FRANCE
When I see this picture I
think of the evolution of cities over time because I got to visit several
cities and see a great number of ancient constructions.
When I travel, I am
always bewildered by these edifices that are sometimes neglected but, to me,
remain magnificient despite the passage of time thus, I still have in mind the
Alyscamps in Arles : this is a ancient cemetery dating back from romain
times this place was so quiet, it suprised me as much as it seared me, we were
confronted to the issue of death .
Even if I grow up, I
remain a little contemplive and dreaming girl with stars in her eyes.
Eva,Clarisse
et Marina
ITALY
I looked at this photo
and I saw a desolated land and I imagined how that boy should feel that
day when he came up the hill where he usually admired a marvellous view
from the town …
… while I was playing outside with my
students, my mom called me and she told me to come back home. Soon after we
heard an explosion and the alarm bell and we ran away.
We took refuge in the
cellar and we went out after two days. All around us there was only death and
destruction. We joined the place and we started looking for my grand-parents
who didn’t succeed in joining us to the cellar. At a certain moment I saw my
parents crying uninterruptedly. My grandparents died.
Just a few façades of
some houses, banks and schools were safe because of the bombs.
Nowadays the town was built again, but I
never forget what I saw that day from the hill!
Franco Greco
SPAIN
I see a city where
there are no people, all the buildings in the picture are destroyed. I don’t
know how this could have happened, it could have been a bomb or an earthquake.
I see a sad and uninhabited town. This picture gives me a feeling of sadness
because everything is destroyed. It looks like a sunny day, but in spite of the
bright sunlight, I am sure that all the families are sad because they don’t
have a home anymore.
Lucía Martín
GERMANY
WAKING UP
ON THE DOM
It´s dark. I hear soft music playing. I feel a little
tired. I´m drifting... Suddenly loud banging! All around me...
Where am I? Who am I? I´m Jeannie May, born in
Frankfurt. Basically all my family is from this town. Okay...I can get this
right! Now I feel better again. Hey, it´s bright now. I can feel a little wind
and I´m getting cold. I open my eyes and see the sky above me. There´s a
reddish-brown brick wall in front of me. I´m leaning against that kind of stone
too. All of a sudden the friendly face of a young woman appears right next to
me. Behind her there are three more people. The young people are all smiling
and holding the tipical “Apfelwein (cidre) glases“ in their hands.
The woman asks if I´m alright and I nod. She looks
kind of familiar but I can´t remember having met her before. She tells me that
she and her friends are having one of their special little parties up here with
their friend, the guard of the tower of the Dom (the cathedral in Frankfurt).
She points to one of the young men.
Up here? Dom? I get up and try to catch my breath: I´m
66m high up on the huge cathedral! I´ve been here before...but: it looks so
different! Oh my god: everything is destroyed, not many houses left at all,
piles of bricks and stone everywhere! Only parts of our Town Hall „the Römer“
and the beautiful church St. Nikolai are still uprightAnd where are all the
skyscrapers?
The view reminds me of one of the black and white
pictures I saw in one of the museums I went to visit with my school class not
long ago.
The woman stands right next to me, sighing. „It´s a
big shame, isn´t it? Everything is destroyed. What fun did we have playing and
strolling in the old streets down there. But what can you do? The most
important thing is that we got finally rid of that idiot Hitler, that we are
alive and that we´ll have peace! And look: everyone is helping to clean up and
surely one day it will be all rebuild. Wouldn´t that be wonderful? I think you
should go back down to your family now. We don´t want them worrying, do we?“
She points to a small door and the stairs leading downstairs. I nod and say
good bye.
On my way down, I keep thinking I heard someone
mention beeing friends with the tower guard before...Was it my granny while
telling me stories about the old times? Did she tell me about my great-grandmother
meeting friends on the tower of the Dom...? If I could just remember... Soon I
master the last stairs of the 328 and here I am: I feel again like standing in
one of these old pictures, showing Frankfurt´s Römerberg shortly after the big
bombing on the 22nd of March in the year 1944.The people, mostly women are
dressed differently too...really old fashioned and quite poorly.
Suddenly a girl touches my arm. She`s smiling at me.
She´s about my age and asks if I would like to play hipscotch. I see the little
squares with numbers drawn on the ground behind her.
Why not? After a while of playing and jumping, she
asks me if I would like to accompany her to the „Schuhmann Theatre“ where her
grandfather was working. She wants to bring him his lunch, as every day.
„Schuhmann Theatre“...? The name of that place sounds
familiar again...didn`t my granny mention that her parents met there while
dancing, shortly after the war..? I agree coming along and we start walking
through what is left of downtown Frankfurt. When we pass the remains of the old
Opera House, the girl tells me about the horrible day when the bombs fell
on the beautiful old building everybody liked so much.
Hundreds of „Frankfurters“ were standing there after the alarm was off, holding
hands, crying, sadly watching another part of their hometown going up in
flames.
After a short walk we reach the theatre, a wonderful
old building facing the Main Station. We go to the ticket booth where the
girl´s granddad is working, selling tickets. She hands him his lunch box and
the friendly old man thanks us happily. We go back direction Dom when I realize
that it´s getting dark already. When we reach the Römerberg I am surprised to
see a big Christmas Tree standing in front of the ruins of the Town Hall.
There are also some food stands and a merry-go-round
for the children. The girl takes my hand and tells me that she is so happy that
the people of Frankfurt achieved to organize a small version of their famous
Christmas Market so shortly after all the many horrors of the war “Doesn´t this
make you happy and gives you hope for the future?“, she asks me. After that she
has to go and we´re saying good bye. start walking towards the river Main. I
sit down on a stone after a while I´m getting tired. I close my Music...I hear
soft tunes again... Suddenly somebody shakes my shoulder..Lights turn on...I
open my eyes and see friend Hanna
smiling and laughing at me for falling asleep in the
cinema,watching the new 3D movie about the reconstruction of the old part of
Frankfurt located between Dom and Römerberg.
Jeannie May Jedzini
No comments:
Post a Comment