well-oiled terror machine. There are few
actual artifacts; it's mostly written explanations and photos, like reading a good textbook
standing up. And, while you could read this story anywhere, to take this in atop the Gestapo
headquarters is a powerful experience. The exhibit's a bit dense, but WWII historians (even
armchair ones) will find it fascinating.
Cost and Hours: Free, daily 10:00-20:00, outdoor exhibit closes at sunset in winter,
Niederkirchnerstrasse 8, tel. 030/254-5090, www.topographie.de .
Background: This location marks what was once the most feared address in Berlin: the
headquarters of the Reich Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt) . These offices
served as the engine room of the Nazi dictatorship, as well as the command center of the
SS( Schutzstaffel, whose members began asHitler'spersonal bodyguards),the Gestapo ( Ge-
heime Staatspolizei, secret state police), and the SD ( Sicherheitsdienst, the Nazi intelligence
agency). This trio (and others) were ultimately consolidated under Heinrich Himmler to be-
come a state-within-a-state, with talons in every corner of German society. This elite milit-
arized branch of the Nazi machine was also tasked with the “racial purification” of German-
held lands, especially Eastern Europe—the Holocaust. It was from these headquarters that
the Nazis administered concentration camps, firmed up plans for the “Final Solution to the
JewishQuestion,”andorganizedthedomesticsurveillanceofanyoneopposedtotheregime.
The building was also equipped with dungeons, where the Gestapo detained and tortured
thousands of prisoners.
The Gestapo and SS employed intimidation techniques to coerce cooperation from the
German people. The general public knew that the Gestapo was to be feared: It was con-
sidered omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. Some political prisoners underwent “en-
hanced interrogation” right here in this building. The threat of Schutzhaft (“protective cus-
tody,” usually at a concentration camp) was used to terrify any civilians who stepped out
of line—or who might make a good example. But Hitler and his cronies also won people's
loyalties through propaganda. They hammered home the idealistic notion of the Volks-
gemeinschaft (“people's community”) of a purely Germanic culture and race, which em-
powered Hitler to create a pervasive illusion that “We're all in this together.” Anyone who
was not an Aryan was Untermensch —subhuman—and must be treated as such.
Visiting the Museum: The complex has two parts: indoors, in the modern boxy build-
ing;andoutdoors,inthetrench that runsalongthesurvivingstretch ofWall. Visit theindoor
exhibit first.
Inside, you'll find a visitor center with an information desk and an extensive Topo-
graphy of Terror exhibit about the SS and Gestapo, and the atrocities they committed in
Berlin and across Europe. A model of the government quarter, circa 1939, sets the stage
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