Bunkers and Tunnels

August 6th

I was first confused walking into the bunkers. I thought we were in the U-Bahn station still. Our guide approached us and took us down some stairs; it seemed like a hidden passage way but I guess it’s not hidden anymore. Once we were at the entrance, the white painted signs on the gray cement seemed to stand out but I first could not understand the German language. We entered the bunker by going through the women’s restroom. This is the area that struck me the most. Our guide told us this was a common area for women to be raped. These women who were hiding out from air raids, forced to stay in a bunker meant only for about 1,500 where there could often be over 4,000 people crammed in, could easy be raped by 30 or more men, one right after the other. This shocked me because during this time I knew that Jews and other minority groups were being persecuted, but these were “German citizens”. Looking at the toilet seats, I noticed the hooks for pipes a few feet above. Learning that it wasn’t unusual for women to hang themselves from these pipes in the bathroom stalls was obviously upsetting to hear and hard to comprehend. It was impossible to put myself in a position knowing that I had to get inside the bunker in order to live, although my home could easily be gone by the time I leave the bunker, furthermore, I am expecting to get raped while trying to be safe. I cannot imagine the fear.