– English Lyrics

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[English]

The Second World War in Europe ended on May 8, 1945.

It raged from 1939 to 1945, involving Asia and the US as well.

After six years, large parts of Europe and the world lay in ruins.

Around 60 million people lost their lives, a tragically high number.

You can learn about the horrors of this period at many memorials around

the world, including in Germany.

Which places commemorate the victims?

And which tell stories about the perpetrators?

And what became of all the cities destroyed in the war?

Let's find out more.

Our journey begins in Berlin.

This is where the Second World War was planned and where it

ultimately returned to.

The city still holds many reminders of the war

and the period of Nazi rule.

One such location is the Reichstag, the seat of the German parliament.

You can still see bullet holes and Russian inscriptions left behind

when Soviet soldiers stormed the building in May 1945.

But this was not the Nazis headquarters.

More than a decade prior, in 1933, Hitler dissolved parliament and

banned all democratic parties.

One of the Nazis' most important command centers can be seen at

the Topography of Terror Documentation Center.

Several of the National Socialists most important headquarters were once

located at this site, including the Schutzstaffel, or SS for short,

and the secret police or Gestapo.

Here the Nazis organized many of their cold blooded crimes.

They plotted how to eliminate political opponents, deport Jews

and other victims to concentration camps

and organized prisoners of war and forced labourers.

We continue to Munich.

Here, too, you'll find a Nazi documentation center.

The Bavarian capital played an important role in the emergence of

the National Socialist German Workers' Party, the Nazi party.

It was founded here in 1920 and one year later Adolf Hitler

was elected its chairman.

He quickly organized the party according to his own

anti-democratic, anti Semitic and racist ideology.

The Munich Documentation Centre is located

where the so-called Brown House,

the Nazi party headquarters, used to be.

An entire NS district was once built around it, consisting of 68 buildings

with 6,000 employees.

The Second World War lasted 6 years.

At the end, many of Germany's cities lay in ruins.

The scars of war can still be seen today, even in places you might not

expect, like on the Museum Island in Berlin.

Here, in the Colonnade Courtyard, you'll find traces of some of the

final battles of the war.

Or visit the Neues Museum.

It was almost completely destroyed and only rebuilt in the early 2000s

in a way that shows some of the war related damage.

The most famous item in the Neues Museum is the bust of

Egyptian Queen Nefertiti.

Allied bombing devastated many German cities, including Nuremberg,

Magdeburg, Lübeck, among others.

In Cologne, 95 percent of the old town was destroyed.

However, miraculously, the cathedral remained

nearly intact, standing tall amid the rubble.

Today, the Cologne Cathedral is one of the most visited sights in Germany.

From above you can see how little of the original cityscape remains.

In the city of Dresden, people gather every year on February 13

to observe a minute's silence to commemorate the destruction

of their city 80 years ago,

On that fateful night in 1945,

around 1,000 British and US bombers

dropped their deadly cargo over the city

shortly before the end of the war.

An estimated 25,000 people died and 80,000 homes were destroyed.

All that remained of the famous Frauenkirche was a ruin.

While the center of Dresden was rebuilt in the post-war period,

the ruins of the Frauenkirche were preserved as a reminder

of horrors of war.

In the early 1990s reconstruction began,

financed by donations from all over the world.

Today the church shines again in all its baroque splendor.

Inside the church, you can still see the old tower cross that was salvaged

from the rubble.

A replica was donated by Britain as a gesture of reconciliation.

If you want to know when and where the Second World War came to an end

in Europe, pay a visit to the museum Berlin-Karlshorst in the city's east.

This is where the commanders-in-chief

of the German armed forces, or Wehrmacht,

signed the unconditional surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945,

in the presence of the four victorious powers: the Soviet Union,

the United States, France and Britain.

In Berlin-Mitte, behind the Brandenburg Gate, you'll find the

Soviet memorial in the Tiergarten.

It was built immediately after the end of the war in 1945.

Around 2,500 Soviet soldiers are buried here.

The British military cemetery is located

in Berlin's Westend district.

Around 3,600 members of the Commonwealth forces are buried here,

most of whom died in air battles over Berlin.

Memorials commemorating the victims of the Second World War can be found

all over Germany.

The visit to a former concentration camp is especially moving.

In Thuringia, near Weimar, was one of the largest forced labour camps

in Germany, the Buchenwald concentration camp.

Around 266,000 people were imprisoned here:

primarily opponents of the regime, Jewish people,

queer people and prisoners of war.

About 56,000 of them were murdered

or died as a result of the inhumane

conditions of imprisonment.

But now back to Berlin.

One of the largest Nazi memorial sites is the Memorial to the Murdered

Jews of Europe, dedicated

to the approximately 6 million Jewish victims.

It is located near the Brandenburg Gate and consists of

nearly 3,000 concrete slabs

arranged in a wavelike pattern.

Walk through the labyrinth and let the impressions affect you.

Loneliness, hopelessness, feeling lost –

a powerful experience.

Right next to the Reichstag is the memorial to the approximately 500,000

murdered Sinti and Roma.

The water basin symbolizes the suffering and the tears shed.

We end our tour at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Breitscheidtplatz.

You'll recognize it by its distinctive appearance:

the combination of the new and old church tower.

The church was destroyed during World War II.

In the 1960s it was given a modern new building.

But the old tower ruin was preserved as a highly visible

memorial against war and destruction.

And as a symbol of peace and reconciliation.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
war /wɔːr/ A1	noun - a state of armed conflict between different countries or groups within a country
world /wɜːrld/ A1	noun - the earth, together with all of its countries and people
city /ˈsɪti/ A1	noun - a large town or urban area
people /ˈpiːpl/ A1	noun - human beings in general or considered collectively
memorial /məˈmɔːriəl/ B1	noun - a structure erected to commemorate a person or event
victims /ˈvɪktɪmz/ B2	noun - a person harmed or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event
destroyed /dɪˈstrɔɪd/ B1	verb - to damage something so badly that it cannot be used or no longer exists
rule /ruːl/ A2	noun - a principle or instruction verb - exercise ultimate power or authority over (a country or people).
forces /ˈfɔːrsɪz/ B1	noun - military strength
crimes /kraɪmz/ B2	noun - an action or omission that constitutes an offense that may be prosecuted by the state and is punishable by law.
capital /ˈkæpɪtl/ B1	noun - the most important city or town of a country or region, usually its seat of government and administrative centre
important /ɪmˈpɔːrtənt/ A2	adjective - of great significance or value.
famous /ˈfeɪməs/ A2	adjective - known about by many people
peace /piːs/ A2	noun - freedom from disturbance; tranquility.
reconciliation /ˌrekənsɪliˈeɪʃn/ C1	noun - the restoration of friendly relations
suffering /ˈsʌfərɪŋ/ B2	noun - the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship.
experience /ɪkˈspɪriəns/ B1	noun - an event or occurrence that leaves an impression on someone.
powerful /ˈpaʊərfl/ B1	adjective - having great power or strength.