Encounters between young Jewish and non-Jewish Germans, Americans and Canadians

In the beginning of 2007 Action Reconciliation Service for Peace successfully applied for funds from the European Restitution Program (ERP).

 
"Tracing the Future" is the name of the ARSP program which took place in the USA and Canada in 2007 and in Germany in 2008. The funding enabled ARSP to organize multiple workshops and dialogues in New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Philadelphia and Toronto as well as a return visit to Germany as part of the German government's Program for Transatlantic Encounters.

 The program's goal was in line with ARSP's own mission:

 "Learning from the past, taking a stand today and creating a positive future"

 Bringing together young Jewish and non-Jewish Germans, Americans and Canadians of the 3rd generation after the Holocaust allowed for experiences and perspectives to be exchanged and friendships to be built and fostered. The participants learned with and from each other. They confronted the past and the future together in an approach to find solutions to the problems we face today.

A German Jewish Dialogue in Berlin - ASF 50th Anniversary April 27th May 4, 2008

The German Jewish Dialogue Program "Tracing the Future" brought partners from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Boston, Cleveland, Washington D.C. and Toronto to the 50^th anniversary celebration of Aktion Suehnezeichen Friedensdienste (ASF) during spring 2008 to Berlin to continue the dialogue and exchange we started in the U.S. and Canada more than a year ago.

Exploring Holocaust education in Germany and participating in a dialogue Program created a base for a deeper understanding between Germans and Jewish Americans and Canadians. 

By participating in the 50^th ASF Anniversary celebration, participants had a special opportunity to discuss the role of National Socialism in Germany as well as in the partner countries where ASF is active. 

We brought a delegation of 50 people to Berlin consisting of project partners, friends of ASF and board members of the American Friends of ARSP. This gave them the opportunity to meet former volunteers, learn about the broad spectrum of ASF's work and engage with each other in discussions. A four-day pre-program before the official celebration included a lecture and discussion on "ARSP in North-America - A German-Jewish Dialogue?", guided tours to different memorial sites such as the House of the Wannsee Conference, the Memorial to the Murdered Jewish of Europe, the Jewish Museum and the Topography of Terror, and an official invitation to the Senate of Berlin.

All Cooperation partners participated in panel discussions and workshops during the Anniversary celebration.

Through this the German public had an opportunity to learn more about the intense and successful work ARSP is doing in the U.S. Our project partners talked about their experiences with the ASF volunteers over the years and exchanged ideas with partners from the other twelve partner countries in Europe and Israel. Moreover, our partners from North America got a deeper comprehension of the overall program that ASF is offering outside of North America. These mutual experiences in Germany were extremely valuable for all sides.

The project partners shared their positive experiences with us. They will bring their ideas and thoughts back to the United States and we will continue our cooperation even closer in the future. This process enables us to reach out to more people, especially to young Germans and young North American Jews to continue our successful German-Jewish dialogue.

to read comments on the event in Berlin click here (1), (2), (3)