Author: Mia Kaczor

Leipzig is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony with about 570,000 inhabitants and is located southwest of Berlin. It sits at the crossing of two medieval trade routes. Leipzig was a walled city in the Middle Ages and the current “ring” road around the historic center of the city follows the old city walls.

The Jewish community of Leipzig was greatly affected by World War II and the Nuremberg Laws as with other European cities during the Holocaust. The Nazis took control of the city in 1937. Synagogues and businesses were set on fire and many Jews in Leipzig were deported to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. The number of Jewish people in the city went from over 11,000 in 1933 to only 2,000 in 1942. Before the war ended, most if not all of the remaining Jews in Leipzig were taken to concentration camps. 

In 1943, the British Royal Air Force dropped over 1,000 tons of explosives over Leipzig killing nearly 1,000 civilians. Since the buildings hit were so close together, a firestorm occurred. The damage was extensive. In late April of 1945, the Allied ground advance into Germany reached the city and fighting was often “house-to-house and block-to-block”.

By the end of the war, much of Leipzig was destroyed. After the war, Jewish people slowly returned to the city. 

Today, Leipzig is Germany’s fastest growing city and is an important economic center in Germany.

Some sights in Leipzig include the Leipzig Zoological Garden which is one of the most modern zoos in Europe. Also to commemorate the victorious battle against Napoleonic troops, there is the Monument to the Battle of the Nations which is one of the largest monuments in Europe. 

Interesting facts include that Johann Sebastian Bach worked in Leipzig from 1723 to 1750 conducting the St. Thomas Church Choir.

Upon arriving in Leipzig, we visited the St. Thomas Church and saw where Bach is buried.

Source:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leipzig

Visiting the Luxembourg American Cemetery was a very reflective experience for me. I think it is under appreciated and not well known that America has a organization dedicated to setting up and maintaining U.S. military cemeteries and memorials. It was so well maintained and beautiful in a sad sort of way with the pristine marble headstones all perfectly aligned. 

Both of my grandfathers fought in WWII and I wondered about how they would feel visiting Luxembourg. Unfortunately, both my grandfathers passed away before I was old enough to ask them about their experiences in the war. What I know is that World War II, as with all wars, was full of human misery and suffering. The things that were seen and that had to be done stay in the minds of the soldiers and civilians long after they return home if they return home at all.  

Walking through the cemetery, I read the names on some of the headstones and thought about something our host said. She said that soldiers are all equal in death. This stood out to me because regardless of how strong they were or how hard they fought or what mistakes they made in life or how they treated others, each soldier is honored for their service. 

It was also fascinating to learn about General Patton’s grave. He died after the war but wanted to be buried with his men. Patton was a critical figure in the Allied victory in WWII and thus was highly visited after his death. He initially had a headstone among the others at Luxembourg but his burial site got so many visitors that the grass got worn and the surrounding graves got muddy. Out of respect for those who were buried around Patton, they moved him to a separate area. This all took place in the temporary cemetery so when they built the permanent cemetery, they aligned all the other graves with Patton’s grave. I think that it is admirable that Patton had such a dedication to those he fought with that he wanted to be buried with them. 

I think that often for things like war and natural disasters, the casualties often unintentionally become numbers and nothing more. As I read the names and dates and states of origin of the people buried in Luxembourg, I tried to think of the people they were. I thought a lot about how much they must have suffered during the war and in the moments before death. I thought about the physical and mental and emotional hardships they had to endure. I thought about the homes they never returned to. I was sombered to think of the widows and the broken hearts and the tears and the devastation that resulted. I pictured the parentless children and the childless parents and all of the pain that remained long after the war itself ended. I also thought of those who did return home like my grandfathers. I pictured survivor’s guilt and PTSD and injuries and nightmares for years and years. Wrapping my head around the lasting effects of World War II is difficult and being in Luxembourg reminded me of that.

I found it fascinating that the unidentified people buried in Luxembourg are still being identified many years after the war with genetic technology and other means. Our guide mentioned a man who was identified in 2017 which is really amazing and can mean a lot to the surviving family. 

Overall, visiting the Luxembourg American Military Cemetery was one of my favorite parts of this trip so far. The flag folding ceremony was very interesting and I think it was nice that we got the opportunity to do it. The cemetery itself was a sad yet beautiful reminder of the cost of war.

Today we visited Gentex Corporations which had a very modern facility and were extremely welcoming towards us. They emphasized that Gentex is an innovative company that is prepared for the future of technology. They have their main production facility in Zeeland, MI. Most of the production is done in-house in the Zeeland location. They make their own PCBs and electronics which I thought was really nice because they can ensure quality more easily than if they outsourced. The Zeeland location also has automated production lines and quality equipment to test vibrations and temperature among other things. One thing Gentex is known for is Electronically Dimming Windows. These windows can be dimmed to various degrees with the push of a button. They make up a significant portion of Gentex sales and are included on Boeing Dreamliner planes. 

Gentex has advanced technology relating to rear view and side mirrors. Their rear view mirrors can toggle between a standard reflective surface and a camera display of behind the car. They include an option to display the side mirrors in the rear view display and can alert the driver when a vehicle is in their blind spot. It seem really user friendly in the sense that the driver can customize whether the rear view display shows just the rear or includes the side mirrors. Gentex recommends using a setting that stitches together the views of the three cameras when driving in urban areas. 

I thought it was really fascinating when they showed the different rear view mirror hardware housings to satisfy the markets in different continents. The North American design had some exposed wiring and did not have a housing that covered all the hardware completely. This is unlike Europe and Asia which both had a housing completely covering it. I could tell that they put a lot of thought into how to minimize the space needed on the windshield and kept in mind that distractions and obstructions of visions had to be minimized. This can also be seen in how they made the rear view display look like the view would look using a standard reflective mirror; they tried to make it natural in a way to avoid attracting too much of the driver’s attention. 

Another thing Gentex is working on is a built-in module that will pay tolls automatically. This would take the place of the EZPass or IPass that many have adhered to the inside of their front windshield for tolls. This particular product does not seem all that game-changing to me personally but the presenter mentioned that it can be extended to applications such as paying for gas or coffee automatically. 

Gentex owns Homelink which works on integrating technology into the home. So, one version of their mirrors involve buttons that can be programmed to, for example, execute a set of commands upon nearing one’s home such as unlocking smart locks, opening garage doors, turning on lights, and communicating with Amazon’s Alexa. This is interesting but comes with inherent security concerns. To address this concern, Gentex has developed  biometric iris identification for which a user simply has to look into the rear view mirror and is quickly identified. Once a positive identification is made, different features such as the ability to unlock one’s home or make automatic toll payments can be enabled. This biometric identification has a setting that allows the car owner to create restrictions on aspects like speed, location, and Homelink features for other users of the car. Gentex emphasized that this could be used for geofencing and monitoring for parents who allow their children to use their car. 

Overall, Gentex had a lot of very interesting and innovative products and ideas that could really change the experience one has while driving a car. They seem to have a focus on quality and forward thinking; also safety and usability seem very important to them. I really admire their passion to drive automotive technology forward by advancing their products.