Obama's Kenyan half-sister makes rare public appearance as she joins Michelle and her daughters for emotional visit to Berlin's Holocaust memorial

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Obama's Kenyan half-sister makes rare public appearance as she joins Michelle and her daughters for emotional visit to Berlin's Holocaust memorial

Auma Obama joined the First Lady and daughters Malia and Sasha at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin

Malia, 14, was clearly moved by memorial and reached out to touch stone

Auma had studied in Germany and now lives in Kenya


Michelle Obama and her daughters were joined by the President's half-sister Auma on Tuesday as the group made a sombre tour of the Holocaust memorial in Berlin.

The First Lady, Malia, 14, and Sasha, 12, bowed their heads and listened carefully to the words of a tour guide. Michelle looked lost in thought as she wandered through the vast site while Malia appeared deeply moved and reached out to touch the stones.

The Obamas are in Germany for a two-day visit and while the President meets with leader Angela Merkel, his wife and daughters visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a solemn reminder of the millions of lives lost during the Holocaust.



Family: Auma Obama (pictured far left) joined the First Lady and daughters Malia, 14, and Sasha, 11, on a guided tour of the memorial in Berlin which is dedicated to the millions of lives lost during the Holocaust



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Malia was dressed in cropped camel trousers with matching pumps and a pale blue T-shirt while younger sister Sasha wore a darker blue T-shirt and patterned jeans. Auma Obama was dressed in a black shift top and trousers.

At one point during the tour, Malia reached out to touch one of the stone monuments as her younger sister looked on.

The group were given a guided tour by Uwe Neumaerker, director of the foundation for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

Opened in 2005 near the Brandenburg Gate, the field of 2,700 concrete slabs of varying height evokes a cemetery to many visitors and serves as a memorial for the millions of Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

Visitors walk along pathways that descend into the heart of a claustrophobic maze. The fate of the millions who were murdered is documented in a subterranean information center below the paths.

When they arrived at the memorial, surrounded by Secret Service officials, Michelle hugged her youngest daughter as they climbed out of an SUV.

Later at Checkpoint Charlie -- the well-known border crossing between Berlin's former U.S. and Soviet sectors - the Obama family viewed a temporary display by artist Yadegar Asisi which gives visitors a glimpse at what life along the Wall was like.

A large panorama inside a circular building gives a photorealistic view of a divided 1980s Berlin neighbourhood, showing the graffiti-covered West side of the Wall and, beyond the guard dogs, barbed wire and search lights, the drabness of East Berlin beyond.

The Obama family was set to be joined by Joachim Sauer, the husband of Chancellor Angela Merkel, on the next stop, the Berlin Wall Memorial, a remaining 720ft section of the 95mile 'death strip' that split the city between 1961 and 1989.

Located at Bernauer Strasse, it features a preserved guard tower and fortifications of the Wall, where at least 136 East Germans died in the city during escape attempts.

The final stop was set to be the Reichstag, which housed the assemblies of the German Empire, Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany until it was destroyed by fire in 1933, leaving it abandoned for decades.

Refurbished after Germany's 1990 reunification by architect Norman Foster, who added its characteristic glass dome to symbolize open democracy, it has since 1999 housed the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.

After their tour, Mrs Obama and her daughters would relax for the afternoon, Berlin newspapers reported.

Michelle, Sasha and Malia were due to go shopping near their luxury hotel at Potsdamer Platz before the girls go to a movie in a nearby cineplex.

President Obama is visiting Berlin for the first time during his presidency and his speech at the Brandenburg Gate is to be the highlight this evening.

Obama will be speaking close to the 50th anniversary of the historic speech by then U.S. President John F. Kennedy in Berlin in 1963, during which he proclaimed the famous sentence: 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'

The Obama party flew in from Ireland on Monday night. Earlier that afternoon, Michelle and her daughters had lunch with Bono in the quaint coastal village of Dalkey.

The singer took his distinguished American guests to favorite pub Finnegans where the menu featured local seafood, rack of lamb and traditional Irish fare like corned beef and cabbage.

The Obamas started on Tuesday with an hour-long visit to picturesque Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains - but the two girls looked like they would have rather slept in at their luxury hotel.

On Monday, the Obama women appeared to be having a great time as they giggled and pulled a series of wacky faces during a performance of Riverdance.

Malia and Sasha had looked less than enthralled earlier that day as they toured the Medieval Book of Kells with their mother at Trinity College in the capital.