Behind the Iron Curtain: BERSI in Eastern Europe

“Standing at ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ and the remnants of the Berlin Wall, brought me back in time to a world that I thought never existed, or that I never appreciated, being born after Berlin and Europe were united.” So wrote Michael Gallagher ’11, one of the thirty-two students on this February’s BERSI trip to Eastern Europe, in his reflections afterward.

Joined by Director of Campus Ministry and theology chair Brian Scott and theology teachers William Hahn and Tim Lewis, the group visited Munich, Krakow, Prague and Berlin.

Gallagher continued: “Prior to my visit, the Berlin Wall was just a wall, and nothing more. But I learned that the magnitude of despair there was much greater than what I would have imagined before visiting it."

Students might have gotten lost in Berlin, lost their passport, or lost a lot of sleep due to jetlag on the trip. But according to Brendan MacNabb ’10, who went with BERSI to Peru last year, the gains offset the losses.

“These trips have given me perspective of the world outside Boston, and outside of the U.S.,” he said.

At the Berlin Wall.

The group’s visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau, MacNabb noted, will likely stay with them forever. “Just the desolation…it just stretched on as far as you can see,” he said. “The gas chambers and barracks. Where there weren’t buildings, there were still the smokestacks, and rows and columns as far as you could see.”

Although Berlin has been modernized and reborn, students saw glimpses of the old Europe in Krakow. “It was left untouched by the Nazis, and then the Soviets, and all the original architecture was there,” MacNabb recalled. “But once you stepped out of the nucleus of it, you see the modern city. Just the dichotomy of it was noteworthy.”

Mr. Lewis arranged the itinerary in collaboration with Vice Principal Dr. Keane and art teacher Mrs. Malachowski. Brother Jeff Oxx briefed the group on contemporary European history before they left.

“A personal highlight for me was walking behind the young men and seeing their reverence for the cemetery at Auschwitz,” Mr. Lewis said. “Their respect for that place was admirable.”

Auschwitz.

“We were extraordinarily happy with how the trip went,” said Mr. Lewis. “The kids really embraced the diversity of Eastern Europe, and will fondly remember their time there.”