HUNTINGTON -- When Herb Colker returned from his military duty in Germany during World War II, he never dreamed of returning to the country.

"I spent two years overseas during World War II... and my last nine months were in Germany," the 89-year-old said. "Being Jewish and in Germany, it was a very upsetting experience; I really didn't want to go back."

But in 1989, Colker returned to East Germany and was there for the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Although he cut out a piece of the wall to take, he still did not return to West Berlin.

It took a combination of music and the interest in a particular museum and memorial that sparked Colker to recently return to the area.

And he has no regrets about it.

Colker just completed a musical tour of the area with his wife and returned to Huntington. The tour included four operas and multiple symphony performances and houses. He even attended a Rotary meeting.

While thrilled about the music and the architecture, he was most pleased with the memorial.

The Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe is made up of 2,700 concrete slabs that form a maze-like path that is open for people to walk through. According to Colker, it is one way that the people of the country are acknowledging the brutal history.

"The memorial actually says 'In memory of the murdered Jews,' " Colker said.

An estimated 6 million Jews were killed by Nazis during the Holocaust.

"The first miracle of my life was to defeat Hitler," said Colker, who says it is his opinion that the United States military was unprepared for the war.

Despite the numbers and horrid happenings, Colker said it is amazing that rather than hiding "the shame and the cruelty and the genocide, they have faced it" by teaching the school children and recognizing it publicly with the monument and Jewish Museum Berlin.

"My conclusion is that they went from inhumanity to humanity by not hiding the past, but rather remembering the past, and by doing what they can to correct it. I really think the people of Germany have done that."

Colker was not nervous for the trip despite the years that have passed and his experience in the war.

"Nervous? No, that isn't the right attitude," he said. "I was more curious than anything. Life goes on."

The first experience in Germany couldn't have been any worse than what it was, Colker said. He experienced the destruction of the area, of the people and the loss of fellow soldiers.

This time the feeling was relief and hope.

"I have hope that humanity is back on track."

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Photo courtesy of Herb Colker

West Virginia Electric Supply Chairman Herb Colker and his wife, Betty, recently made a trip to Germany. Here they stand in front of the former Berlin Wall on Nov. 5. The large dominos were made by schoolchildren in memory of the tearing down of the wall in 1989. The dominos were knocked down this yearÕs 20th anniversary celebration of the wall coming down. The Colkers were there when the wall collapsed and have a piece of the wall.

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