I once interviewed a young German national who applied for a job.  I wanted to see how he would handle a difficult question.  I pointed out to him that I was Jewish and that most of my mother’s family had perished in the Holocaust.  He was German, not yet a U.S. national, and I wondered what his reaction would be.  His response was measured and perfect for the occasion.  He explained to me that as a German who went to school, until college, in Germany, he knew more about the Holocaust than any American young person he had met.  He indicated that he had been taken to concentration camps while growing up, and he had a thoroughgoing Holocaust education. I was impressed. He was hired.

Recently, my wife and I were flown by Israel El Al Airlines to Munich.  Flights had ceased due to the war between Israel and Iran.  The only way to return home was to take El Al to Munich, Germany and from Munich, via Lufthansa Airlines, to the U.S.

A woman at Lufthansa told me that only Germany would permit itself to be a transfer point for Jews leaving Israel and seeking to return to the United States. When we landed in Munich, the experience was noteworthy. The El Al plane was escorted to a terminal facility away from the main terminal. Police vehicles surrounded the plane, and men with assault rifles guarded us.

From the landing apron, we were taken by bus to a separate baggage claim, also guarded by men with assault rifles. The German authorities were at all times professional and thoughtful.

After we picked up our bags, we walked by ourselves to the Hilton Hotel where reservations had been made for us to stay overnight. One could not help but notice the modern all glass façade of the hotel. The lobby was glass. The entrance way to the restaurant was glass. Most impressive, the elevators were glass with fluorescent lighting in the floor.  The vault in which the elevators slowly moved up and down, were themselves glass.

After entering the room, one had to activate the lighting and other facilities by use of the customer card. The shower was glass enclosed. Glass everywhere.

It seemed like the walls and just about everything in what otherwise would be a fairly boring Hilton Hotel, was........

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