Berlin Schönholzer Soviet memorial (#0399)

The main portal to the cemetery, with the obelisk in the distance. Details of the portal are in nearby photos.

Somehow this cemetery, more than other formerly Soviet sites that I have visited, felt very much like a reminder of what life must have been like during the Soviet era. It may have been just the grayness and dampness of the day, but contributing to that feeling was the semi-hidden nature of the entrance to the cemetery and the fact that I saw only two other people on the grounds. One person was the man in this picture who did not acknowledge my presence and walked in a way that suggested he was not a tourist, the other person was an older woman who was some sort of maintenance person and acknowledged me with only the briefest of nods. I felt as though I was in the middle of an old movie about undercover operatives meeting (and like I was being watched by surveillance cameras).