Berlin, Germany

We were interested to see how the Germans have memorialized WWII. The Holocaust Memorial was particularly moving. The stone columns of varying size clearly resembled gravestones, but with a beautiful yet haunting simplicity. We spent a while walking among the columns, and found that once you get to the center, they reach heights of over 7 feet, thus completely surrounding you.
Berlin has almost no monuments of any kind mentioning WWII. Germany has outlawed any public denial of the Holocaust, and also the sale of any Nazi memorobilia. It stuck me as a city with no history, as if it just rose from the ashes in 1945, and doesnt want to think about anything that happened before then.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall, all Soviet monuments on the east side of the city have been dismantled as well. That makes East Berlin a city trying to erase 50 years of history.
Checkpoint Charlie still stands and there is even a guy dressed as an East German soldier who will stamp your passport for 2 euros.
It can be difficult to tell where the wall once stood. Since East Berlin was so economically backward under communist rule, it's ugly soviet style concrete apartments have been the first buildings to be demolished and replaced by stylish new architecture. Berlin is still a city spread out among many different neighborhoods with empty space, parks, and loads of graffiti in between. Tiegarten Park was wonderful, probably the best major city park for running Ive ever seen.