Monday, December 13, 2010

Between principle and pragmatism

I'm lucky enough to live close to a huge park with several kilometers of paths that are great for running and walking.
Something I find unusual is that part of the park runs right along a prison/detention center. There's a nice little brick wall along the edge of the park, and right behind that is a threatening, giant concrete wall complete with barbed wire and watch towers. 




It's a strange, though not unusual, occurrence, as I go down the path, to pass by people standing in the park who are engaged in shouted conversations with their incarcerated friends and family members, who are yelling back out of their cell windows.
What makes it all rather eerie to me is this:



This sign tells how, during the NS reign, the prison was used as an execution site for members of the Resistance - roughly 500 people were imprisoned here before then being beheaded.

I do realize that it would not really be practical for the German government to avoid using any building that had once been utilized by the NS regime, but the fact that there are prisoners (including those in pre-deportation detention) being held at a site where such crimes were committed by the state just doesn't seem quite right to me.

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